In today's NOW, I was glad to see my colleague David Jager's review of the Will Kwan show at the Justina M. Barnicke Gallery.
I personally really liked this show—more than I think David did in the end, actually. What came across to David as alienating was more uncompromisingly hardassed in my own experience.
Does this mean I'm plenty alienated already? That I'm happy to revel in Kwan's (equally) bleak view of the world, aka the capitalist economy and its worldwide impacts? Perhaps.
In any case, the show closes this weekend, and I recommend catching it — sometimes it's just Kwan's lifting of capitalism's existing ephemera to the surface that's so effective. This is most apparent in an array of photographs of bank-branded money-gifting envelopes--a traditional Chinese ritual object mashed up with acronym-happy financiers. Methinks it rocks. The neon sign spelling "weapons of mass destruction" in military shorthand actually leaves me a bit colder, but yes, overall, good. If you can't make it, try Kwan's website -- of if you're in Dublin, check him out at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, where he's artist in residence this winter.
Also worth catching if you can is the more exploratory and enigmatic pairing currently on at Loop. I'm not quite sure about it but it sort of delighted me and stuck in the mind a bit. The show matches scrappy sculptures from Audrea DiJulio with large round paintings by Suzanne Nacha. I think it's the sculptures that kind of delight with their resourcefulness, and the paintings that add a touch of weirdness--they conjure eyeballs and mine shafts. I guess I also like that both artists come from a scientific as well as an artistic place—Nacha is involved in geology, while DiJulio has some experience in civil engineering. Both artists are going to chat with Pete Smith on Sunday the 20th at 2pm, the last day of the show.
Just up the street from Loop is a show that's been pretty roundly praised and that I've enjoyed a lot. It's Ben Reeves at Jessica Bradley and it closes December 20. I'm not a huge painting gal, but part of what I love about Reeves' project here is the way he plays painting of photography. He makes his really nice lumpy, blobby paintings as usual, then he decides on one part of that painting to "zoom in" on and "enlarge". This enlargement--usually just one massive blob that originally represented, like a head in a crowd or something--is even rendered on a "larger grain" canvas. It's kind of absurd, like a totally unhelpful CSI-episode technique or something, but it's also really fun. As I may have indicated here before, I find some of the maxi-painting/painting as sculpture practitioners kind of of aggressive or grotesque in mood; Reeves takes it to a much more fun and accessible zone.
Finally, I feel duty bound to note one show that I do not really recommend--though its heart is often in the right place, "Fashion Forward" at the OCAD Professional Gallery is disappointing. The best/most promising parts address different ways that Toronto designers try to use their skills to the benefit of special needs or populations. In fact a show solely on this theme likely would have succeeded better. Where it falls apart a bit is the mishmash of general-fashion stuff it includes. On that general fashion end it's unclear, for example, why Comrags, however awesome, is present and new stars like Jeremy Laing or Greta Constantine are not. Maybe I just missed something in the curatorial premise, but it seems like there's two good small shows potentially here (one on special-function fashion and one on mainstream Toronto fashion design's history and present) or one huge one (on both, or more angles). But none of these really reach fruition.
Image of Will Kwan's art from Now Toronto
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Recommended: Will Kwan @ the Barnicke and more
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Notes on the Ideal Reader
Further to John Bentley Mays' recent notes on role of the "ideal reader" in art criticism, I wanted to go public with the "ideal readers" I keep in mind when writing different kinds of pieces.
When I'm doing a Q&A for the National Post, I tend to keep my sister in mind. She's an intelligent and accomplished person, and does not work anywhere remotely near the sphere of the arts. The arts also don't particularly lie in her usual area of interest. Keeping her in mind helps me (I hope!) in trying to make links between art and the "real world" or art and more newsy events.
When I'm doing a review for NOW or the National Post, I tend to keep a close friend or two in mind, one who likely knows something about art. The reason to think of a good friend is it helps keep me honest—I have to think, well, what would I really tell this person about the show? Would I honestly recommend they go see it? Would I tell them not to waste their time? Or would I take the "meh, whatever, either way" route?
I do know when I'm writing for the National Post in reviews, I tend to let the language get a little more convoluted and flowery than for NOW--I'd actually like to pull it a bit more back to basics (which is to say, to a more conversational tone) but that's gonna take some work!
When I'm writing in-house stuff for Canadian Art, previews and the like, I tend to think of people I see around in the art world, folks who aren't close emotionally but who have some background or interest in art and who might also have more of an interest in background or history issues in terms of institutions or galleries.
Finally, when I'm writing for this here blog, well, to be honest (geez, this will sound just great!) I guess the ideal reader is myself—though I'm verrrrrrrrry happy to have a few Unedit my Heart readers who aren't me, I think it also likely comes across that this is a working-it-out-in-the-brain or writing-it-down-in-case-the-brain-forgets-it type of space. Admittedly, I do also sometimes think of colleagues with similar interests, and what they might be wanting to know about, but that's much rarer, likely (yipes!) 1 to 5% of the time.
