St. Albert poet laureate Zach Polis doesn’t just mix words for his art. He’s a visual artist as well, and he has a Thursday night surprise for Edmonton’s culturati.
Light Plucked from the Universe is primarily a photo exhibition that gives a showcase to several Alberta poets’ work by combining their words with their portraits and landscapes. At first, one might not consider poets to be as adept with cameras as they are with plumed pens. This show should help dispel that notion.
“It's photos combined with the literary side of things,” Polis said, emphasizing the photos first of the exhibit that the poet laureate initiated.
The exhibit is located at the ATB Branch for Arts and Culture inside the CKUA building, 9804 Jasper Avenue, a venue which hosts a few live poetry events during the Edmonton Poetry Festival, which runs during the last week of April. It normally has an art exhibition happening in the space as well.
“I proposed to them, ‘Why don't we have a photo exhibition that pairs portraits of Alberta poets and their literary works, and have that happen in and around the Edmonton Poetry Festival?’”
Essentially, you’ll see portraits of several Alberta-based artists photographed in their natural environments (sometimes wooded landscapes, sometimes cityscapes) paired with their written words “in the style of a diptych,” Polis noted.
Polis is joined by some very recognizable names in the province’s poetic-sphere. These include St. Albert's Youth Artist Award recipient Julia Sorensen, Edmonton Public Library Writer in Residence Matthew Stepanic, and Edmonton Poetry Festival's executive director Nisha Patel, as well as Derek Beaulieu, Marina Reid Hale, Sophie Kim, and Anna Marie Sewell.
But this is a crowd that likes to read their works out loud too. That’s why the photo exhibit will also enjoy an opening reception on Thursday evening starting at 7, with performances by Zach Polis, Nisha Patel, Anna Marie Sewell, and Marina Reid Hale starting at 7:30 p.m. The event is free and the art remains on display until Monday, June 17.
Granted, many of these names are from the capital region, though Beaulieu comes from the Banff Centre for the Arts where he works as the director of literary arts. The original idea, Polis said, was to use the forum not just as a way to tell his personal stories as an artist but also to use his creativity in more of an ambassador role to promote art and other artists as well.
The project is also a collaboration with designer and artist Sergio Serrano, who brought his own creative expertise to setting the space. It works nicely thanks to his skills, Polis said.
“There's a lot of existing visual elements already in the space. We thought about it and worked on how we could combine portraits and text, and design it in a way that it fits comfortably in the space. It actually looks really fantastic.”
