Located on the first floor of the Taylor Digital Family Library (TDFL), the Nickel Galleries are one of Calgary’s free public art museums that often spotlights various types of artwork from around the world.
As part of its summertime programming, the museum is currently hosting three exhibits: Her Own Way, Weaving Home: Carpets of SW Iran and Napoleon: Art, Money and War. Each curated display demonstrates how politics and culture influence the creation of art during various time periods.
When entering Nickel Galleries, individuals will first encounter abstract oil paintings, brightly coloured serigraphs and embossed mandalas. These are just some of the works that are featured in Her Own Way, an exhibition that spotlights pieces created by women artists from the 1950s to 1970s. Curated by Jenelle M. Pasiechnik, these displays honour the contribution of women creatives in the post-war era and the ways in which factors such as gender and race can influence forms of expression. The exhibit features the works of multiple Albertan artists such as Barbara Ballachey and Marion Nicoll. Multiple abstract paintings by Nicoll are included throughout the exhibit, “Journey To The Mountains: Approach/ The Mountains/Return”, as well as “Calgary III-4 a.m”. Her minimalist takes on local landscapes were a testament to the major influence of her Canadian upbringing and identity on her art.
Many of the pieces in the exhibit capture domestic settings, such as still lifes by Christiane Pflug and depictions of home still lifes of doorways. Helen Makie’s “The Newspaper” depicts a figure sitting on a couch reading a newspaper. Only a partial part of the couch is visible within the frame, with the rest of the home draped a sea of black. These details cultivate an atmosphere of isolation and confinement generated in connection with domesticity. A printing posted in the display calls attention to how in many of the works the "domestic sphere functions not only as a passive subject matter, but as a structure artist negotiated daily while attempting to sustain [the women’s] creative lives”.
Pasiechnik’s selections highlight how the setting of the home often was a source of inspiration for these artists because of the tension between an individual's artistic ambitions and the society's expectation for women to devote themselves entirely to the domestic sphere.
When visitors ascend to the upper level of the museum, they will be greeted with richly coloured weavings with intricate patterns. Curated by Michele Hardy, Weaving Home features 19th- and 20th-century carpets created by the various tribal groups of southwestern Iran, including the Qashqa'i and Kamesh. As one of the oldest art forms in history, weaving has always been associated with the distinct identities of agricultural-based societies. This is illustrated through the various patterns on each carpet that can be used to differentiate the works of one tribe from another. Still, many of the pieces share many similarities, such as how it is common for plant and animal motifs to be incorporated into each piece, with many of the carpets being adorned with birds, flowers and beasts in open fields. A description that accompanies the various displays describes how Iranian “pastoralists have a deep symbiotic relationship with their animals and their environments”, which emphasizes how the recurring symbols in these various worlds are representative of the unique connection these groups have to the land.
Next to the collection of textiles are various coins and military medals with the visage of the same man etched into many of them. Napoleon Bonaparte is one of the most well-documented figures in history, and much of that has to do with how his legacy and notoriety have been constructed through the artwork created during his rule. The exhibit Napoleon: Art, Money and War, curated by Marina Fischer, demonstrates how, during his reign as emperor of the First French Empire, Bonaparte attempted to project a certain image of himself to his subjects. Many of the coins that are featured in the display are French francs produced in the early 19th century. Engraved with a side profile of Bonaparte wearing ancient Rome styled laurel wreaths and diadems, each coin can be seen as Bonaparte equating himself with the rulers of one of the influential empires of history. The medals he awarded members of his military include more dynamic images, including those of the emperor on horseback leading his troops, or standing triumphantly in front of ancient monuments after a battle. Bonaparte's intent in circulating these visuals is clear: to bolster a reputation of power and greatness amongst the French people.
Fischer also includes works that highlight how Bonaparte's advisors are used as art to portray him in a more negative perspective during and after his reign. A satirical print called “LE TYRANT DEMASQUE (the tyrant unmasked)” depicts a woman peeling away Bonaparte's face and revealing a beastly appearance underneath. The display's description of the piece details how “the composition reflects the hostile political climate at the end of his rule when such imagery was widely used to criticize and undermine his authority”. Just as he disseminated art to influence the public, his detractors used similar methods to counter the image he attempted to cement.
Art is often the bridge between the subjective and the objective, a method by which individuals transform abstract concepts into something tangible. This idea is emphasized in the current exhibits at Nickle Galleries, as the various pieces illustrate how art can be used as a medium to demonstrate the substantial impact of identity and perception in an individual's life.
