Avalanche! Gallery under water in June.
Avalanche! Institute of Contemporary Art is reopening this week at its new location (343 11 Ave. S.W.) with an exhibition that picks up where it left off. Well kind of. The gallery had to abandon the final show in its former location on Macleod Trail due to rising floodwaters. That show was White Heat curated by Natasha Jensen in conjunction with Sled Island. Unfortunately the space and the artwork were both damaged in the flood and the festival itself was cut short. Fortunately Avalanche! had already been planning to move to a new space and is launching with the appropriately titled Wet White Heat a reconfiguration of the cancelled show that will feature collaborative installations by three pairs of artists: Kelly Smith and Gwen Morgan Joleen Toner and Ashley Ohman and Mohammad Rezaei and Alia Shahab. The exhibition opens on Friday August 16 at 8 p.m. with the artists in attendance and continues from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday August 17 ( avalancheavalanche.com ).
Following the exhibition Avalanche! plans to sync its programming schedule with the Untitled Art Society’s Satellite Gallery which occupies the main floor at the same location. The current exhibition at the Satellite Gallery is Dana Buzzee and Kelly Jaqueline Smith’s Spellbinder. In the “artists bios” Buzzee is described as a “witch” and Smith as a “lover” — you have until August 24 to find out what happens when a witch and a lover get together to create art.
Hey people this poetry festival is for you. The third annual People’s Poetry Festival takes place in Kensington this weekend with DIY poetry stations a poetic graffiti art walk an open mic spoken word performances a cabaret and even a Biergarten (yes that is what you think it is). The complete schedule is online ( peoplespoetryfestival.com ) and you can read more about what’s planned in the other story on this page just to your left. If you need inspiration here are some words of wisdom from Charles Baudelaire: “Always be a poet even in prose.”
Dumping country for comedy in “Cowtown”? Shocking. Country will be giving way to comedy on local radio station 1060AM next month. On September 16 at 6 a.m. Bell Media Radio Calgary will launch Funny 1060AM which the media release says will provide “24/7 standup comedy from some of the biggest comedians in the world including Jerry Seinfeld Ellen DeGeneres George Carlin Chris Rock Louis C.K. Sarah Silverman and Dennis Miller.” The station plans to work some local content into the mix as well according to brand director Ross MacLeod. “We will be looking to partner with local clubs on things like amateur nights for both on-site events and on-air content” he says. For those who will miss crying along to the classic country music don’t worry — there will be live weather and traffic updates in between the yuks so despite their claims to the contrary it definitely won’t be all funny all the time.
