Giuseppe Albi
Inside the Picture
Stanley A. Milner Library
(South Churchill Square)
FESTIVAL Event
July 1
12:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Giuseppe Albi demonstrating his VR experience Inside The Picture at The Works Summer Solstice Gala 2024. Photograph by Manpreet Singh.
Artist Statement
Over the years I have painted on a variety of substrates including co-polyester, Lexan (clear film), PVC, Sentra, and many others. In July of 2017, I moved into a second floor, east-facing studio in central Edmonton. As I unpacked, I found Plexi-glass sample chips in various colours. I strung them on a wire and hung them like a mobile in front of one of the windows. The coloured transparent effect of the overlapping-coloured chips intrigued me. I started to make small, folded sculptures using painted thin Lexan pieces. Replicating the fine folds in paint became my primary goal. Then COVID-19 hit, and I stopped painting. After three restless and reflective months I began to visit the studio to study the work. My visual memory bank had been cleared and I saw the pieces with new eyes. To my surprise I discovered new and unique paintings. In 2022 I offered observers a limitless journey of colour and space at my exhibition Out of the Light at the Scott Gallery.
In 2023 I displayed three original videos, Digital Abstractions, at The Works Festival. In keeping with my studio methodology, I continued to search for new methods of expression over the past year. The exploration led me to Virtual Reality (VR). VR is the latest development in delivering content in the digital space. At this year’s Festival, a VR piece will be presented for the first time. The Meta Quest 3 headset becomes a gallery where the image is presented in a spherical virtual space. The viewer is completely and seamlessly surrounded by the image for a unique personal experience.
Enjoy. Welcome. Come into the picture.
about the artist
Giuseppe Albi was born in Italy and immigrated to Edmonton in 1951. He attended Alberta College of Art in Calgary and L’Ecole des Beaux Arts Montréal. In 1970 he moved to Europe where he exhibited at galleries in Edinburgh and Amsterdam. Albi returned to Canada in 1974 and has had solo exhibits at the Art Gallery of Alberta, Galerie Woltjen, Udell Gallery, Peter Robertson Gallery, and Scott Gallery in Edmonton, as well as Istituto Italiano di Cultura in Vancouver, and Amelia Douglas Gallery in New Westminster, BC.
He has exhibited in many groups shows and his paintings are in both public and private collections. This includes the Art Gallery of Alberta, The Alberta Foundation for the Arts, KPMG, St. Joseph’s College, The U of A Financial Health Centre, the U of A Faculty of Business, Cenovus Canada, Sharecom Industries Ltd. and Golden Artists Colors Inc. in New Berlin, NY.