OUR OPENING RECEPTION ON MAY 18TH IS SOLD OUT. For general exhibition entry, please join us May 19 - 22 between 10 AM - 6 PM daily, free entry.

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This event page is for the opening night of JULIAN'S DREAD : A Jae Sterling Solo Exhibition & Black Market. Our opening reception will have light snacks & beverages. Tickets are expected to sell out as our venue is limited capacity, please reserve your spot in advance.

ABOUT JULIAN’S DREAD

In this companion exhibition to his 2023 short film, JINN JULIAN, Jae Sterling examines the life of the fictional character Julian, providing an intimate investigation into the character's emotionally complex existence. In "JULIAN’S DREAD," through film, props, oil, and digital paintings, we explore symbols of Jamaican youth, Christian fanaticism, magical realism, and theosophy. Through the various mediums, Sterling invites the viewer to contemplate: What powers does Julian have? What old spirits live in Julian’s paintings and books? Where does he go not only in his dreams but also through the many pasts and futures he is forced to visit to fulfil his purpose? Figurative, surreal, and impressionist styles converge to create an immersive exhibition meant to overwhelm and provoke the viewer.

“I ground my work in the unique realities of what it feels like to be Jamaican in the Canadian Prairies, but I also explore what it could look like through different lenses, using art as a portal to travel through time and space. My work continuously captures a certain obsession with people and their dreams, a repeated analysis of my own history with a need to recontextualize over and over, Caribbean colours to punctuate the deep future.”

JULIAN’S DREAD debuted in the prestigious Esplanade Arts and Heritage Centre at Medicine Hat, AB in January, 2024, and is now coming to Calgary, AB in May, 2024.

Exhibition Running May 18 - 22, 2024
Paintings & prints will be for sale throughout the duration of this exhibition.
For more information & updates please follow Jae Sterling's instagram
For questions please email [email protected]

About Jae Sterling:

Jae Sterling is a multidisciplinary artist, curator and founding member of the FOREIGNERZ arthouse. Informed by and finding ways to blur pop culture, classic and contemporary art, Sterling’s work veers between presenting heightened expressions of human emotion and exploring dreamscapes. His mediums include graphic illustration, painting, written essays, music and fashion and often is presented under the title ‘BIG BULLY’. Through his early years in Kingston, Jamaica to the landscapes of North America, Jae spent the past decade developing his artistry by weaving his experiences of growing up in Jamaica & South Florida and coming into adulthood in the Canadian prairies into all his projects.

In 2020, Sterling embarked on an ambitious, year-long multimedia exhibition, Riding Horses With White Men (RHWWM). The success of RHWWM led to him being one of Calgary’s first black muralists, painting The Guide & Protector in Chinatown. Through his collective, and now production house Jae has worked as a creative director for various projects. In 2021 Jae Sterling was invited to be the art fellow & curator of the Inaugural Arts Commons Incubator Program for the 2021-2022 season. In 2022, Sterling launched his next series, a meditation on prairie surrealism called ‘PORTALS’. This series debuted in TRUCK GALLERY in spring through a solo exhibition 'SEVEN PORTALS', went on to be seen within Arts Commons in various iterations and had it’s most massive installation through a 2000 sq ft mural as a part of the 2022 BUMP festival called ‘PORTAL MAKER’. Since 2023, Sterling has expanded his creative vision to the world of film and fashion with his first short film JINN JULIAN, debuting at the Calgary International Film Festival. A companion exhibition to the film, JULIAN'S DREAD will be touring Canada in 2024.

This event & exhibition is presented by FOREIGNERZ