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.â€
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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Andrea Carson writes on contemporary art, architecture and design...
9 comments ↓
Hi Andrea, thanks for the blog post.
Just to clarify, the button design was commissioned by the Art Gallery of Mississauga only.
However Kelly is showing at the Blackwood this Fall.
A few reasons to visit our ‘burb.
What is the source of this information? I didn’t see anything at artmet about it.
Well, probably Art Met wouldn’t advertise this kind of thing. Various sources, but everything was confirmed by the artist.
Sounds like hype to me. If artmet has nothing to say then a copy of the CC’s incensed communique or an official statement from a CC spokesperson would go along way to making the story seem real.
I think the bags would work really well in the parking lot at Sheridan Mall but that has nothing to do with whether artmet commissioned them or how much they bothered people at the CC. I hope you do an update on this soon Andrea, great topic!
likes to know - you should do your own homework…
and spend less time at malls.
I prefer to find my hearsay in the parking lot at the mall. I come to VoCA for Critical commentary on the Canadian art scene, with a focus on Toronto, including exhibition reviews, previews and in-depth articles on art in Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary and Winnipeg
Ok people..easy, easy…it’s true that VoCA heard this story from the artist, who ok’ed it being posted. And we like a little hearsay once in a while. We don’t take ourselves too seriously…but if the CC or anyone else has a different version of the story, we’d be very interested…
it’s all true. i work at art metropole and it all happened the way it’s been reported, more or less anyway.
i still don’t know why kelly is pursuing a critique, albeit a jocular one, of the canada council. why critique the canada council?? for me, it’s like biting the hand that feeds you… and in my opinion it’s rather impolitic.
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