Alberta gallery hosting photographic exhibition called ‘Falling Through the Cracks'
Artist Wes Bell looks at his collection in his exhibit called 'Falling Through the Cracks' at the Alberta Society of Artists gallery.
For the month of June the Alberta Society of Artists is hosting an exhibition called 'Falling Through the Cracks' featuring black and white photos of cracks in asphalt.
Wes Bell, a Medicine Hat artist, put the collection together.
The title comes from a medical event he experienced in 2019 when he thought he had a heart attack.
After five visits to the emergency room, doctors couldn't pinpoint the cause of his pain.
A few months later the pain returned and Bell learned it was due to complications with his gallbladder.
'I sat down with the doctor, the ER doctor and he looked at my numbers and that's when he said 'you could have died, I'm sorry but you fell through the cracks',' said Bell.
It took Bell three months to recover after surgery and while out walking to build up his strength, he looked down.
'And I saw this major crack,' he said. 'It reminded me of the scar on my abdomen and from that, things just grew and later that summer I started researching and hunting for these cracks.'
Bell spent more than 20 years as a fashion photographer, moving to Milan, Italy in 1986 and then later to New York City.
'I worked for fashion editorial for magazines, major magazines; British GQ, British Esquire, the New York Times Magazine,' he said.
'Interestingly, most of them were color photographs, now my personal work is all black and white.'
Bell says the economic crash in 2008 saw advertising dollars dry up and his career with it. He became depressed and went back to school.
'I ended up taking five classes of history of photography, ' he said. And from that grew my passion for art photography, all of a sudden I was focusing on things that meant more.'
The exhibit at ASA has received good reviews from visitors since it opened according to Chawna Exner, program coordinator.
'It's really nice that it's been here during Mental Health Month,' she said. 'Because his work has a lot to say about mental health and I personally really resonate with that and I think a lot of people also really resonate with that.'
Exner says the gallery is focused on local, Alberta professional artists and giving them a platform along with providing a space where they can educate the public about their work.
'When I look back at my career in fashion, I was known for detail and driving people crazy on detail and here I am out photographing cracks, again looking for detail,' he said. 'And if I sharing my vulnerability, that would be the reward that somebody else benefited from it.'
The ASA Gallery is on the second floor of the Crossroads Market in southeast Calgary and the 'Falling Through the Cracks' exhibition runs through until June 26.
Learn more about Bell here: www.wesbellphoto.com/fine-art.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Globe and Mail
an hour ago
- Globe and Mail
Victoria city council endorses plan to address homelessness, addiction and mental illness
The City of Victoria has endorsed a community safety and well-being plan aimed at tackling the complex and 'entangled challenges' of homelessness, addiction and mental illness playing out on city streets. The report contains dozens of recommendations aimed at all levels of government across eight sectors, including housing, health care, service delivery, and policing and justice. 'Collectively, we are feeling the consequences of compassion fatigue, and a growing 'scarcity mindset,'' the report said. 'This plan recognizes these tensions, and the anger, frustration and vulnerability that exists on all sides, and seeks the balance among them.' Two years ago, Mayor Marianne Alto initiated the process of creating the 79-page document, which is aimed at responding to increased social disorder and a public perception of diminished safety. Its recommendations are the product of an 11-member expert panel. A survey by the Downtown Victoria Business Association published earlier this month found downtown businesses had reached a "tipping point‚" saying many of them won't survive without meaningful efforts to reduce street disorder such as open drug use, camping in doorways and on sidewalks, and repeat criminal activity. The Globe and Mail spent months speaking with Victoria residents, business owners, police officers, local politicians and drug users in an effort to chronicle the impact of the decline of Pandora Avenue, the epicentre of the city's fentanyl crisis. The story, published last month, put Premier David Eby on the defensive in the legislature as he highlighted his government's efforts to create more supportive housing. Poisoned: How fentanyl transformed Victoria's Pandora Avenue from downtown hub to open-air drug market During discussions about the report with city council Thursday, Ms. Alto said the process involved 'extraordinarily challenging conversations' and thanked those involved. 'The most important thing for us to say is it's time now for us to act,' she said. City staff will now assess the plan's budget implications, and examine the policy changes it requires with an aim to report back to council in the fall, before 2026 draft budget deliberations. The city manager will also implement preliminary actions within the existing budget. The report's recommendations included urging the city to explore the feasibility of small-scale tiny homes for the unhoused, increasing funding to maintain the cleanliness of public spaces, supporting local businesses with graffiti removal and creating more public amenities, such as micro-plazas and benches. But the report noted that many levers to improve the downtown situation are the provincial government's responsibility. Its recommendations to the province include expanded supportive and complex care housing and reforming police budget rules to recognize a municipality's ability to pay. It also requests the province allocate resources directly to municipalities if they 'are expected to continue to respond to local homelessness and its impacts.' Victoria is spending millions to tackle its homelessness crisis, stressing taxpayers From Ottawa, the report calls for the adoption of bail reform policies that would see repeat and violent offenders held within institutions for longer, while increasing emphasis on rehabilitation and community-based intervention programs. It also recommends the creation of a national encampment and homelessness response plan. The panel, supported by city staff, included experts in social-service provision, law enforcement, fire and emergency response, public health, business leadership, local neighbourhoods and local Indigenous knowledge. Jonny Morris, chief executive of the Canadian Mental Health Association's British Columbia division and a member of the panel, likened the existing health care response to the current crisis to focusing cancer care on its final stages. 'Right now, it can absolutely be argued that our health care system – nationally, provincially – does spend the majority of its mental-health resources on Stage 4 interventions: emergency psychiatric hospitalizations, involuntary care, intensive crisis responses,' he told council Thursday. 'Meanwhile, Victoria is a municipality spending significant resources on the community impacts of those health care gaps, police responding to mental-health crises, bylaw, people discharged with nowhere to go, services, court processing. The health care recommendations in this plan rebalance the system.' Marg Gardiner, the lone councillor not to endorse the plan, said the root cause of disorder on the streets is drug addiction and the failure to provide rehabilitation. She blamed decisions by the province and city for anchoring a drug subculture, and said the plan cannot be realized as is. 'I cannot give false hope to the general public that [a] solution will be found if this plan is fully endorsed,' she said.
