Catherine Burgess is an Alberta sculptor who has been making and exhibiting her work for the past 45 years. Born in Ponoka, Alberta in 1953, she lived in Edmonton from 1955–1960, spent the 1960’s in Vancouver and returned to Edmonton in 1969 where she has lived and worked to the present day. She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Alberta in 1975. Her early education also included a summer session at Yale University -Yale at Norfolk in 1974. She attended several influential artists’ workshops: Emma Lake Artists’ Workshop in 1977 with guest artist Anthony Caro; the inaugural Triangle Artists’ Workshop in Pine Plains, New York in 1982; and the Hardingham Sculpture Workshop In Norfolk, England in 1988. In 2002 she was inducted into the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts where she served on their Governing Council from 2010 - 2016. In 2011 she was inducted into the Edmonton Hall of Fame.
During her career she has mounted over 30 solo exhibitions and participated in over 70 group exhibitions in Canada, the U.S. and Great Britain. Her public commissions include Sanctuary at the Mineral Springs Hospital in Banff, Alberta, 1987; Things As They Are at the Donald Forster Sculpture Park in Guelph, Ontario, 1991; The Big Rock in downtown Edmonton, 1995 (in collaboration with sculptor Sandra Bromley); Return in downtown Edmonton, 2001; and Momentum 2011 and Prairie Sound Garden 2020, in Sherwood Park, Alberta, (as part of the three-person art group Tricycle.) Her work has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, The Alberta Foundation for the Arts and the Edmonton Arts Council and is represented in over 25 public collections in Canada including the National Gallery of Canada.
CV (PDF)
Statement
My sculptures are conversations among whole things, rather than unities resulting from a gathering together of fragments. Each individual element contains an awareness of its own form and materiality, its own completeness, energy and significance. Placing these objects in carefully considered proximities creates new relationships that in turn provoke further allusions and viewer-induced interpretations. They also emphasize, through comparison, the distinctive materiality and physicality of each element.
The spaces that the objects occupy become activated, acquiring substance sufficient to become players in a developing dialogue. The thin, planar elements that cling closely to floors and walls serve as portals to unknown spaces behind and beneath what is immediately visible. These absent spaces join the conversation. There is no longer an exacting divide between that which is substance and that which is immaterial or between that which is present and that which is absent.
Increasingly over the last few years my interest has focused on making the immaterial more substantive. Sometimes the elements that I fabricate use linear, perspectival drawing to suggest that they penetrate the physical boundaries of walls and floors. Or I attempt to “bend space” to make our awareness of it more palpable. Experiencing such unfamiliar space adds an awareness of human limitation (that which is unknowable) to the conversations or narratives emanating from the placed elements.
Curriculum Vitae
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 New Small Studies, Peter Robertson Gallery, Edmonton, AB
2022 Corpus, Peter Robertson Gallery, Edmonton, AB
2021 Almost Actual, Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge, AB
2019 Catherine Burgess THIS Something – A 30 Year Survey Show 1989-2019, Gallery at 501, Sherwood Park, AB (catalogue)
2017 Catherine Burgess - Recent Sculpture, soon.tw gallery, Montreal, QC
2012 Absence | Presence, Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton, AB (catalogue)
2012 Here I There, Paul Kuhn Gallery, Calgary, AB
2007 Small 3, Studio Exhibition, Edmonton AB
2005 New Tables, Lando Gallery, Edmonton, AB
2003 Small 2, Studio Exhibition, Edmonton, AB
2003 Words, Paul Kuhn Gallery, Calgary, AB
2002 Small, Studio Exhibition, Edmonton, AB
2001 Catherine Burgess, The Works Festival, Edmonton, AB
1999 Measuring, The Works Festival, Edmonton, AB
1999 Measuring, Paul Kuhn Gallery, Calgary, AB
1996 Catherine Burgess, Paul Kuhn Fine Arts, Calgary, Alberta
1995 Things As They Are, Nickle Arts Museum, Calgary, AB
1994 Things As They Are, Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge AB. (catalogue)
1994 Kathleen Laverty Gallery, Edmonton, AB
1991 Sable-Castelli Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
1991 The Table Series, Kathleen Laverty Gallery, Edmonton, AB
1990 Three Dimensions, Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, AB (catalogue)
1989 Recent Sculptures - Catherine Burgess, Profiles Gallery, St. Albert, AB
1988 Catherine Burgess: New Steel Sculpture, Kathleen Laverty Gallery, Edmonton, AB
1986 Catherine Burgess: Bronze Table Sculptures, Robert Vanderleelie Gallery, Edmonton, AB
1984 Catherine Burgess: New Sculpture, Martin Gerard Gallery, Edmonton, AB
1983 Martin Gerard Gallery, Edmonton, AB
1982 Catherine Burgess Recent Sculpture, Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, traveling to Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge; Muttart Gallery, Calgary; Ring House Gallery, U. of Alberta;
1982 Catherine Burgess: Recent Sculpture, Gallery Moos, Calgary, AB
1981 Hett Gallery, Edmonton, AB
1980 Hett Gallery, Edmonton, AB
1980 Catherine Burgess: Recent Sculpture, Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, Sask. (catalogue)
1979 Catherine Burgess Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, AB (catalogue)
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021 Everywhere We Are — Part II, Contemporary Calgary, Calgary, AB