Anyone else (if anyone's still reading...) find that thinking of an ideal reader helps them in the writing process? Anyone going to use that strategy when writing their top 10s for Sally & LM? (Anyone can submit, due December 27, details here! Do it!)
Image from the Blogger Institute
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
It's the Biggest Can/Art Story of the Day, so Why Fight It? Yes Men Perform Canuckness at Copenhagen
This is pretty much the biggest Canadian-related art story of the day as I see it, so let's just affirm it now, shall we? From the National Post:
Prankster group Yes Men take credit for Canada climate hoax
COPENHAGEN -- The federal government was stung on Monday by a sophisticated hoax that made it appear the Canadian delegation had publicly committed to bold emission reduction targets and tens of billions in new aid to help African nations.
An American social advocacy group told media organizations they were responsible for the fake news releases that set Canadians at the Copenhagen climate conference abuzz late on Monday.
Activists calling themselves the Yes Men said they sent out an initial phoney news release, which laid out the supposed new Canadian targets and action plan.
That email was followed by others, one of which appeared to be a government indictment of the first hoax -- which stated Canada's standing with the international business community had been damaged, and the Canadian government would "seek the full measure of legal recourse against these criminals under Danish and international law."
Another hoax news release had the Ugandan delegation at the international climate change talks reacting with elation to Canada's news.
The news releases were posted on a fake Environment Canada website, and the first appeared on real-looking, but bogus, Wall Street Journal and United Nations Conference of the Party sites.
And from the Yes Men website:
Copenhagen Spoof Shames Canada; Climate Debt No Joke
African, Danish and Canadian youth join the Yes Men to demand climate justice and skewer Canadian climate policy
COPENHAGEN, Denmark - "Canada is 'red-faced'!" (Globe and Mail) "Copenhagen spoof shames Canada!" (Guardian) "Hoax slices through Canadian spin on warming!" (The Toronto Star) "A childish prank!" (Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada)
What at first looked like the flip-flop of the century has been revealed as a sophisticated ruse by a coalition of African, North American, and European activists. The purpose: to highlight the most powerful nations' obstruction of meaningful progress in Copenhagen, to push for just climate debt reparations, and to call out Canada in particular for its terrible climate policy.
The elaborate intercontinental operation was spearheaded by a group of concerned Canadian citizens, the "Climate Debt Agents" from ActionAid, and The Yes Men. It involved the creation of a best-case scenario in which Canadian government representatives unleashed a bold new initiative to curb emissions and spearhead a "Climate Debt Mechanism" for the developing world.
The ruse started at 2:00 PM Monday, when journalists around the world were surprised to receive a press release from "Environment Canada" (enviro-canada.ca, a copy of ec.gc.ca) that claimed Canada was reversing its position on climate change.
In the release, Canada's Environment Minister, Jim Prentice, waxed lyrical. "Canada is taking the long view on the world economy," said Prentice. "Nobody benefits from a world in peril. Contributing to the development of other nations and taking full responsibilities for our emissions is simple Canadian good sense."
Thirty minutes later, the same "Environment Canada" sent out another press release, congratulating itself on Uganda's excited response to the earlier fake announcement. A video featuring an impassioned response by "Margaret Matembe," supposedly a COP15 delegate from Uganda, was embedded in a fake COP15 website. "Canada, until now you have blocked climate negotiations and refused to reduce emissions," said "Matembe." "Of course, you do sit on the world's second-largest oil reserve. But for us it isn't a mere economic issue - it's about drought, famine, and disease."
Makes me sad to be a Canadian, but proud to occasionally believe in art. In other words: I don't think this stunt/performance/work accomplished a ton, but it did direct attention to the way image is used and misused in the climate talks--a worthwhile point whether one's Canadian or not. (Frankly for all those who just want to diss Alberta, I say where would Bay Street be without the oilsands... but that's a whole other discussion.)
Monday, December 14, 2009
Interview: Vitaly Medvedovsky on Painting the Unreal
Vitaly Medvedovsky is a young, currently Montreal-based artist who won this year's $25,000 Joseph Plaskett Award, a travel-funds prize for promising painters. Last week, I got to chat with him on the phone about his latest body of work, which melds memories of the USSR, where Medvedovsky grew up, with more fantastical representations around national myths. Today the National Post published the interview. Here's an excerpt:
Q You seem to really enjoy making surreal landscapes. Where do these come from?
A They originate in personal memory but also expand on that. I was born in the U.S.S.R., and I often think of myself as a person who comes from a country that doesn't exist. In my paintings, I seek to superimpose something on that blank spot in my biography by combining real and mythological elements.
Q How else did growing up in the U.S.S.R. influence your art?
A It's not necessarily real events that attract me, but more the visual things. When I originally started these paintings, I was inspired by socialist propaganda posters. My first paintings were parodies of those -- I would use family and friends as substitutes for political figures in poster-type compositions.
But it was really an eye-opener for me when I realized that I'm not trying to recreate a specific memory. Instead, I'm trying to reconstruct a fantastical world that's supposedly based on things I remember, but that's also completely made up. The mythological and surreal elements help make that more obvious.
