“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.“ – Marcel Proust

Today, I swung by Feheley Fine Arts gorgeous new gallery at 65 George Street, where ADAC (the Art Dealers Association of Canada) was hosting a lunch in honour of the upcoming exhibition Oh, Canada that will open at Mass MoCA on May 26.

A slide for Oh, Canada showing Joyce Wieland’s piece of lipstick marking our national anthem. Click on images to enlarge them. All images: VoCA

It’s a survey of Canadian art, from the perspective of Mass MoCA’s american curator, Denise Markonish, who has spent the past four years preparing for this exhibition by travelling to nearly every province in Canada, meeting artists, curators, gallery owners and writers.

A view of Feheley Fine Arts.


The piece above is fantastic, titled Cutting Walrus on the Beach, Itee Pootoogook, 2011. It’s sold, though. The lower piece, Plane Trip, 2011 by the same artist is not sold.

I met Denise, who is very sweet and Mass MoCA long-time director, Joe Thompson, who is a friendly, lovely man.

Denise has no real connection to Canada, despite having been here on a family road trip to Toronto at age twelve, when she saw some public artworks by Michael Snow. But really, she noticed that there was very little dialogue between American and Canadian art, and set out to rectify that.

Joe Thompson, Mass MoCA director, speaking at the ADAC lunch.

Some artists that you can expect to see are Luanne Martineau, Eric Cameron, David Hoffos, Ed Pien, Michael Snow, BGL, Valerie Blass, Kim Morgan and many, many others. Quite a few artists were commissioned to make works especially for this show, including Rebecca Belmore, Dean Baldwin, Daniel Barrow, Garry Neill Kennedy and many others.

There are 62 artists in the show, I believe, and most of them I had never heard of. Which is wonderful.

Of course there has been some griping from those who (or whose artists) were not included, but they need to get over it. It’s a fantastic opportunity to learn about new artists in Canada, and of course the curator doesn’t owe anyone anything. Canada has grown up over the past decade (or so one would like to think.) There are many opportunities for artists and galleries these days. You’ve got to reach out for them, not complain when they don’t come to you.

Curator Denise Markonish.

One interesting thing that Denise did was to have each artist interview another, and in turn be interviewed. Each one gave their top five artists. She tells a great story of how the excellent senior conceptualist painter Eric Cameron took the list of artists, eliminated everyone he knew of, then further eliminated everyone whose gender he was certain of, and thus came up with his list of five.

Anyway, Denise thought that would be a great way to try to bridge the geographical divide of our country. I agree, and I look forward to reading the interviews in the catalogue, out in July.

For more info on Mass MoCA, check out their website HERE.

The Work Ahead of Us
The Québec Triennial 2011 at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal
7 October 2011 – 3 January 2012

This review is by Kingston, Ontario-based VoCA contributor Catherine Toews.

Claudie Gagnon, Tableaux (To Beauty) (video still), 2011. Vidéogramme, son, environ 20 min. Collection de l’artiste.
Image: macm.org

I had the good fortune of visiting and writing about the inaugural Québec Triennial in 2008. At the time, I described it as “a huge curatorial effort, handled with a great deal of care, consideration and innovation,” requiring “time and patience on behalf of the viewer.” It was “fresh, exciting, and eager to please,” with many artists employing a “strange sense of humour” that rendered the first Triennial “so immensely likeable.” I am pleased to say, after spending an epic Saturday afternoon exploring the second incarnation of the Triennial, that it more than lives up to the sense of great promise created by the first, while possessing some significant differences that came as a pleasant surprise.

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Although I don’t blog about public art in Toronto, since it could create a conflict with my position on the City of Toronto Public Art Commission, that doesn’t stop me from blogging about public art elsewhere.

The entrance to the new Sofitel Hotel in Vienna. Image: VoCA/Scott Barker

I was in Vienna, Austria recently and saw the most fantastic use of art in Jean Nouvel‘s new Sofitel hotel. Surprisingly unremarkable from the outside, there was an artwork by Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist that greeted us at the hotel entrance and really wowed us on the rooftop restaurant. I’m not sure if they have a percent for art program there, which we have in many cities across North America (it gives one percent of project costs over to public artworks in newly built properties) but the hotel owners really gave an impressively enormous amount of space and visibility over to the artwork.

The awning over the hotel’s entrance was lit up from underneath with an image that has viewers peering into Pipilotti’s magical ‘heaven’. You literally see up her nostrils. Then, you enter the very black elevator up to the roof top lounge and restaurant.

The restaurant ceiling. Image: VoCA/Scott Barker

The entire restaurant – from the chairs to the carpet, walls and bar is covered in matte, dark grey. The only colour exists in a spectacular ceiling mural by the artist that covers the ENTIRE ceiling, which is also punctured with small circular video screens. Through the screens you can see Pipilotti cavorting around, sticking her fingers down to pull you up into the ceiling.

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The other day I found a number of old Canadian Art magazines on sale for $2 each. I bought them, and found this questionnaire in the April 1966 issue. It’s interesting, reading over the questions how some remain relevant today and others, not so much…

My vintage copies of Canadian Art. Image: VoCA

On the following page were answers to some of the questions by the leading artists of the day, including Jean McEwen, Clive Daly, Guido Molinari, Doris McCarthy, Joyce Wieland, Christopher Pratt and Iain Baxter. I’ll reprint some of their answers in an upcoming blog post.

In the meantime, I’d love to hear your replies to some of the questions. Pick just one, or several and comment below!

