Practice Overview
Canadian visual artist Kyle Beal operates in a multidisciplinary studio based practice. His general interests concern such things as
- Performance, finding parallels between the curtain or backdrop and stage and issues related to pictorial illusion and flatness.
- Comedy, thinking about the comedy club as a place of intentional openness akin to the art gallery, but also humor, and laughter as a notable aesthetic response.
- The participation or implication of the viewer in the creation of meaning parasitically relying on the prevalent but mostly benign narcissism that pervades some many of us (Beal included).
His studio based research is both formal and informal in nature, and finds historical precedents and parallels salient to his comprehension of contemporary culture. These interests are expressed through drawing, sculpture, glass work in the creation of mirrors, and other necessary means as they arise in the process of understanding.
Artist’s Bio
Beal holds a BFA from the Alberta College of Art and Design (2001) and an MFA from the University of Victoria (2004).
His work has been exhibited across Canada and the USA in Montreal, Toronto, New York City, Calgary, Saskatoon, Seattle, and Vancouver, notably including presentations in the 2015 Alberta Biennial of Contemporary Art at the Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton, and the Esker Foundation, Calgary, among others.
Beal currently lives and works in Treaty 6 Amiskwaciwâskahikan/ Edmonton, Alberta.
Recent activities and upcoming exhibitions include a solo Series Exhibition at the Nickle Galleries at the University of Calgary and participation in the inaugural Canadian residency at the La Napoule Foundation d’Art in France, as well as a scheduled Two-person exhibition at the College Galleries at the University of Saskatoon in 2023.
Kyle Beal is represented by VivianeArt (Calgary AB).