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
‘It saved my life': New app helping cancer patients manage treatment at home shows promising results
A new online tool designed to help cancer patients manage their chemotherapy symptoms from home is being called a game-changer by both patients and health-care providers in the Lower Mainland. The RESPONSe program was launched last year at Richmond Hospital. It allows patients undergoing chemotherapy to report their symptoms through an app or website. The information is monitored by nurses and doctors, who can then respond quickly to offer guidance, suggest medications, or recommend when patients should seek emergency care. Dr. Jeremy Ho, who leads the RESPONSe program, says it's helping to catch complications early. 'We're asking patients how they're doing after treatment and then trying to catch symptoms early so that we can hopefully prevent them from becoming serious,' said Ho. For cancer patient Sydney Cuthill, the tool has made a real difference. 'I had every side effect you could get, from thrashed hives to loss of appetite, and this program was a huge game-changer for me,' she said. 'It's like having a nurse in your pocket.' Another patient, Katherine Lecy, credits the app with potentially saving her life, after she fell seriously ill while on vacation. 'I launched the app to describe my symptoms, and I was running a fever of 103 or 104 (degrees Fahrenheit), and the app actually just said go to emergency,' Lecy said. 'It saved my life.' Since its launch, the program has enrolled about 150 patients, resulting in more than 700 symptom management calls from nurses. Ho says the system is not only improving patient care but also reducing strain on the health-care system by preventing unnecessary emergency room visits. 'The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive,' Ho said. It's unclear if this program will be expanded beyond Richmond Hospital. The Ministry of Health told CTV News via statement that it 'is committed to improving cancer care in the province.' 'We are pleased to hear the success of the RESPONSe home monitoring program. We will continue to explore advances in technological innovation like this initiative.' The RESPONSe project was funded by $300,000 in grants from several donors, including the B.C. Ministry of Health Innovation Fund, the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute Team Grant Award, the Richmond Hospital Foundation, and the BC Community Oncology Trialists.
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Toxic drug supply causing complex overdoses in Sudbury
Officials are warning that street drugs are being mixed with other substances, making Naxalone ineffective to combat overdoses. Officials are warning that street drugs are being mixed with other substances, making Naxalone ineffective to combat overdoses. Outreach workers and Public Health Sudbury and Districts say toxic overdoses have been increasing in the area lately. Officials said illegal drugs are being cut with substances that Naloxone -- a medication for opioid overdoses – can't reverse. Naxalone Officials said illegal drugs are being cut with substances that Naloxone -- a medication for opioid overdoses – can't reverse. (Alana Everson/CTV News) In May, the Go Give Project said it handed out about 220 Naloxone kits, a fast-acting medication that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose. But Ali Farooq, The Go Give Project co-founder, said it only works on opioid overdoses. Increase in toxic overdoses 'While it will reverse the effects of the opioid that the individual is suffering, it will not have any other effect on any other contaminants or additives to the supply,' Farooq said. He said outreach workers are seeing an increase in toxic overdoses, which he attributed to a more toxic drug supply. 'This usually ties in when we have big drug busts in the province and around the country,' Farooq said. 'It limits the supply coming in and therefore we find more and more contaminants mixed in with the drugs going out onto the streets.' Sam Mortimer Public Health nurse Sam Mortimer said it's a reminder of just how toxic the unregulated drug supply is and making overdoses more complex. (Alana Everson/CTV News) Public Health said it's a reminder of just how toxic the unregulated drug supply is and making overdoses more complex. 'Those sedatives and tranquilizers that have been added into the supply in recent years increase those effects,' said public health nurse Sam Mortimer. 'We are seeing people who are staying asleep or sedated for a lot longer, which puts them at a greater risk. And it also decreases their ability to breathe, which, again, puts them at risk for respiratory distress or arrest.' Health unit officials said it's still vitally important to administer Naloxone in an overdose, call 911 and give rescue breaths while waiting for help.
