The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance. ~Aristotle

Jean-Pierre Gauthier, Nul/Flirting with the Puck 2008. Image: canadianart.ca

1. Kinetic works by the former Sobey Art Prize winner Jean-Pierre Gauthier at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia from December 18, 2009 to March 15, 2010.

A drawing by Dan Perjovschi. Image: romanianculturalcentre.org.uk

2. The curators at the ROM finally see the light and bring in Romanian artist Dan Perjovschi to graffiti the walls of Libeskind’s precious crystal. The artist will work on the walls ‘live’ during gallery hours from February 13 to 22, and the show continues to next summer.

A portrait piece of Janusz Dukszta by Evan Penny. Image courtesy UTAC.

3. From 19 January to 13 March 2010, collector Janusz Dukszta is the subject of a new show at the University of Toronto Arts Centre. It’s curated by Gordon Hatt and should be an interesting comment on the artist/patron relationship.

Here is part three of fascinating article written by former Winnipegger Edwin Janzen, an artist and writer currently based in Ottawa. The article was previously published in Drain magazine – you can read the full article, HERE, (under Related Essays) or click HERE for last week’s post on VoCA. Stay tuned as we publish it serially, every week.

Winnipeg band The Weakerthans, with album cover art by Marcel Dzama. Image: pitchfork.com

The Power of Myth
How Did Winnipeg and Its Art Become such a Big Deal?

By Edwin Janzen

Part Three: Loving to Hate Winnipeg

Looking back at what I just wrote, I wonder if “arrogance” and “meanness” aren’t a little harsh? The little angel speaking into my right ear delicately says so. The little devil speaking into my left ear, however, eagerly asserts that I’m right on the money.

My condition, here, is what is known as ambivalence, a ubiquitous quality that born ’Peggers like me come by honestly. A consistent inclusion in every creative Winnipegger’s psychological toolbox, ambivalence arises again and again in the art that Winnipeggers produce, and, broadly speaking, it characterizes the selling of Winnipeg’s art scene.

Winnipeg film director extraordinaire Guy Maddin. Image: stopsmilingonline.com

The ineluctable fact is that Winnipeg artists and musicians make better boosters than its political and business leaders ever did. Of late, Winnipeg artists have aggressively sold the city like never before, have achieved its transformation into a cultural product, not by avoiding ambivalence as a civic characteristic, but by embracing it.

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LOATHED: THIS article by Toronto architecture critic Christopher Hume tells of a developer who skirted the law by hiring thugs to deface a building that was slated for heritage protection. Now the building can’t be designated, so he’s able to just tear it down.

Gordon Matt-Clark, Conical Intersect, 1974-5. Image: thesprawlnetwork.com

Such little respect for our architectural heritage is astounding.

A more interesting option would have been to put out a call to artists to make work out of the old building. At least then it would ‘die’ with respect. Something similar to the excellent show the Leona Drive Project, which we blogged about HERE. That show was the result of a collaboration between developers and curators that gave soon-to-be-demolished houses over to artists for a week.

An image from the Leona Drive Project in Toronto. Image: Derek Flack/blogto.com

Of course, using architecture as art has been done by the late, great Gordon Matta-Clark, an artist who famously split houses in two, transforming their meaning from living space to wonder-inducing sculpture.

It reminds us of the young trees lining Toronto’s Bloor Street that were brutally beheaded last week to make room for other trees, with more soil, that will grow larger. Was it really necessary to kill all those trees? We hear they were mostly healthy.

One of the beheaded trees on Bloor Street. Image: Remi Carreiro/Torontoist

Let’s look for creative, positive solutions to such issues. After all, according to Seth Godin and others, we are entering the age of generosity.

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Thanks to Gareth Bate from whom we got Hume’s story on Facebook.

It’s kind of interesting that the new Art Gallery of Alberta, which is slated to open on January 31st, will be collaborating with the National Gallery of Canada to bring works from the NGC to Alberta audiences.

Goya Disasters of War, 1810 – 20. Image: tate.org.uk

It’s a great idea that bridges the Canadian geographic gap nicely and brings excellent exhibitions to Edmonton. The first featured exhibition will be the beautiful, brutal Goya: The Disasters of War and Los Caprichos, which will run until May 30th.