2020 Everywhere We Are — Part I, Nickle Galleries, Calgary, AB
2019 Rebellious – Alberta Women Artists in the 1980’s, Alberta Gallery of Art, Edmonton AB
2018 Jeanne Randolph: My Claustrophobic Happiness, MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, Sask.
2015 Brain Storms: UAlberta Creates, Enterprise Square Gallery, Edmonton, AB
2014 Regions of Distinction: Edmonton Members of the RCA, Enterprise Square Gallery, Edmonton, AB (catalogue)
2012 Seven Years in the City: Art from the AGA Collection, Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton AB
2011 Hard Rock – Heavy Metal, MacKenzie Art Gallery,Regina, Saskatchewan
2010 a Renaissance, Enterprise Square Gallery, Edmonton, AB
2009 Neo-Minimalism, Triangle Gallery of Visual Arts, Calgary, AB (catalogue)
2008 Virulent, McLeod Building, Edmonton, curated by artandlife
2007 Drawings in Space, MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, Saskatchewan
2007 The New Alchemists: Catherine Burgess and Blair Brennan, Harcourt House Gallery, Edmonton AB (catalogue)
2007 Flat, Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton, AB
2005 Form-Space-Concept-Metaphor: Contemporary Alberta Sculpture, Triangle Gallery, Calgary, AB
2004 Draw, Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta
2004 Thaw, THE WORKS Festival, Red Strap Market, Edmonton, AB
2003 Frost, Works Gallery, Commerce Place, Edmonton, AB
2003 Spirit and Matter, THE WORKS Festival, Edmonton (two-person show with Isla Burns)
2003 Room Measures, McMullen Gallery, Edmonton, AB
2002 5°, Art Gallery of Calgary, Calgary, AB
2002 RCA X 12, Art Gallery of Calgary, Calgary AB
2002 Utility, Profiles Art Gallery, St. Albert, AB
2001 Revolve, Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, AB (catalogue)
2001 Sculpture - The Works: 2001, Edmonton, Alberta (catalogue)
1998 Collecting Alberta Art: The Legacy Celebrating 25 Years, Triangle Gallery of Visual Arts, Calgary, AB
1997 Neoteric, Beaver House, Edmonton, AB
1997 Pyroclastic, Aggregate at Commerce Place, Edmonton, AB
1996 Alberta Biennial of Contemporary Art, Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, Glenbow Museum, Calgary, AB
1996 Alberta Attitudes, The Nickle Arts Museum, Calgary, AB
1996 Artviews, The Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Centennial Library, Edmonton, AB
1996 Journeys, The Nickle Arts Museum, Calgary, AB
1996 Looking Back IV 1991-95, Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge, AB
1995 The Other Alberta Sculpture, Carleton University Art Gallery, Ottawa, Ontario (catalogue)
1994 Hidden Values: Ontario Corporations Collect, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario
1994 Contemporary Canadian Works from the collection of The Art Gallery, University of Lethbridge, Art Gallery - North York Performing Arts Centre, North York, Ontario
1994 Grand Opening Exhibition, Canadian Art Galleries, Calgary, AB
1994 New Economy, The Nickle Arts Museum, Calgary, AB (catalogue)
1994 Contemporary Canadian Abstraction: A Selection, Kenderdine Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
1994 Transposition: Optical Producers in Collaboration, Southern Alberta Art Gallery (catalogue)
1992 Focal Point, Canadian Art Galleries, Calgary, AB
1991 The Old Man River Expedition, Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge, AB
1990 The Artists of the Old Man River Expedition, University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Lethbridge, AB
1990 Objects and Structures: 3-Dimensional Still Lifes, Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, AB
1989 Alberta Sculpture Survey ‘89, The Triangle Gallery of Visual Arts, Calgary, AB
1988 Drawing, Paul Kuhn Fine Arts, Calgary, AB
1988 Visions of Alberta, Muttart Art Gallery, Calgary, AB
1988 Shared Studio, The Works Festival, Clifford E. Lee Pavilion, Edmonton, AB
1988 Multiple Associations: Five Alberta Artists, Glenbow Museum, Calgary, AB (catalogue)
1988 Survey Alberta ‘88, Alberta College of Art Gallery, Calgary, AB (catalogue)
1987 Studio Watch, Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, AB
1987 Edmonton Contemporary Art, Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, AB
1987 In Touch With Abstract Art, McMullen Art Gallery, Edmonton, AB
1986 Wall, Floor, Pedestal: Aspects of Some Contemporary Sculpture, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston, Ontario
1986 Sculpture By Invitation, Law Courts Building, Edmonton, AB
1985 Canada Collects: Contemporary Sculpture from the Art Bank, travelling to Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Dallas, San Diego
