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Art exhibit brings old downtown building to life |
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Written by Lethbridge Herald
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Friday, May 29 2009, 8:01 PM |
Don’t judge a book by its cover, or in the case of a unique art exhibit, a building by its exterior.
The old Singer clothing store downtown is opening its doors to the public, but it won’t be selling latest fashions.
From the outside, the store on 5 Street South just north of 3 Avenue, appears the way it has for years, rather rundown and decrepid, but on the inside “it’s come to life” as an exhibit featuring the work of some 38 artists.
“When you walk in, you will just be blown away,” says Rick Gillis, a member of the Potemkin Collective, which organized the “Ruin and Reclamation” art exhibit.
Earlier this year, the collective began to explore the artistic possibilities of animating, or breathing life into an old, rundown and abandoned building through the installation of art. The owners of the building, Dr. Rick and Lynette Harder, offered the interior space to the collective.
“The space was in truly rough shape, just what we were looking for,” Gillis says.
The interior two levels of the old store have been converted into an art gallery of sorts. Some of the original elements of the building, like old electrical conduits and ladders, remain for effect, but the “dead urban space” now boasts a combination of light and art which is inviting and brings the interior to life.
Artists throughout southern Alberta were invited to interpret Ruin and Reclamation in any way they chose, and they’ve come up with everything from site-specific work and environmental art, to sculpture, two-dimensional work, audio and performance.
The exhibit is free and opens today with a reception from 8 p.m. to midnight. It will run the following two Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 5 p.m.
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