You can read the rest--including Medvedovsky's allusions to the space race--on page B14 of today's Post.
Image of Medvedovsky's I Went Deeper Into the Forest from Galerie Push
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Duly Noted: Young Art Folks say "Frak the Internet"
I'm a bit of an oldster in tech terms--turning 35 next month and still (!) use a hotmail account on occasion--so it's been interesting for me to see some younger early-20s artists and curators start to make work that is critical of the interwebs with which the have been suckled.
A recent example of this was "On You On Me" at the new artist-run/living-room space Butcher Gallery. Curated by young artist Kaitlin Till-Landry, the show was intended to deal with "themes inspired by the Internet’s influences on identity, narcissism and voyeurism." (In the interest of full disclosure, I met Till-Landry a couple of years ago when I was hired to curate a show of student work for the U of T vis arts department.)
For one "On You On Me" performance, Till-Landry took a knife to a webcam-streaming digital LCD screen, and seemed to find it harder to destroy than initially thought. Video of the performance is below:
Performance at Butcher Gallery from Kaitlin Till-Landry on Vimeo.
The work didn't end up functioning as intended during my visit, but the overall premise--including the handwritten, nondigital curatorial statement--was interesting. Most of the rest of the work in the show was analog. (I think the show has now closed, but a word to the wise if you're planning on visiting the gallery--because it's over a butcher shop, it does smell a lot like fairly odorous cheese and meat in there--er, unless that was some extra-analog piece that I somehow didn't identify.)
It's also worth noting that earlier this year, another young curator, Jennifer Chan, made related critiques of the web in her essay for a show at Interaccess. (As an aside, it looks like after many months of staffing-and-financial chaos, Interaccess is finally showing art again this month. Here's hoping they pull through.)
Finally, there's one more example I've come across of this internet-critical sentiment, albeit in the clubbing realm: Tony Cushman's regular FUCKtheINTERNET dance party. Says Cushman in an interview with BlogTO:
The crowd that we are attracting - artsy types in their 20s - are part of the last generation that can still remember a time before the Internet. The tracks [that we play] - New Wave, Old School Hip-Hop, 90s Dance - are a celebration of the pre-internet era, but the name also speaks to the ambivalent relationship we each have with the Internet.
I don't think any of this means Google will have to batten down the hatches for mutiny anytime soon; far from it. All these kids use the internet a lot--but it's interesting to me how some of them are also more critical about it than I would have expected.
Image from Hacking for Christ Read More......
Friday, December 11, 2009
Follow-up: Galleries closed since '08, and some that have opened
As a follow-up to the NOW 2000s art trends article I posted about yesterday--particularly the point on the effect of market ups and downs on our local scene--I just wanted to list the Toronto galleries I know of that have closed since 2008, or that are soon to close their spaces.
I should also note that number of these have promised a "transformation" into more of a consultancy or showing-from-home-office scenario, but the spaces themselves have closed, or are about to.
Artcore Fabrice Marcolini
Sandra Ainsley Gallery
Greener Pastures
Akau
Beckett Fine Art
Keep Six Contemporary
Paul Bright Gallery
Craig Scott Gallery
Tinku
List Gallery
Switch Contemporary
I'm listing these just as information--no judgment, people. I have zero skill or experience in the commercial gallery realm, so I'm pretty much always impressed with people who (a) are willing to give it a go and (b) are willing to risk their livelihoods/pay the rent for it.
(I'll also just note, out of Toronto, that Vancouver's Lawrence Eng Gallery has officially closed. They showed some artists I enjoy and who I hope get picked up elsewhere.)
Interestingly, one of the main Toronto gallery launches this season was Circuit Gallery -- a gallery that has ixnayed gallery-rental fees from its budget completely and gone all online/consultancy to begin with. I'm guessing this will be an increasing model for the future. Even though the auctions this season have clearly shown that some folks are still willing to pay big money for art, it's a challenge, I'd bet, to develop and maintain relationships with those kinds of buyers, especially for new gallerists featuring relatively unknown artists.
Image from Chicago Now
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Top 10 Art Developments of the Decade out in NOW
December 2009 is the mini-era of the decade list genre in all media right now, it seems. Rolling Stone just released their double-naught cover, seen above, and, for the less sincerely excited, my National Post colleagues have been doing a smileworthy sarcastic version in recent print editions of the Saturday arts section.
NOW's decade-list issue is out today, complete with a "Top 10 Art Developments of the Decade" section. I contributed to this list along with my colleagues Fran Schechter and David Jager. Here's the rundown:
1. Photography in flux
2. Queen West art boom
3. Post-conceptualism
4. Art festivals go big
6. Forever young
7. Art market bubble and crash
8. Galleries seize their space
9. Exhibition Transport Services cut
10. Rising museum admission fees
To read the reasoning and details, do hop on over to the article.
(On the art front, of course, we've already had some debate on this blog about the Star's decade-best art picks, which we should actually continue with the better-but-still-shockingly-white'n'male (TM) CBC.ca and Time.com art best-of lists. But I'll leave that for another post.)
Image of Chip Kidd's Rolling Stone cover from their website