1985 Sculpture City, Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, AB
1985 Sculpture ‘85, Grand Forks Art Gallery, Grand Forks, B.C.
1985 Studio Watch, Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, AB
1985 Edmonton Contemporary Art, Centre Club, Edmonton, AB
1984 Ten Years Later, Ellen Battell Stoeckle Estate, Norfolk, Connecticut
1983 Art at the Muttart, Muttart Conservatory, Edmonton, AB
1983 Connections, Martin Gerard Gallery, Edmonton, AB
1983 Edmonton Steel, Beaver House Art Gallery, Edmonton, AB
1983 Universiade Steel Sculpture Exhibition, Sun Life Building, Edmonton, AB
1982 Inaugural Triangle Workshop Exhibition, Pine Plains, New York
1982 Seven Sculptors, Studio Exhibition, Edmonton, AB
1980 From the Collection Of..., Beaver House Gallery, Edmonton, AB
1980 Eight Sculptors, The Gallery/Art Placement, Saskatoon, (traveling)
1980 Alberta Now, Edmonton, Art Gallery, Edmonton, AB (catalogue)
1979 Alberta Works In Wood, A.C.A. Gallery, Calgary, AB (catalogue)
1978 Staff Exhibition, SUB Art Gallery, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB
1977 Circa ‘77, Latitude 53 Gallery, Edmonton, AB
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ainslie, Patricia and Laviolette, Mary-Beth – Alberta Arts and Artists: An Overview, Fith House, 2007
Bell, Michael - The Other Alberta Sculpture: Catherine Burgess, Isla Burns, Peter von Tiesenhausen, catalogue essay, Carleton University Art Gallery, 1995.
Boulet, Roger – Four Thoughts on Illusional Space, catalogue essay for Almost Actual, SAAG, Lethbridge, AB 2021
Burnett, David and Schidd, Marilyn - Contemporary Canadian Art, Hurtig Publishers Ltd., 1983
Brennan, Blair – Absence | Presence, catalogue essay, Art Gallery of Alberta, 2012
Carlson, Ginger –This Woman’s Work, Canadian Art, Volume 34, No. 3, Fall 2017, pp.134-137.
Catton, Freyja – Sculptures from Recycled Materials Herald a New Approach, Galleries West Magazine, September 2022
Fenton, Terry - Catherine Burgess, catalogue essay, Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, Banff, Alberta, 1982
Fenton, Terry, and Bingham, Russell - Sculpture City - Update, Volume 6, No.5, September / Oct. 1985, pp. 6-11.
Faiz, Tina – Modern-Day Masterpieces, Where Edmonton Annual 2014, pp.50-52.
Garneau, David - Revolve/ Maxing out Minimalism, Border Crossings, Volume 20, No. 3, Fall, 2001.
Garneau, David - Post-Ironic Re-enchantments, Border Crossings, Fall 1996, pp. 65-68.
Grenville, Bruce - Things As They Are, catalogue essay, Southern Alberta Art Gallery, 1995
Griwkowsky, Fish - Edmonton Journal, September 22, 2022 – link
Hume, Christopher - Women Artists/Bright Young Newcomers on Canada’s Art Scene, Chatelaine, Oct. 1981, pp.84-87.
