Opening of Tainted Danish

Tainted Danish is a group of anonymous members who collaborated to privately publish a collection of arbitrary works in a zine. Like Natalie Gravel's exhibition, Tainted Danish used the niche gallery as a starting point for their project. They provided a donation box at the front of the gallery with a suggested price of $5, and in the open gallery they left a stack of the zines in the open gallery for visitors to take.

The scenario was rather similar to that of a newspaper stand. It was neat to be able to watch people stopping to reach into the gallery and to watch their faces as they paused to read the zines. People shared things that amused them with each other, and every time they opened the zine again there would be something else to catch their attention. Also during the opening, the artists signed copies of the zine for visitors, and suggested that there could be monthly issues available in the gallery to take advantage of the long duration of their show.

Tainted Danish will be displaying at the niche gallery until January 13, 2010.

-review written by Bonnie Patton

Opening of BREATHE (gallery)

Yan Luo's BREATHE (gallery) appealed to many of our visitors. Guests were intrigued by the silicone cast of the gallery and were fascinated by the patterns in the silicone emphasized by the light. Although Luo urged visitors not to touch the delicately arranged cast, the unfamiliar substance and its protrusion from the gallery lead many of us to touch it anyway.

In BREATHE (gallery), Luo was interested in the relationship between a work and the space around it, describing the gallery as limiting the work yet realizing that the work can hardly stand alone without the gallery/space. Luo also added that the title "Breathe" is symbolic to the creative space floating around the artist, and that to cast the space is to solidify the authority of the artist.

Luo has been very active in discussion about the gallery with us curators, so it was great to see such visual elaboration of his thoughts on the gallery!

-review written by Bonnie Patton

Opening of Curious Curators

The opening of Curious Curators was a success. Spinelli and Patton were satisfied with the results and enjoyed the process of developing this collaboration, which was a reaction to the space's unique qualities and history, as well as their unusal position as both artists and curators. The exhibition will be viewable until Friday July 3, 2009.

Opening of (...,...,...)

There was an enthusiastic crowd at the opening of Amber-Jane Grove's exhibition, "(...,...,...)". The exhibition and its curious title left viewers with a sense of wonder and an urge to discuss their own interpretations of the piece. Grove has been the director of niche gallery this past 2008-2009 school year, and directly coordinated with founder Naomi Sato. Grove will be graduating from the University of Lethbridge this Spring 2009. We wish her the best in her future endeavors.

Opening of Fictile

The opening of Lisa Reader's exhibition Fictile was well recieved. The use of the space really engaged the visitors and evoked a lot of curiousity. Reader's imaginative use of unconventional art materials was applauded by many. The exhibition will be viewable until April 3, 2009.

Opening of B e t w e e n

The opening of (Arlene) Westen Evans' B e t w e e n was very exciting. Visitors seemed to be allured by the exhibition and its concept. Those present were fortunate to hear Westen Evans' thoughts on the making of this piece. The opening reception was enjoyed by all. The exhibition will be viewable until March 13, 2009.