October 19 – November 10, 2023 Extended through Christmas.
The Club – 2431 8th Ave
Opening reception – Thursday, October 19th from 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Video screening of Roger Ing’s Utopia documentary at 7:30 pm
Bring your own Roger Ing art for show and tell.
Roger Ing was born in a small village outside of Guangzhou, China in 1933. He immigrated to Canada in 1950, first working in his father’s restaurant in Regina. Later, he and his wife, Mei, opened the New Utopia Cafe where Ing did the majority of his artwork.
In his formative years, Ing learned the traditional bamboo brush painting style of art, which influenced much of his work. In Canada, he immersed himself in painting and studying with Ken Lochhead, one of the Regina Five artists, who introduced him to Abstract Expressionism. Ing developed his own style referring to it as “Rogerism” or “Roger Style.” Studio, gallery, restaurant: the New Utopia Cafe was one and the same for Ing for 23 years. When he wasn’t out front serving customers, he was in the back creating new Rogerisms of his favourite subjects: tigers, dancers, sunflowers, birds, nudes, Frankensteins, or Mona Lisas. When his restaurant was closed because of health code issues in the summer of 1993, he continued to work at home.
Over the years Ing had many exhibitions, including as a contributor of a Saskatchewan Arts Board show at the MacKenzie Gallery in 1962, as well as having solo exhibitions at The Bridge Gallery in 1993, Regina’s Albert Library in 1988 and 1989, plus several in the Saskatchewan Cultural Exchange Society Club Gallery in 1988, 1992, and 1996. In 1998 Ing had his first solo exhibition in a major gallery at the MacKenzie Art Gallery, in conjunction with a screening of a documentary Roger Ing’s Utopia about him and his work.
He became a culture-hero to many in Regina’s artistic communities and is remembered for his eclectic collection and unique style. Roger Ing died in Regina in 2008.
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About the Exchange
Proof of vaccination is no longer required.
Masks are encouraged.
The Exchange is wheelchair accessible and offers 2 non-gender/wheelchair-accessible washrooms.
The Exchange is an all-ages venue that supports the Safer Spaces Initiative. We do not tolerate any form of harassment, abusive and/or discriminative behaviour. Such behaviour is grounds for immediate removal from the event/venue. If you are experiencing any harassment please ask to speak to a manager.
The Exchange – Community Feedback Survey. The Saskatchewan Cultural Exchange (SCE) is a community based arts organization that aims to deliver artistic programs to the people of Saskatchewan. The SCE owns and operates The Exchange in Regina and delivers community based arts programming across Saskatchewan.
The Saskatchewan Cultural Exchange believes that everyone has the right to feel safe and included when accessing our programming and venue. We are committed to providing each patron, guest, artist and employee a welcoming experience regardless of gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, race, colour, ancestry, place of origin, religious beliefs, physical disability, mental disability, marital and/or family status and source of income. To ensure we are living into this, the SCE Board of Directors is currently seeking feedback from the community we serve to help inform the development of a Safer Spaces & Inclusion Policy. Please take a few minutes to fill in the survey below and let us know how we are currently doing, what gaps there might be and what we should focus on to ensure a safe and inclusive space for the community we serve.
With any luck, you’ve heard of what we’re celebrating this year: 40 years of the Saskatchewan Cultural Exchange, the non-profit organization supporting arts for everyone in the province, and 25 years of the Exchange, our all-ages performance venue on 8th Avenue in Regina.
Over in the Eight Track Gallery, we’re dipping our toes into that history with our latest show. When you come through next, you’ll see dozens of posters for past shows. A huge number of artists are represented, only a fraction of the larger-still group who’ve passed through the doors of the Exchange and the Club.
Take a look, either to take a trip down memory lane or just take in the history of the space.
The Caligari Project is a unique, multi-disciplinary, city-wide public festival celebrating German Expressionism in its many forms. It encompasses visual art, film, music, dance, theatre, puppetry, and a speakers series that originally happened in Regina, Saskatchewan from September to December 2016.
The series of photos displayed in the Eight-Track Gallery shows some of the many artists, arts administrators, and organizers who came together to take part in the festival.
The exhibition is up now until late March 2017. Photo credit goes to Regina based photographer Eagleclaw Thom. To find out more about the Caligari Project, go to their website.
The Eight-Track Gallery is located in the Club at 2431 8th Avenue, Regina, SK. It is open for events or whenever the offices are open.
Starting November 9, there’s a new exhibition in the Eight Track Gallery. Cindy Lou Twist is a Regina visual artist who finds inspiration in music festival culture. Throughout 2017, she’s hoping to mount art installations in festivals and spaces around the province, and the Eight Track is lucky enough to get to see an early sample.
The installation features transparent acrylic plastic on which Twist has drawn designs. From her artist’s statement:
One by one I began to use the intuitive painting method where I layered each panel using neon and neutral aerosol spray paints, placing each stencil pattern and color according to my current heart’s desire instead of pre-meditating a finished product. After the spray paint had set, I then took neon acrylic paints and mixed them onto the panels using pressure from another piece of flexible plastic to give it an electric texture so that it gives the impression that it’s growing. After each panel had dried, it was time to figure a way to mount and display. With the amazing help of my step father we designed and built a frame based off of a common house hold room divider. Finally, I wired LED strips to the frame so that each LED colour accentuates each hand-drawn detail.
The opening for the installation is on Wednesday, November 9 in the Club. The installation can be viewed whenever the Club is open for a show or by coming by the Saskatchewan Cultural Exchange offices during regular business hours.
