In April, the Toronto-based artist Kelly Mark was commissioned to design a shopping bag for Art Metropole to present at the Basel Art Fair, as they have done for years.

Hildegard Spielhoffer, of Tweek Lab, models the 2003 Maurizio Nannucci shopping bag.
Image: www.artmetropole.com

Mark’s design inverted the Canada council acknowledgement and logo that CC-supported artists and institutions are required to display on their invitations and press releases.

Kelly Mark’s design used the CC logo in a Gucci-like pattern across the bag, with a play on words at the bottom – in miniscule, barely visible type – that simply read:

The Canada Council for the Arts

gratefully acknowledges the support of Kelly Mark

Somehow…the text was sent to the Canada Council for translation. The CC, apparently incensed, forbade Art Met to use the logo in such a way, despite it having been reworked by a well-respected Canadian artist.

Though the Art Met board fully supported Kelly Mark, in fact encouraged her to print the bag anyway, according to the artist “it was an awkward situation since it was meant as a ‘gift’ which the CC didn’t want.”

Kelly Mark’s bag design. Image: Kelly Mark

VoCA says the Canada Council should lighten up.

In any case, the slightly-altered original design now exists as a button that Mark was asked to produced for the Art Gallery of Mississauga.

Kelly Mark’s button design. Image: Kelly Mark

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