Showing posts with label canadian art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label canadian art. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

More Retro Action: Delving into the CanArt Archives


With Stephen Harper proroguing our government to a standstill--over the phone, no less--it's an extra-depressing time to be in the present. Why not leap back to the past? That's something I've enjoyed doing for the past few years when it's come time to dig up some "Retro Reads" for the Canadian Art website's holiday break. I really enjoy looking through old art magazines for interesting photos and time-warp perspectives. This season, I posted three articles from the mid-1980s: an interview with Eric Fischl, a critique of the opening show at the Power Plant, and a museum policy op-ed by a guy who went on to become one of Montreal's (and Canada's) most prominent dealers. Enjoy.

Image of Robert Enright's 1985 interview with Eric Fischl from Canadian Art

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Friday, December 18, 2009

Thank God it's Linkday


Reader, I think that my last couple of posts reveal the following truth: that my brain has become a bit fried from exposure to art and other things, and it's a good time to just do some linking and shout-outs to cool things found 'round the interwebs. So here we go—some good stuff to see and watch and listen to if you ain't already holiday-nogged out of your mind:


Art Fag City's Year-End Fundraiser
Blogger extraordinaire Paddy Johnson has commenced her second annual year-end fundraiser to support her web-crit outpost Art Fag City. She's looking to raise $8,000 by January 1 to keep the blog going. All donations get a tax receipt, and also get a Travis Hallenbeck ringtone. The top donor will get the Saul Chernick print pictured above. Genius, and a great way to support art/art crit in a time of shrinking column-inches for same.


"The irrelevance of museums as social institutions is a matter of record"
I came across this video via prolific museum-ops blogger Nina K Simon. In this five-minute video, Robert Janes, editor of Museum Management and Curatorship, calls out the problems he sees in the current museum world—namely, that museums are already irrelevant in the social sphere thanks to an emphasis on marketplace rather than quality exhibitions. I'm not 100% in agreement with his take, but it's a helpful reminder that we in Toronto are not alone in our displeasure/frustration with our museums. I hope we can find ways to change this situation for the better in the year to come.


Don’t Call Him a F*$@ing Starchitect!
This one comes via thoughtful writer Hrag Vartanian's blog. As Vartanian notes,
When London’s Independent newspaper used the “s” term in front of Frank Gehry, the Toronto-born architect went nuts: "I don’t know who invented that fucking word ’starchitect’. In fact a journalist invented it, I think. I am not a ’star-chitect’, I am an ar-chitect…" Yikes, chill dude you are a starchitect, you really are.
Well put. (Image via Curbed)


Canuck Art Best-of Lists Begin!
Yesterday, both Akimblog and Canadian Art released their year-end best-of lists. I work for the latter, but I honestly think it's still worth a read. Torontoites should also peruse David Balzer's year in review piece from this week's Eye and Torontoist's Heroes and Villains lists, in which the Power Plant gets a shout-out. And yes, I will plug Sally & LM's top ten fiesta yet again, which hasn't started publishing yet but is accepting submissions until December 27.

Lead photo taken by me at the Toronto Sculpture Garden

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