Johnson, Terry and Cooper Kate -The City Speaks in Steel, Alberta Report, May 25, 1987, pp.54-58.
Kidd, Elizabeth - Objects and Structures: 3-Dimensional Still Lifes, Outlook, Volume 1, No.2, Summer 1990, p.4.
Koba, Halyna - Horizontal Tendencies, Visual Arts Newsletter, Alberta Culture, Volume 8, No.2, Issue 34, April 1986, p.12.
Laviolette, Mary-Beth – Catherine Burgess THIS Something – a 30 Year Survey Show 1989-2019, catalogue essay, Gallery at 501, Sherwood Park, AB
Laviolette, Mary-Beth – An Art Chronicle, Altitude Publishing Canada Ltd., 2005
Laviolette, Mary-Beth - Catherine Burgess / Muttart Gallery, Vanguard, Volume 12, No.7, September 1983, pp.46-47
Moffett, Kenworth - Kenworth Moffett Exhibition, Update, Second Issue, 1987, pp.10-11.
Moffett, Kenworth - Moffett’s Artletter, Volume I, No. 10, December 1986.
Muehlenbachs, Lelde -Catherine Burgess / Gordon Rice, ArtsCanada, Issue No.228-229, Aug/ Sept 1979, p.54.
Muehlenbachs, Lelde-Edmonton -The Sculpture of Alan Reynolds & Catherine Burgess, Artpost, Vol. 41 Summer1991,p.10-12
Muehlenbachs, Lelde - Long Tough Looks - Artists and Their Inspiration, Update, 3rd Issue, 1987, pp.14-15.
Muehlenbachs, Lelde - Women of Steel, Visual Arts Newsletter, Alberta Culture, Volume 11, No.1, Issue 49, May 1989, p.3
Pinfold, Melinda – Rebellious Women, www.gallerieswest.ca, January 2020
Pizanias, Caterina - Dissident Acts - Spirit and Matter, Artichoke, Spring 2004, Volume 16, No. 1, pp. 38-41.
Pizanias, Caterina –The New Alchemists: Catherine Burgess and Blair Brennan, catalogue essay, Harcourt House Gallery, Edmonton, AB 2007
Richardson, Joan - Full Houses - Alberta Biennial of Contemporary Art 1996, Canadian Art, Spring 1997, Volume 14, No. 1.
Roed Cochrane, Bente - Seven Sculptures: Studio Exhibition, Interface, Vol. 5, No.3, Mar. 1982, pp.27-29.
Sleczkowska, Ania – Fundamental States of Being, catalogue essay for Almost Actual, SAAG, Lethbridge, AB 2021
Tousley, Nancy - Catherine Burgess, catalogue essay, Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, 1990
Wagner, David - Transposition, Optical Producers in Collaboration, notes for understanding the exhibition, SAAG, 1994
Westra, Monique - Public Art: An essential component of the streetscapes, plazas and parks of great cities. Alberta Views, Jan/Feb 2002, pp. 20-26.
Wilkin, Karen –The State of Sculpture: On the legacy of sculptor Anthony Caro and the work of Willard Boepple, Catherine Burgess and Clay Ellis, The New Criterion, Volume 32, May 2014, p. 40.
Wilkin, Karen – Catherine Burgess – catalogue essay for Rebellious – Alberta Women Artists in the 1980’s,
Alberta Gallery of Art, Edmonton AB, 2020.
Wilkin, Karen – Eloquent Enigmas – Catherine Burgess, Sculpture, June 2009, Volume 28 No. 5, pp30-35.
Wilkin, Karen - At The Galleries, Partisan Review 1, Volume LVIII, No. 1. 1991.pp.138-148
Wilkin, Karen - Catherine Burgess: Recent Sculpture, catalogue essay, Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, 1980.
Wilkin, Karen - Rugged Individualists With No Urge To Roam, ARTnews, Volume 78, No.2, February 1979, pp.84-88.
Wilkin, Karen - Toronto / Edmonton - A New Generation - Judy Singer and Catherine Burgess, Artmagazine 47, February/March 1980, pp.22-24.
Willard, Christopher – “Neo-Minimalism: When More is Less,” catalogue essay, Triangle Gallery of Visual Arts, Calgary, Alberta, 2009
Whyte, Ryan - “Voyeurism and Impenetrability at the Albera Biennial,” Artichoke, Fall/Winter, 1996, pp. 44-47.
Wylie, Liz - “Catherine Burgess,” Vanguard, Volume 15, No.3, Summer 1986, pp.46-47.
