gravitypope has partnered with Birkenstock and NORBERG HALL Gallery on an in-store customization pop-up. Featuring over 30 designs by 5 Calgary-based artists: Marigold Santos, Kablusiak, Robin Arseneault, Yvonne Mullock and John Will.
Opening Reception – Wednesday, July 3, 2024
5pm – 7pm at gravitypope Calgary (1126 17 Ave SW)
Drinks and snacks provided by Nonny and Birkenstock with music by Blackbyrd Myoozik.
Purchase a pair of Birkenstocks from July 3 - 31, and get free custom laser engraving – Only at gravitypope Calgary.
NORBERG HALL prides itself on re-envisioning the possibilities of what commercial contemporary art galleries can be for artists, collectors, and the Canadian arts community they value. Their desire for a strong visual culture and passion for gender equity has played an integral part in the shaping of NORBERG HALL and its programming. Founded by Jarvis Hall, and shepherded by Shannon Norberg throughout the past decade, the gallery actively supports the practices of prominent emerging, mid-career and established artists to foster a deeper understanding of their creative processes, while providing a platform and space to share these critical dialogs. Working alongside artists, curators, museums, institutions, corporate and private collectors, they have proudly facilitated acquisitions in prominent collections and institutions across the country. Through active representation, ongoing exhibitions, international art fairs, studio tours, and community liaisons, Norberg Hall continues to champion Canadian art in Alberta and beyond.
John Will is a senior painter, printmaker, and performance artist with a career that spans more than 60 years. Will is known as a trickster and wordsmith with a fascination into his own origins in the world as both an individual and artist. His satirical and poignant text-based paintings and works on paper are created through a process of collecting fragments of language, and reconstructing it into a profound, and sometimes uncomfortable interpretation.
Marigold Santos pursues an inter-disciplinary art practice involving drawn, painted, and printed works, sculpture, tattooing, and sound. Her work explores self-hood and identity that embraces multiplicity, fragmentation and empowerment, as informed by diasporic experiences.
Kablusiak is a multidisciplinary Inuvialuk artist and curator who uses Inuk ingenuity to create work in a variety of mediums — including lingerie, white flour, soapstone, permanent marker, bed sheets, felt, acrylic paint, and words. Their work explores dis/connections and family and community ties within the Inuit diaspora, as well as the impact of colonization on Inuit expressions of gender and sexuality, on health and wellbeing, and on daily life. Seeking to demystify Inuit art, Kablusiak also creates space for Inuit-led representations of Inuit cultures.
Employing textiles, sculpture, video, print and ceramics Yvonne Mullock’s multidisciplinary work reimagines a world where functionality is pliable and materials are considered with renewed potential. At times uncanny or comedic, Mullock’s artistic practice pokes at the traditions of making, utilizing unconventional tools and materials to create works that engage viewers through time-based performances and sculptural installations.
Humour is important in Arseneault’s work, and usually revealed in formal, aesthetic or conceptual relationships to the body. Although her medium is ever-changing, she continues to respond to the abject and its surrounding absurdity within three- and two-dimensional works. The use of truncated, manipulated and repeated shapes reveal a dialect of emotional understanding.
Norberg Hall
NORBERG HALL prides itself on re-envisioning the possibilities of what commercial contemporary art galleries can be for artists, collectors, and the Canadian arts community they value. Their desire for a strong visual culture and passion for gender equity has played an integral part in the shaping of NORBERG HALL and its programming. Founded by Jarvis Hall, and shepherded by Shannon Norberg throughout the past decade, the gallery actively supports the practices of prominent emerging, mid-career and established artists to foster a deeper understanding of their creative processes, while providing a platform and space to share these critical dialogs. Working alongside artists, curators, museums, institutions, corporate and private collectors, they have proudly facilitated acquisitions in prominent collections and institutions across the country. Through active representation, ongoing exhibitions, international art fairs, studio tours, and community liaisons, Norberg Hall continues to champion Canadian art in Alberta and beyond.
Birkenstock
In 1774 German cordwainer Johann Adam wanted to make shoes that promoted healthy feet with shaped footbed insoles. Hundreds of years later, those insoles are still an integral part of Birkenstock's footwear empire, with their iconic sandals offered in a variety of widths and styles, with durable leathers and vegan alternatives.
Birkenstock is over 240 years old and through generations has perfected the ability to offer the utmost in quality, comfort and workmanship. If you are looking for a timeless staple for your wardrobe, you can’t go wrong with a pair of Birkenstocks.