Take a trip around the world with the Okotoks Art Gallery's newest exhibits.
The 2025 exhibition program continues with two new exhibits, In Between: Yearning for Home by Ricardo Copado and A Closer Look by David N. Kitler, now on view until May 2.
Hailing from Mexico, Copado explores his journey to Canada through his artwork, which depicts locations across Canada and the world in a surrealist style.
"I like to work with a contrast of colours," he said, describing his work as surreal and whimsical.
"Normally I base my work on places that I've physically been in my life, but also places that come just from my imagination. I mix it all together and that's the result."
Copado's art also serves as a retelling of his personal life, particularly his journey as an immigrant.
"I'm originally from Mexico, so moving from Mexico to Canada, I always feel like I'm in the middle, and between the two countries, between the two places," he said.
Currently a master's student at the University of Guadalajara, Copaldo is an accomplished artist in Alberta. Anyone who's been to Edmonton's downtown public library has most likely seen his massive mural on display.
His work also tells the stories of others, such as through a piece commissioned by former Calgary Flames player Spencer Foo, who now plays for the Kunlun Red Star of the Kontinental Hockey League and played for the Chinese national men's hockey team during the 2022 Winter Olympics.
"It tells a story about his life, from when he was in rural Alberta all the way until he made it to the Chinese national team," said Copado.
Continuing the art gallery's international theme, Kitler's work offers a closer look at nature and wildlife throughout the world, from the fearsome harpy eagle of South America to ospreys and great horned owls commonly found in Alberta.
"I really do like the raptors, the birds of prey," he said. "I've travelled all over the world, Africa, India, South America, North, to get my reference."
His work, mostly acrylic on Baltic birch plywood, incorporates a great deal of hands-on experience with his animal subjects, including through photography and on-site consultation with wildlife specialists.
To demonstrate the work that goes into Kitler's work, the exhibit shows in-progress transitions from sketches to fleshed-out paintings.
"There was an emphasis that I really enjoyed, and it's on the educational end of things," he said. "Instead of coming to a show and saying 'look at me, look at me and look what I've done,' it's more about 'look at how it's done.'"
Kitler also aims to spark admiration for the miraculous nature of the world.
"I believe there's a Creator, and I'm just trying my best job to show the world what he's created," he said,
"For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, are clearly seen through what has been made, so that people are without excuse," he continued, reciting Romans 1:20.
The Okotoks Art Gallery, located at 53 North Railway St. in Olde Towne, is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
