Photo Peter MacCallum. Photo Peter MacCallum. Calgary artist Walter May. Incorporating fabricated components with found and salvaged vernacular items, May's recent work effects formal elegance, discretion and resonant significance.
Aged articles have elements added or removed.
Allusions to history, industry, nature and art are implicit in the visible degeneration of materials and their painstaking regeneration as art object. May's juxtaposition of incongruous forms, elements or titles contradict traditional notions of the heroism of the art maker and the aura of the art object. The assortment of shapes, forms and surfaces provide the viewer with a multitude of rich associative clues from which to begin deciphering individual objects or the work as a whole. Walter May has participated in solo and group exhibitions since 1971, in Calgary, Edmonton, Banff, Regina, Winnipeg and Montreal. To compliment this exhibition, a published interview with the artist, conducted by Calgary artist and writer John Chalke, has been produced by the gallery and will be available to the public during the exhibition.