Exhibition Info
CATTLE CALL
Scratch a born and bred Albertan, especially someone of Euro/American descent and born before 1980, and one is liable to get some dirt under their fingernails. While the actual ‘victim’ of this assault may not be born on a farm or worked on the land themselves, it is safe to assume that someone among their close relations is or was intimately connected to the land and the agricultural industry in some way.
The importance of the agricultural industry to Alberta’s economic, political and social history is readily apparent in the visual records of the province. A cursory perusal of the art collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, for example, results in the discovery of hundreds of artworks which focus on ‘the farm’, or aspects thereof, as the primary subject matter considered. Most often artists have directed their vision to climate and the land itself, either recording the region’s rich bounty or recounting the trails of farming in a northern environment. Alberta’s artists have also frequently investigated the ‘human’ side of this economic endeavor; drawing, painting, photographing and sculpting everything from farm laborers to iconic grain elevators and tractor tires.
Agricultural practice in Alberta involves more than fields of grain or the human constituents of this activity, however, and a handful of artists in the province have paid homage to the ‘silent players’ in this pursuit. One of these subjects is the humble cow. Since the dawn of human history animal imagery has been an aspect of their economic importance, have often been reflected in the visual arts since their domestication over 10,000 years ago.
The travelling exhibition Cattle Call focuses on cattle as they have been expressed by artists throughout Alberta. Presenting artworks drawn from the Collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and investigating a mix of media and artistic styles, the works in this exhibition portray ‘the cow’ both as an essential feature of Alberta’s economy and way of life and also as a cherished companion.
Cattle Call was curated by Shane Golby, Manager/Curator, Art Gallery of Alberta, Region 2 of the AFA Travelling Exhibition Program.
