A local curator is putting his stamp of approval on pair of new exhibits at the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie. For the first time, Curator of Exhibitions and Collections Derrick Chang will present the shows Glamour & Vapours and Mercury.
“I’ve curated exhibitions for the gallery before but this is the first one that will have my full stamp on it, my perspective and I hope everybody enjoys it.”
Chang first started at the gallery in November 2017. By that time, all of the shows for the year were already set up and scheduled. As curator, Chang best describes his role as a conductor.
“I kind of work with all the moving parts of the exhibition from artist relations to helping coordinate things behind the scenes at the gallery… I [also] had lengthy conversations with each of the artists about their work and how the works had a dialogue with each other.”
Mercury is by Beaverlodge artist Parker Thiessen and Glamour and Vapours was created by Karilynn Ming Ho and Lorna Mills. Both shows focus on the power of images and sounds and also use things like short films to tell a story. Overall, Chang says he’s excited for guests to see his vision.
“I’m just excited for people to see my take on the gallery and hopefully think about viewing images and taking in art as an experience that can be very engaging.”
Both shows open at the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie on March 7th. Mercury runs until June 13th and Glamour and Vapours runs until June 20th.
