Oh West Canada!

Darryl Bernsten - Rocky Mountain High (2015)

«In twentieth century Canadian art, the wilderness, that wild and unspoiled spirit of nature, is presented as a dominant motif and mark of national authenticity», underscores Luciano Benetton in the introduction to the catalogue of the collection: «Artistic research is directed towards the definition of an identity capable of including the European, and more generally, the international cultural matrix, without “corrupting” the culture of the Canadian territory, allowing it to build its own original, iconological heritage».

Judy Leila Schafers - Heart of Alberta (2015)

«With so many different inspirations, these artists from the contemporary tribes show us, collectively, a vision of beauty and hope that does not falter in the face of the globalization of ideas, currents and representations. It is as if the distinctive geography and the rugged and pure, physical and spiritual Canadian character has, in a sense, prepared them for intellectual resistance and, simultaneously, for the search for new frontiers. The artists of Western Canada do not appear to fear change». Luciano Benetton.

Myda Schmidt - Last look at Terminal City Ironworks, Vancouver (2015)

Ian Sheldon was born in 1971 in Edmonton, Alberta, where he lives and works, Ian grew up in South Africa, Singapore and England. Ian is an award-winning, career artist with more than 20 years of professional representation nationally and internationally. He began painting the historic architecture of the city in watercolours. This then progressed into the vast Canadian landscape and wilderness, with attention to the wide horizon and big sky of the prairie. With exhibitions in Canada and the USA along with television profiles, magazine cover stories and a considerable archive of other media coverage, Ian Sheldon is well known as both a landscape painter and a storm chaser.

Ted Nodwell - Future Forward (2015)

Amanda Maxwell was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1965, Amanda now calls Port Moody, British Columbia her home. Amanda works in the world of science and the world of art: they are not mutually exclusive. She is multi-talented, working as a mixed media artist along with jewelry design and dabbles in freelance writing, communications, content creation for web and print, social media and website setup, arts and clinical science and document design. Amanda uses crochet, felted fibers, wire, scrapings and beadwork to create mixed media masterpieces that help her stay connected and put down new roots in her new country.

Amanda Maxwell - Florabundance (2015)

Linda Lindemann was born in Haarlem, The Netherlands in 1975, Linda immigrated to a potato farm outside Bentley in 1979 and recently moved to a farm near Edmonton, Alberta with her family. A self-taught artist, photographer and carpenter, Linda attempts to express ideas about the beauty and simplicity of the Canadian landscape and focuses on the agricultural aspect of her surroundings and upbringing. Linda uses a minimal approach with rural imagery – sheds, barns, fields, country roads.