Big Things was a large-scale steel sculpture exhibition series organized by the North Edmonton Sculpture Workshop for the Royal Alberta Museum's outdoor South Terrace. [1] [2] [3] [4] The exhibition series began as an effort to "expose the public to the richness and diversity of contemporary sculpture in steel, while encouraging a critical dialogue between artists." [3]
The inaugural Big Things exhibition in 2002 was the first time the Royal Alberta Museum had ever displayed an exhibition of its kind, featuring nine large, abstract steel sculptures. [3] According to the museum's assistant director Tim Willis, "Dealing with abstract sculpture is not part of our core mandate.... It just goes to show how art can transform an inert public space. [5] " Artist Ryan McCourt sought out the venue in part for its cultural context, and in part due to the inherent practicality of the site. "The context of it being at a museum was much more appropriate than having it at the Law Courts or outside the Shaw Conference Centre," says McCourt, [4] while also noting that the museum's large stone facade and open concrete terrace space is especially conducive to viewing large sculptures. [2] Exhibited sculptures included Tilley, by Mark Bellows; Valour and Cowardice, by Andrew French; Radiant, by Peter Hide; Midway, by Ken Macklin; The Moment You've Been Waiting For and Spanish Castle, by Ryan McCourt; Almost Whole, by Royden Mills; and From the Model, by Susan Owen Kagan. [2] [3]
Due to the success of the premiere exhibition, originally scheduled to just last the summer, Big Things was held over until May 2003, when it was immediately followed by Big Things 2, shown from May 6, 2003 to April 30, 2004. Big Things 2 featured work by the same artists as in the first showing, minus Kagan. [1] [4] Exhibited works include Lust or Love?, by Mark Bellows; Florence, by Andrew French; Modernist Man, by Peter Hide; Easter Sunday, by Ken Macklin; Inside Elevation, by Royden Mills; and Solus, by Ryan McCourt.
Big Things 3 followed, on display from May 8, 2004 - April 30, 2005, [1] with the same roster of exhibiting artists. [5] The sculptures exhibited include Moorshead, by Ken Macklin; Hindu Lion, by Peter Hide; French Riviera, by Andrew French; Bassinet, by Royden Mills; Arma, by Mark Bellows; and Overture, by Ryan McCourt. [6]
Big Things 4, from June 3 to October 1, 2006, [1] featured sculptures "Petra" by Simon Black; "Truth and Falsehood" by Andrew French; "Leviathan" by Peter Hide; "Caesura" by Bianca Khan; "Destroyer of Obstacles" by Ryan McCourt; "Between Premonition" by Royden Mills; and "Trojan Yak Genera" by Robert Willms. [7] [8] [9]
Peter Nicholas Hide is an English born abstract sculptor. A one-time pupil of Sir Anthony Caro, Hide is best known for upright, large-scale welded sculptures made of heavy, rusted industrial scrap steel.
Andrew Logan is an English sculptor, performance artist, jewellery-maker, and portraitist.
The Art Gallery of Alberta (AGA) is an art museum in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The museum occupies an 8,000 square metres (86,000 sq ft) building at Churchill Square in downtown Edmonton. The museum building was originally designed by Donald G. Bittorf, and B. James Wensley, although portions of that structure were demolished or built over during a redevelopment of the building by Randall Stout.
The Royal Alberta Museum (RAM) is a museum of human and natural history in Downtown Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, located north of City Hall. The museum is the largest in western Canada with more than 7,600 square metres (82,000 sq ft) exhibition space and 38,900 square metres (419,000 sq ft) in total.
Welded sculpture is an art form in which sculpture is made using welding techniques.
Robert Dale Matt Peterson is a professional Canadian photographer and publisher of Paralympics: Where Heroes Come (1988), the first book written about the history of the Paralympic Games.
Carol Lorraine Sutton is a multidisciplinary artist born in Norfolk, Virginia, USA and now living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She is a painter whose works on canvas and paper have been shown in 32 solo exhibits as well as being included in 94 group shows. Her work, which ranges from complete abstraction to the use of organic and architectural images, relates to the formalist ideas of Clement Greenberg and is noted for the use of color. Some of Sutton paintings have been related to ontology.
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Edmonton Contemporary Artists' Society (ECAS) is an international artists' exhibition collective founded in 1993, based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Big Thing(s) may refer to:
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Robert Byron Willms is a Canadian sculptor and teacher, best known for creating assembled, abstract steel sculptures.
Ryan McCourt is a Canadian artist best known for his sculptures. He lives in Edmonton, Alberta.
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