Wylie, Liz - “Modernist Sculpture on the Prairies: A Critical Appraisal,” Arts Manitoba,Vol.3, No. 3, Summer 1984, pp.10-16.
Wylie, Liz - The Art Scene in Edmonton, Newest Review, March 1985, pp.8-9.
Yilatalo, Katherine - New Economy, catalogue essay, Nickle Arts Museum, Calgary, 1994.
Yilatalo, Katherine - Multiple Associations: Five Alberta Artists, catalogue essay, Glenbow Museum, Calgary, 1988
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
National Gallery of Canada
Department of Foreign Affairs
Carleton University Art Gallery
Agnes Etherington Art Centre
Art Gallery of Hamilton
Mendel Art Gallery
Glenbow Museum.
Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery
Edmonton Art Gallery
McDonald Stewart Gallery, Guelph
Art Gallery of Northumberland
University of Calgary
University of Alberta, Edmonton
Athabasca University
University of Lethbridge
Red Deer College
Canada Council Art Bank
Grant MacEwen Community College
Alberta Foundation of the Arts
Nickle Arts Museum, Calgary
Mineral Springs Hospital, Banff
Kenderdine Art Gallery, Saskatoon
MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina
Kamloops Art Gallery, Kamloops
The City of Edmonton
The City of St. Albert, Alberta
COMMISSIONS
2019 “Prairie Sound Garden,” in collaboration with Walter Jule and Royden Mills, a sound and boulder installation in Broadmoor Park, Sherwood Park, Alberta.
2011 “Prairie Walk,” for Centre in the Park, Sherwood Park, Alberta, in collaboration with Walter Jule and Royden Mills and ISL Engineering and Land Services Ltd.
2011 “Momentum,” for Centre in the Park, Sherwood Park, Alberta, in collaboration with Walter Jule and Royden Mills and ISL Engineering and Land Services Ltd.
2007 “Give,” commissioned by the Wild Rose Foundation, Edmonton, Alberta
2001 “Return,” commissioned by the Edmonton Community Foundation, Edmonton, Alberta
1995 “The Big Rock,” commissioned by the City of Edmonton - a granite sculpture in Rice Howard Way made in collaboration with sculptor Sandra Bromley.
1990 Commissioned by the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Guelph, Ontario - a bronze sculpture for the Donald Forster Sculpture Park in Guelph, Ontario.
1987 Commissioned by the Mineral Springs Hospital, Banff, Alberta: two bronze bas-relief sculptures.
GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS
Edmonton Arts Council, 2007
Canada Council Mid-Career Grant: 2004, 2001
Canada Council “B” Grant: 1994, 1992, 1991,
1985, 1979
Canada Council Project Grant: 1987
Canada Council Travel Grant: 1978
Alberta Foundation of the Arts Artist’s Grant:
2004, 2002, 2017
Alberta Culture Project Grant: 1990, 1987, 1985, 1981
Alberta Culture Travel Grant: 1982
Alberta Culture Study Grant: 1974, 1973, 1972
Ellen Battell Stoeckle Fellowship: 1974
FILM / VIDEO
Catherine Burgess: Art Now Feb 24, 21 University of Lethbridge https://player.vimeo.com/video/520721883
Open Studios: Artists at Work – Catherine Burgess, University of Lethbridge, 4 short videos, 2015-2016 http://openstudios.athabascau.ca
The Big Rock — the Works Festival, 1995 Legacy Project, produced by Alberta Part Art Publications (1981) Society, 8 minutes. © 1995.
Oldman River Expedition Exhibition, produced by the Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge, Video Documentary: 33 minutes. ©1991
Canadarts, produced by the Department of External Affairs, Length: 27 minutes, 50 seconds. © 1988.
Catherine Burgess: Sculptor in Steel, produced and directed by Roger Vernon. Executive producer Elizabeth Kidd. 16 mm, colour. © 1982
EDUCATION
1971-1975 The University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, B.F.A.
1974 Yale at Norfolk, Yale University, Connecticut.
WORKSHOPS
1977 Emma Lake Artists’ Workshop, Emma Lake, Saskatchewan
1982 Triangle Artists’ Workshop (Inaugural), Pine Plains, New York
1988 Hardingham Sculpture Workshop, Hardingham, Norfolk, England
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
1978 -1985 Sessional Lecturer, University of Alberta
2003 - 2008 Sessional Lecturer, University of Alberta.