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Hello from Hi Art, the CBC Arts weekly newsletter!
Every Sunday, we feature Canadian art that’s grabbed our attention. This is a roundup of recent highlights.
Installation view of Body of Water, Body of Light by Caitlind r.c. Brown and Wayne Garrett. (Caitlind r.c. Brown and Wayne Garrett)
Artist: Caitlind r.c. Brown and Wayne Garrett
Location: Edmonton
This spectacular, shimmering installation is on display at the Art Gallery of Alberta in Edmonton, and dear readers, it moves! The artists, Calgary’s Caitlind r.c. Brown and Wayne Garrett (seen here), say the spectral piece is meant to give the impression it’s alive. “Not in the way that you or I are alive — in the way that a beam of light carries the aliveness of dust in the sunshine, or a body of water carries the aliveness of gravity and flow,” they write.
Snail Trail by Michelle Bui. (Artwork: Michelle Bui; Photo: LF Documentation)
Artist: Michelle Bui
Location: Toronto
Montreal artist Michelle Bui (seen here) has a solo exhibition at United Contemporary in Toronto to Oct. 17. This piece, Snail Trail, is a photograph of all sorts of compellingly odd materials Michelle arranged: plastic bags and mesh, flowers, Styrofoam beads etc. Don’t go searching too hard for an actual mollusk in the mix, however. “The title was inspired by the process itself, which is slow, gooey and somewhat unpredictable,” Michelle writes. “I fold and move the layers of material with the help of culinary gelatin, and this process made me think of the iridescent trails that snails leave behind after the rain.”
The Gloaming by Madeline Richards. (Madeline Richards; Photo: Guy L’Heureux/Patrick Mikhail Gallery)
Artist: Madeline Richards
Location: Ottawa
What do you see in this turbulent painting by Madeline Richards? Feathers, flowers … disembodied hands? All of those things are in the mix, and they’re meant to be nods to the “precariousness and preciousness of life.” Madeline has a solo exhibition at Karsh-Masson Gallery in Ottawa where this piece is on view. “I wanted to paint a shifting moment of transformation, like twilight — to capture a still moment from the quickness of life, and the tension found in its passing,” she writes.
Near Miss by Miles Ingrassia. (Miles Ingrassia)
Artist: Miles Ingrassia
Location: Toronto
The Kingston Prize, Canada’s award for portrait art, has revealed its nominees for 2026. When I scanned the list last week, I immediately recognized this painting by Miles Ingrassia. Last time I saw it, Miles was getting ready to bring it to the Artist Project, and the Hamilton-raised artist was telling me about his plans for the fair. His work is often about male friendship and how young men define, and perform, their masculinity. Near Miss is emblematic of that body of work, he says, and you can see it in person later this month. A Kingston Prize exhibition opens at Toronto’s Arta Gallery Oct. 30.
A spooky sneak peek at Shanell Papp’s haunted attraction in Pincher Creek, Alta. (Shanell Papp)
Artist: Shanell Papp
Location: Medicine Hat and Pincher Creek, Alta.
Spooky season is here, and does anyone remember this story from last year about an arty haunted house in Medicine Hat, Alta.? Well, the knitmare returns! On Oct. 17, Shanell Papp will open another “softly spooky” attraction at the city’s Ewart-Duggan Residence, and that’s knot all! The textile artist hasn’t just expanded her original haunt, she’s created a second Halloween installation for the Kootenai Brown Historical Park in Pincher Creek too. That’s where you’ll find this woolly Baba Yaga hut.
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