Button created by Iain Baxter’s N.E. Thing Company Ltd. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Active 1966-1978. Image: flickr.com

1. Do you think art criticism can be useful? If yes, to whom especially?

2. What should art criticism contain?

3. What do you feel is the role of the art critic today?

4. In your opinion, what constitutes the minimum training, academic or otherwise and experience in the visual arts that would equip a critic to fulfill his role?

5. Assuming art criticism has some value, in which of the following media is art criticism most necessary? (Check one only)
a. Newspapers
b. Quarterlies
c. Television
d. Art magazines
e. Radio
f. Other (specify)

6. Art criticism should be directed to reach (check as many of the following as you believe necessary)
a. Artists
b. Museum and public gallery executives
c. Private collectors
d. Other (specify)
e. Other critics
f. Students
g. The general public

7. Do you feel that sound critical reviews (good or bad) have an influence on artists’ work and its direction?

8. Do you feel that sound critical reviews have an influence on the buying public?

9. Do you feel that sound critical reviews have an influence on art appreciation generally?

10. Whether incompetent criticism praises or condemns, do you believe that unsound critical reviews ultimately damage and artist with his public? If so, why?

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Last night in Toronto’s Kensington Market, a group of about 60 or so gathered to hear two panel discussions – one on the city’s annual “All Night Contemporary Art Thing”, Nuit Blanche, and the other to discuss the idea of a Toronto Biennale.

The TAAC panel last night. Image: P Elaine Sharpe.

The event was organized by the Toronto Alliance of Art Critics, of which I’m a member.

Though I had to leave before the second panel, some of the issues raised about Nuit Blanche were the difficulty of getting international, in depth coverage of the event due to its timespan – a single night; the fact that there is no significant institutional memory of the event from year to year; the need for more logistical advice for artists and curators to deal with the crowds; and the intrusion of corporate sponsorship onto the art.

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If You’re in the Hood….

Scott Massey, Two Yellow Lines, 2006. Image: Helenpittgallery.org

In Vancouver, I just got word of a video projection exhibition that will happen on March 18 at W2 Storyeum, 151 W. Cordova.

The show is the work of a new not-for-profit called Drop Out Video Arts that has brought together artists, artsworkers and musicians to create this one-off event. Expect 30 projections, alongside installation and interactive artworks.

And if you’re an artist, submissions are still being accepted until Monday. Check out their website at the link above and the submission form HERE.

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Big congratulations to the 2011 Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts!

Robert Fones, Can-D-Man, 1971. Image: ccca.ca

They are: Photographer Geneviève Cadieux, visual artist Robert Fones, performance and visual artist Michael Morris, filmmakers David Rimmer and Barbara Sternberg and painter Shirley Wiitasalo, each for distinguished artistic achievement. Metalsmith Kye-Yeon Son won the Saidye Bronfman Award for excellence in fine crafts.

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I wanted to do a blog post about contemporary dance, partly because I love dance and see a lot of it in Toronto.

The water scene in Un peu de tendresse, bordel de merde. Image: accel21.com

But also, because the other night I saw Montreal choreographer Dave St. Pierre‘s company performe Un peu de tendress bordel de merde, the second in a triology whose most significant characteristic is that most of the performers are stark naked.

The ‘corps de ballet’ from Un peu de tendresse. Image: artandculture.com

Actually, it’s not the most significant characteristic. I was reminded of orgiastic paintings from 17th century Europe, like Rubens’ Massacre of the Innocents, which is in the Art Gallery of Ontario. The show had other interesting artistic references and some genuinely touching moments.

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The third biennial national portrait competition, the Kingston Prize, is accepting submissions until April 29, and this year, the prize is being doubled to $20,000.

Marina Dieul, Le défi, oil on panel. Image: kingstonprize.ca

The prize is a wonderful project of the Kingston Art Council (and by the way, it’s supported by the W. Garfield Weston Foundation.)

Andrew Valko of Winnpeg won last year’s Kingston Prize with this piece, titled Personal Surveillance. Acrylic on panel.
Image: kingstonprize.ca

Portraiture is interesting for many reasons. Portraits are a true document of the times. It’s certainly not the most hip kind of art being made today – that’s what the Sobey Art Award is for – but it’s a lot more accessible to audiences than some of the cute conceptualism out there.

And when the works of 30 finalists goes on display at the Royal Ontario Museum from November 10, 2011 to January 2012, audiences will have an opportunity not only to see some outstandingly skillful works, but will also learn a lot about artists from across the country. As Oscar Wilde recognized, “Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter.”

Gerard Kuehl, Martha Otuk. Graphite. Image: kingstonprize.ca

Prior to the ROM, there will be a preview exhibition of the works in Gananoque, Ontario and in February 2012, the show will travel to Drummondville Quebec.
Looking back at submissions from past years, it’s clear that Canada boasts some astounding portrait artists.

Click HERE for the Kingston Prize website.

Art makes a great gift. People don’t always realize how inexpensive some books and multiples are, and isn’t it better to support local art scenes than buy from major corporations? I think so.

Here are my top picks for Canada’s best art shopping:

1. ART METROPOLE. Started by General Idea in 1974, Art Met continues to specialize in the sale of artist multiple, artist books, video and more. Much of it is very affordable and rather unusual. Gold-plated replica of Peaches’ teeth on a chain, anyone?

Peaches. Image: robotdancemusic.com

Peaches’ teeth, on a chain. Image: artmetropole.com

Check out the comprehensive website, HERE. It’s fun to browse.

2. CANADIAN MAGAZINES.

Support Magenta, a newish online publication, or buy a subscription to the excellent Vancouver journal Fillip, or to Toronto’s artist-run magazine Hunter & Cook.

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