Exhibition
28 Feb 1991 - 23 Mar 1991
Illingworth Kerr GalleryKatie Ohe, Alberta Sculptor: A Retrospective
The exhibition is the largest, most comprehensive exhibition of Katie Ohe's work to date, covering 2 decades of artistic development by this important Alberta artist.
"Compact, vibrant and strong," adjectives used to describe Katie Ohe herself in the exhibition catalogue, apply equally to Ohe's work. The 28 elegant metal sculptures in this exhibition are "visually, physically and psychologically engaging .... People are invited to look, to move around, to touch, to push, to unfold, to interact with a form that can change and come back to rest", writes catalogue essayist Katherine Ylitalo.
Katie Ohe graduated from The Alberta College of Art in 1960 and pursued post-grad studies in Montreal and New York City. An inspired teacher, Ohe has taught at The Banff Centre, Mount Royal College and the University of Calgary and the Alberta College of Art (Now AUArts).
She has been represented in group exhibitions in Calgary; Edmonton; Banff; Regina; Saskatoon; Toronto; Ottawa; New York; London and Bradford, England; Brussels; Paris; Venice; Yugoslavia; Germany and Japan. She has also had solo exhibitions in Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon and Montreal.
Her work is in private collections in Calgary, Edmonton and New York, including the collections of Esso Resources Canada, Shell Canada and the University of Calgary, as well as government collections, including the Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa, Alberta House, London, England and the Alberta Art Foundation, Edmonton. Ohe's most recent public sculpture commission, Earth Probe, was installed at the new Esso Resources Canada Research Centre in the Fall of 1990. Other Ohe public sculptures can be seen in Calgary at the Bethany Care Centre; on the U of C campus at the Math Science Complex and the Engineering Complex; in the Federal Western Regional Office Geological Institute; on Prince's Island; in Nimmons Park; and at St Michael the Archangel Roman Catholic Church and Grace Presbyterian Church.
In 1981, Katie Ohe designed the YWCA Women of Distinction award and won the award herself in the Arts and Culture category in 1989.