Read the full article HERE.

Rumour has it that some artists aren’t pleased with the way the Vancouver Olympics is being handled.

Image: mediacoop.ca

We’ve been hearing rumblings for some time now of artists being censored, their ‘anti-Olympics’ works removed or under threat of removal and constraints being put on artists who are being commissioned to make works to showcase Vancouver’s visual art scene.

Much of the debate arises from this contractual clause: “The artist shall at all times refrain from making any negative or derogatory remarks respecting VANOC (the organizing committee), the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Olympic movement generally, Bell and/or other sponsors associated with VANOC.”

Vancouver has the most condensed area of homelessness and addiction in Canada and many Vancouver artists take inspiration from the grittiness of the Downtown East Side. We can imagine that they wouldn’t agree with an Olympic Committee that may be glossing over this aspect of the city.

“Art without free speech is simply propaganda“, says The BC Civil Liberties Association president Rob Holmes.

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Organized as part of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics cultural mandate, CODE is a program of art, music, film and Canadian culture that is available online as a website where audiences can interact and take part.

The CODE Screen website, with a nice piece by Aganetha Dyck. Image courtesy CODE Screen 2010/Peter Dyck.

It’s a great way of bringing Canada’s culture to international audiences. One of CODE’s platforms is for visual art. It’s called CODE Screen 2010 and allows audiences to click through to curated displays of artwork online.  The speed and ease of the site is impressive, and some of the work is excellent.

Many ‘exhibits’ suffer from unfortunately lazy curating, as with the current show by Daina Warren that far too simplistically brings animal-themed work together (aghh!)  There is much work worth seeing, it’s just preferable to take each work by itself, since there isn’t much to be gained from the curatorial themes.

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Here is part two of fascinating article written by former Winnipegger Edwin Janzen, an artist and writer currently based in Ottawa. The article was previously published in Drain magazine – you can read the full article ,HERE, (under Related Essays) or click HERE for previous posts on VoCA. Stay tuned as we publish it serially, every week.

The City of Winnipeg welcomes visitors. Image: eclairefare.com

The Power of Myth
How Did Winnipeg and Its Art Become such a Big Deal?

By Edwin Janzen

Part Two: Booster Town

Winnipeg in its early days was a boom town, but the dream went south with the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914, and the city entered a decades-long economic winter. To be sure, Winnipeg has many things going for it. Ukrainian perogies and Mennonite farmer sausage are easily had. Every summer the neighbourhood streets are transformed into cathedrals of foliage by rows of towering elms. And the city’s electorate tends to return NDP legislators, a successful record undermined in part by its record of electing silly mayors.

The best thing about Winnipeg is hope, which allows Winnipeggers to put aside the fact that the factors in favour of their city are outnumbered by the factors against. Winnipeggers turn a brave face to their city’s seemingly intractable social and economic problems, even as they lack, and lament the lack, of the resources to address them.

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Nothing to Declare: Current Sculpture from Canada
PLUS
Recent Snow: Projected Works by Michael Snow
11 December, 2009 – 7 March, 2010
The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto

Michael Snow, still from SSHTOORRTY, 2005. Image: Arttorrents.com

We went to the Power Plant’s opening last night of two exhibitions. The first, a fairly simple display of new sculpture, gave us a mix of things, including two wonderful works by Victoria’s Luanne Martineau, whose work we love for its tactility and drama.  It looks like art history put through a blender but rendered in the ‘feminine’ technique of felting. It’s bold, strong and intriguing.

More images and thoughts on what we didn’t like in the show, below..

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Tibi Tibi Neuspiel, Lincoln / Booth. Image: beautifuldecay.com

For those of you who are interested in the ‘what is art criticism’ debate, there’s recently been a lively discussion among my fellow Canadian bloggers, sparked by THIS post that VoCA wrote a few weeks ago.

Check out Gabby Moser’s blog HERE for her thoughts, Jennifer McMackon’s blog Simpleposie HERE, for another discussion, and Leah Sandals, who shares her thoughts on her great blog, Unedit My Heart, right HERE.