The latest exhibits at the Estevan Art Gallery and Museum (EAGM) offer a look at the carnival, and draw upon the talents of one of Estevan’s most celebrated entrepreneurs.
Kyle Beal Presents: 16 High-class Attractions and Amusements features the works of Beal at the EAGM’s Gallery No. 1. In neighbouring Gallery No. 2, Beal curated A Slideshow for A. King, which features the works of Andrew King.
Beal was in Estevan for a reception on Friday night.
The exhibit in Gallery No. 1 was inspired after he saw an article on an amusement park in New Jersey named Funtown Pier that was hit hard by Super Storm Sandy in 2012, then burned down nearly a year later due to a large electrical fire.
“Given the name Funtown, it kind of piqued my interest and appealed to my sense of humour,” said Beal.
He started finding images from Funtown online, and did research into the history of amusement parks. Then he found some photos of Funtown Pier, and transferred them into large-scale drawings for a series of large pictures.
“I worked for about 10 years as a picture framer, so I was thinking of the frame to extend the works a little bit, so not dissimilar to the King prints, I tried to put a little bit more of a carnivalesque or exuberant frame on these starkish, black and white pictures of the destruction of this humourously named place,” he said.
Beal also wanted to play with the concept of the midway and the carnival concept, with electric lights and spectacle. He came up with two wall-based works, which are triggered to illuminate and blink as people walk around the gallery.
He also devised an exhibit called A Chicken in Every Pot, How to Cook Your own Goose. It features hanging rubber chickens and ducks with electric lights, creating a look of a street game.
The exhibit in Gallery No. 2 features the work of King, who owned the Estevan Mercury from 1944 to 1958, and who also gained fame for owning Andrew King Show Prints, which created posters for circuses and carnivals throughout North America.
Beal put his own spin on the show prints by adding big top circus tents surrounding some of the prints on display in Gallery No. 2.
He said he didn’t know a lot about the work of King previously, but when the show came about, he was intrigued once he found out about King’s works. The EAGM has the largest collection of Andrew King show prints in its permanent collection.
He thought there could be an interesting relationship between his work and that of King’s.
“A few friends, actually Saskatchewan-based artists, had forwarded me some material to start researching,” said Beal.
After visiting Estevan last summer, he marvelled at the work of King.
“They do kind of make you smile, and do conjure up the really pleasant memories of the carnival,” said Beal.
The chance to bring his own work together with that of King’s is a dream pairing, he said, because they both deal with the concepts of fun at carnival.
“What we gravitate to is entertainment,” said Beal.
The two exhibits will remain on display until June 1.
