UPDATED Holy Snafu, Mayer-man! Roxy Paine Public Art Announcement Ignites Canuck-style Controversy in Ottawa

Reader! Have I been under a rock for the past two weeks? I think I must have been because until today I had completely missed (a) the National Gallery's announcement that it will acquire and install a piece of Roxy Paine's art in Ottawa and (b) a couple of snafus relating to same.

Now let me say right off the bat--who does not love the work of Roxy Paine? Well, a lot of Ottawans, apparently. But I can say with honesty that I've enjoyed the Paine works I've seen--primarily earlier sculptures in mushy, squishy, amorphous red in person, and images of big and coolio metal trees in reproduction.

However, it's clear the National Gallery effed up a bit in the process of this one.

First--this may be purely one for the media people, but it is truly bizarre--the National Gallery apparently handed out images of the Paine piece to media and then, after the Ottawa Citizen published the image on its front page and angry web commenting commenced, said the image couldn't be used for publicity anymore. As Citizen reporter David Reevely pointedly put it on his blog,

Update: There used to be an image of the thing at this point in the post. Unbelievably, the massive twerps who run the National Gallery are saying that despite their having given out images of the sculpture they're spending a lot of our money to buy, they didn't actually have the right to, and so they're enforcing a copyright claim that says we can't publicize the image anymore, even though it's been on the front page of the newspaper. Which, you know, makes them look like they're proud of what they're doing and are confident people will like it.
The done thing at this point, if you didn't see one of the 130-some-,000 images we printed and distributed the other day, is to picture the worst thing you can imagine that fits the following description and imagine they're buying that and putting it up downtown. It's actually not that bad, but they're just that dumb.
Hey, National Gallery, or Roxy Paine for that matter: send me an image and I'll replace this text with it. In the meantime, here's a copy of our front page.


Here's that copy of the front page, from Reevely's blog:


Secondly--and this is the part that seems to appeal to a wider audience--the announcement set off hundreds of angry commenters who criticized, variously: the piece; how much it cost; the fact that it is going to be in a historically important location to Canada, but is not created by a Canadian; the fact that art in general sucks, etc. Though this type of response is in some ways to be expected whenever a public gallery forks over big money for a piece of contemporary art, I do think it possible that the way the Gallery approached this installation played a factor. For one, if the piece had been one of Paine's more straightforward tree sculptures, I can bet you dollars to donuts it would have gone over better than a massive "needle" such as is proposed. (Even I feel a bit weird about the needle, Paine-drooler though I be.) Also, though gallery director Marc Mayer did say in an interview that "We've commissioned works by two major Canadian sculptors, one for the front of the museum...this time next year we'll probably have five sculptures, three will be Canadian," it likely would have been wiser to play up those Canuck commissions a bit more.

Anyway, I find all this very interesting, particularly in light of the timing for a recent article by Greg Buium in the Walrus, which posited: "The National Gallery’s acquisition of Voice of Fire created a massive controversy. Could it happen today?" Hm.... I, er, wonder.

More links to info about this issue:
Original front-page news report in Ottawa Citizen
Sidebar on National Gallery sell
Full interview notes with Marc Mayer from Citizen reporter Maria Cook
Anti-sculpture column by Ken Gray
David Reevely's pro-sculpture, anti-publicity-image-pulling post

Oh, and seeing as how that rock may still, in fact, be on top of me, feel free to correct or update links in the comments.

UPDATE (Feb 2)
The National Gallery spokesfolks got in touch with me today to clarify a few points from their side of the story:

• The image pulled from the Citizen is one that was used in a presentation to the National Capital Commission, who has to approve the Paine project before it goes ahead. Though the gallery refused to give the image out to media, the National Capital Commission did give it out, an "honest mistake" given the image was created by the National Gallery (not Paine) for presentation purposes only.
• A Citizen photographer was at the gallery recently to take photos of Paine's presentation maquettes, photos which could soon appear on the Citizen's website (these images have the gallery's reproduction okay)
• The other public art pieces Mayer mentioned in passing -- the ones by Canucks -- were not presented to the National Capital Commission (and not covered in related releases) because they are not planned for NCC land and do not require NCC approval. Still, the gallery is keeping mum on what this new "sculpture garden" effort might look like, as well as which artists, Canadian or otherwise, might be involved until a more extensive announcement in May-ish time.

Keep those cards and letters coming!

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Duelling Press Releases: Artists vs. the National Gallery of Canada

When duelling press releases are issued, you know there is a conflict going on in the art world. The latest instance of this has been a breakdown in exhibition and reproduction fee negotiations between CARFAC/RAAV—the associations representing all of Canada's artists—and the National Gallery of Canada.

According to a CARFAC press release issued December 2:

Visual artists have revived a complaint against the National Gallery of Canada for bargaining in bad faith after mediation talks in November failed to resolve a bargaining impasse that has been outstanding for two years. The complaint will be handled by the Canadian Artists and Producers Professional Relations Tribunal (CAPPRT) who can call a hearing to decide the issue.

Negotiations, which first began in 2002, broke down in 2007 when the gallery suddenly refused to discuss exhibition and reproduction fees. This despite the fact that talks had largely revolved around these fees for five years. At that time, the artists’ negotiation committee first filed a complaint with CAPPRT. The complaint was suspended after Marc Mayer was appointed director of the gallery and then agreed to mediation.

“After seven years of negotiation we had hoped to resolve this issue,” said Karl Beveridge, co-chair of the artists’ negotiation committee. “The lack of commitment on the part of the National Gallery to the negotiation process is disappointing and disrespectful to all Canadian artists.”


