OTTAWA:

Carlton University Art Gallery

Michèle Provost: Selling Out
Ron Giii: Hegel’s Salt Man
Nanuit: The Polar Bear in Inuit Art

5 May – 24 August 2008

Ron Giii, Atomicus Removing The Atomic Space, 1985. Image: paulpetro.com

RON GIII: Coming from the University of Toronto, this survey exhibition of the brilliantly-named Ron Giii’s work features early work, performance documentation and other ephemera, a selection of his voluminous writings, and more recent drawings and oil stick paintings.

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Winnipeg photographer (and VoCA favorite) Sarah Anne Johnson is the winner of the inaugural Grange Prize for Contemporary Photography.

The annual $50,000 prize is the largest of its kind in Canada and the only prize entirely determined by the public. The AGO will present an exhibition of Johnson’s work in the spring of 2009.

Sarah Anne Johnson, Clearing the Yard, 2005. Image: bulgergallery.com

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The artist A.A. Bronson, former member of collective General Idea and presently director of New York’s Printed Matter Inc. has been rejected by the University of Manitoba for the position of director of the School of Art.

VoCA thinks that the shortsightedness of the University has resulted in an unfortunate missed opportunity.
A real shame.

A.A. Bronson. Image: artnet.com

Following are excerpts from the job posting from the university’s human resources department, A.A.’s letter of interest (removed), his C.V and finally, a letter to the Other Gallery’s Paul Butler (removed).

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1. NEW DIRECTOR AT THE WAG, WINNIPEG:

Dr. Stephen Borys has been appointed as the Director of the Winnipeg Art Gallery.

The Winnipeg Art Gallery - Dr. Borys’ new home. Image: glasssteelandstone.com

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Manitoba Arts and Culture Week: March 8 – 15

Manitoba arts and culture week is a week-long showcase of arts and cultural activities. Dance, theatre, music and the visual arts are celebrated throughout the province. Here are some interesting exhibitions on in Manitoba:

For the full schedule, please click HERE.

1. ALICIA POPOFF: PRAIRIE MEDITATION at the Ken Segal Gallery.

Mixed media works by the artist about her experience of life on the prairies.

Alicia Popoff, Space Whorls, 2006. Image: kensegalgallery.com

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Subconscious City at the Winnipeg Art Gallery
8 February – May 11, 2008

Diana Thorneycroft, Audition for Eternal Youth, 2007. Digital photograph (triptych).
Image: wag.mb.ca

Subconscious City, currently on view at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, is an exhibition filled with a lot of quiet, quirky pieces, but the show’s impact comes through loud and clear. With an impressive, diverse roster of both emerging and established artists working in a variety of media (including video, painting, ceramics, and electronics), Subconscious City attempts to examine and explain Winnipeg’s curious civic identity.

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Both Calgary, Alberta and Winnipeg, Manitoba are surprisingly creative cities. Calgary’s nearby Banff Centre has long been recognized as an international meeting place for creative minds, while Winnipeg’s Royal Art Lodge famously produced Marcel Dzama. (VoCA loves his new dioramas!)

But there’s more to these art scenes than meets the eye…

CALGARY

1. Collective: The Arbour Lake Sghool - click HERE

In the spring of 2007 we decided that we’d had enough of our lawn, and that a nice, rippling field of wheat would look much prettier and break up the Kentucky Bluegrass monotony of our neck of the woods. We also (ludicrously) decided to do all the work, from tearing up the old to planting the new to harvesting our crop, by hand. And we did it! We ended up using barley instead (you can make beer from barley!), donated graciously by Patterson Farms.

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VANCOUVER

The VAG acquires 2 Jeff Wall photographs:

Jeff Wall, Concrete Ball, 2002. Image: tate.org.uk

To read the article, please click HERE
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When in Winnipeg this week, VoCA toured a few galleries. We met loads of people, we caught up with others, we loved, and we loathed.

LOVED:

-Christi Belcourt, Off the Map: Perspectives of Land, Water and Metis People at Urban Shaman

January 18 – 1 March, 2008

Christi Belcourt, Coat for Harry, 2005-06. Image: chrstibelcourt.com

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VoCA has been invited to give a talk, The Role of the Art Critic at the University of Manitoba, followed by critiques of 3rd and 4th year visual art students.

Stay tuned for more in the next day or two…

A view of Winnipeg, Canada from space. Image: answers.com