Archive for the 'Vancouver and region' Category

No Culture, No Future?

The Walrus has a good interview with Simon Brault, author of No Culture, No Future, the new book that exploresthe fact that the arts are a necessity, not a luxury. As he puts it, the book is a “call to action” – for Brault, it’s up to everyone to communicate with one another to promote and encourage the arts. Image:
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From Commenting to Contributing, via Berlin

I came across THIS link from the art:21 blog today – in it, Anna Milandri talks about what’s been going on, art-wise, in Berlin recently. Baby Ghost From the 1900s Says Beat It With Your Chain, 2009, by Berlin-based Montreal painter Wil Murray. New York’s Triple Canopy put together six evenings of art-related discussion, including one titled “Print and Demand”
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Steven Shearer goes to the Venice Biennale!

Just saw this: “Steven Shearer…will represent Canada at the 54th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia 2011 (Venice Biennale), from June 4 to November 27, 2011. The only international visual arts exhibition to which Canada sends official representation, the Biennale is among the most prestigious contemporary art exhibitions in the world. Steven Shearer’s drawings of metal-heads. Image: wecantpaint.com
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Who will win the Sobey Art Prize?

The finalists for the 2010 Sobey Art Award were announced today. The artists, selected by a jury from each region of Canada, are competing for the Award’s $50,000 top prize. Bendan Tang may be the newest kid on the block, but our money’s on Duke & Battersby or the excellent Daniel Barrow, who was passed over in 2008.  Do we
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In the News: Aga Khan in Don Mills, Harris vs. Thomson & Zaha in Rome

His highness the Aga Khan, with his Order of Canada. Image: archive.gg.ca 1. His Highness the Aga Khan will participate in the Foundation Ceremony to mark the beginning of the development of the Ismaili Centre, the first-ever Aga Khan Museum for Islamic Art and Culture, and their Park, in Toronto’s Don Mills area. Read more HERE.

Douglas Coupland Speaks! Part Two (or..the Ramblings of an Icon)

Last week we posted HERE part one of our conversation with Douglas Coupland. In this post, Coupland talks about his collecting habits, coming from a “guns-and-ammo” family, his interest in nuclear culture and his new TV mini-series, among other things. Douglas Coupland’s tiny cubes of 100 stamps. Image: VoCA Coupland brings out a bowl filled with small cubes of 100
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Douglas Coupland Speaks! (Part One)

Last week at his beautiful, art-filled Ron Thom designed home in Vancouver, VoCA sat down with artist-slash-writer Douglas Coupland to get his views on everything from Warhol to techological obsolescence to City of Toronto love. “All young artists secretly think they’re the next Warhol,” says the Generation X author. Douglas Coupland. Image:anthonygeorge.com Here are some highlights: VoCA: Douglas Coupland, are
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2010 Sobey & Iskowitz Prizes Announced

We returned from Vancouver to the news that Brian Jungen has won the $25,000 2010 Gershon Iskowitz award at the AGO, and that the $50,000 Sobey Art Prize longlist has been announced. Vanessa Paschakarnis, Shield for a Human, 2009. Bronze. Image: erhard-metz.de Most regions have a pretty clear shortlister for the Sobey (I’m thinking either Isabelle Pauwels or Jeremy Shaw
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Vancouver Art: The Drop

This is a lovely sculpture outside Vancouver’s convention centre overlooking Burrard Inlet. Titled The Drop, it “pays homage to the element of water and the untamable forces of nature which are omnipresent in Vancouver.” It’s by the German public art group Inges Idee, four artists – Hans Hemmert, Axel Lieber, Thomas Schmidt and George Zey, and it’s their first installation
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VoCA Goes to Vancouver! (and meets Douglas Coupland)

Stay tuned for an interview with Douglas Coupland, author, artist, fan-of-Warhol and recent author of a book on McLuhan. Some of Coupland’s recent artworks.