And according to the National Gallery of Canada's press release issued December 7:

The breakdown in negotiations with the CARFAC/RAAV under the Status of the Artist Act results from CARFAC/RAAV’s interest in concluding agreement on copyright issues outside the boundaries of their certification. The NGC is fully prepared and very committed to resolving the important issues, including terms of professional engagement and services, which are covered by the Status of the Artist Act.

The NGC has long played a leadership role in encouraging and protecting living artistic culture in Canada but it cannot do so outside the Canadian laws and of the long-established regulation process regarding property and copyright.

Mediation was proposed by the NGC in an effort to finally conclude an agreement. On the first day of the mediation process, CARFAC/RAAV put an end to the discussions and announced that they were reviving a complaint they had filed at the Canadian Artists and Producers Professional Relations Tribunal (CAPPRT) in early 2008.

So far, CARFAC/RAAV has not responded to the NGC’s invitation to resume discussions on all outstanding issues.

Fun times! FYI on other conflict fronts, the Museum of Civilization workers' strike has now hit 12 weeks. Here's the museum workers' twitter feed; they're currently asking for binding arbitration. And here's the museum's press release feed; they call their offer "realistic and responsible."

Image from NoMoreComm

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Get a David Hoffos for 30 Bucks - Just in time for the Holidays!

One of the promising art things that is happening this week is the opening of David Hoffos' Scenes from the House Dream at the National Gallery of Canada. Hoffos makes such amazing, must-be-experienced-in-person installations, so it's nice to see him get a serious exhibition there. But in browsing around for info on the show I found something almost as awesome—Hoffos' shilling of a $30 Scenes from the House Dream souvenir stereo-card set. In addition to being excellent holiday-gift-list fodder, it's worth checking out just to browse around Hoffos' site, which is humorously branded "The Official David Hoffos Action Website: Thrills, Chills, Exciting Illusions and Artwork". Funny/sad man.

Image of David Hoffos' Scenes from the House Dream Stereo Card Set from his Official Action Website

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Out today: Q&A with Thomas Nozkowski in National Post

A funny thing happened on the way to the National Gallery of Canada—for Marc Mayer, at least. When he was heading the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art, Mayer rhapsodized over the museum's upcoming survey exhibition of American painter Thomas Nozkowski.

Then, Mayer was named director of the National Gallery of Canada—and the Nozkowski show magically came with him.

In any case, after talking with Nozkowski over the phone about the national gallery show, which opened last month, I can see why Mayer wanted to keep this one for himself. The guy's really good at talking about and thinking through his practice, something a lot of artists are not so good at. Today our condensed conversation can be found in the National Post. Here's an excerpt:

Q Have you taught throughout your career?

A I've only been teaching the past seven or eight years. I supported myself for many years by working in publishing. I probably designed every sleazy book you ever saw! When my wife and I got out of art school, we said we would only work at day jobs three days a week, even if it meant eating beans.

I think the real trick in art is to love the thing itself, not the things that come from it. That's what will sustain you. If the art world gives you a great gallery it can take that away, and money too.

Image from canadianart.ca

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Q&A: The National Gallery's own Angels & Demons Blockbuster?

Today, the National Post published my Q&A with David Franklin, curator of "From Raphael to Carracci: The Art of Papal Rome", which is the National Gallery of Canada's summer blockbuster. I know it's silly to tie the production of an art historical exhibition to Dan Brown's Angels & Demons... but of course that didn't stop me from trying. An exerpt:

Q The movie Angels & Demons just came out. Are there any connections here for Dan Brown fans?

A I think if you want to understand more of Rome and papacy there's definitely lots to delve into in this exhibition. I'm not sure about one-to-one parallels, though.

Q Still, aren't Brown's books about looking for clues in artworks and architecture?

A Yes, and it's a nice metaphor for what art historians do. We're also looking for clues, and while there may be this veneer of accuracy in what we write, there's a lot of room for interpretation and detective work. It's inevitable that art produced centuries ago is going to keep a lot of secrets or enigmas.

The show opens Friday May 29.

Image of one of Raphael's portraits from Jerry and Martha

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GG Awards show in Review @ Canadianart.ca

The GGs are one of Canada's biggest publicly funded arts awards. But does the related exhibition measure up to the prestige? Not so much, as I reveal in a review published today at Canadianart.ca. What think you?

Image of our 2009 GG award winners from Canadianart.ca

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Rumour: Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography to Close?

Just got an email about a potential closure of the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, one of the few national museums of photography in the world. It's a forward originally written by Winnipeg artist Diana Thorneycroft. Writes Thorneycroft:

Dear photographers and friends of photography:
I have just learned that the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography has lost the building that was specifically designed for them. As reported in the Monday edition of the National Post (16.03.09) the museum will be gutted and turned into offices for politicians....
For the past two years CMCP has been occupying temporary space at the National Gallery.It is imperative that we show our support for this institution, its programming and collecting, or we may very well lose it.

According to the National Post story, "The federal government will convert the former Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography in downtown Ottawa into committee rooms for MPs as part of its plan to vacate the crumbling West Block next year" for a Parliament renovation that will take 10 years.

For its part, the CMCP website posts two conflicting pieces of information. A February 23 press release says: "Due to an ongoing renovation program of its premises at 1 Rideau Street, the CMCP is currently staging its exhibitions at the National Gallery of Canada." But on the museum's "Hours and Location" tab, it says "New Location: Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, 380 Sussex Drive" -- the same as the address of the National Gallery of Canada.

I don't think it would be beyond the government's anti-arts, cost-saving ethos to roll the location of the CMCP and the National Gallery of Canada into one and use the old building for itself. But it's unclear if this is a permanent move. More info hopefully to follow.

Image of the CMCP building at 1 Rideau Street from its website

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