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

6. PLUG IN ICA – WINNIPEG

Neil Farber, Farber Drawing 683, 1999. Image: plugin.org

One of the members of the Royal Art Lodge, Neil Farber’s work features an odd cast of characters that includes waif-like children, cats, dogs, and ghosts, combining innocence with a complicated and often foreboding sense of the absurd. Farber’s drawings remind us that among the range of emotions, humor is arguably the most complicated – and perhaps the most human.

Continue reading →

Although VoCA won’t be thinking of Christmas shopping for at least another week, here are some ideas for arty presents that support Canadian museums, artists and artist-run centres.

After all, art has been “the new fashion” for quite some time…

1. PRESENTATION HOUSE GALLERY - VANCOUVER

Lynn Valley #2/Kleenex Mathematics. Image: presentationhousegall.com

Lynn Valley is an ongoing series of publications edited exclusively by artists, published by the gallery with Bywater Bros. Editions from Toronto.

Lynn Valley #2/ Kleenex Mathematics expands on super hot Cologne based artist Johannes Wohnseifer’s recent explorations with spam email. Working with a series of diaristic photographs taken in the past two years, Wohnseifer has overlain unedited spam texts, creating collages of word and image that blends autobiographic detail, historical allusion and dense visual puns with the found poetics of strategically designed, nonsensical language.

The book is 64 pages, softcover, edition of 1000.

For more information, please click HERE.

2. VANCOUVER ART GALLERY - VANCOUVER

A Zero-Yen House by Kyohei Sakaguchi. (This image is NOT the edition available from the VAG).
Image: inhabitat.com

The latest artwork in the gallery’s Artist Edition series is the first by Tokyo-based artist Kyohei Sakaguchi.

The work of Kyohei Sakaguchi examines the significance of non-traditional and informal architecture. In the past few years, he has documented an elaborate sub-culture of architecture that includes diverse types of temporary and semi-permanent houses built in public spaces by homeless persons utilizing scavenged materials.

Priced at $175 (unframed), each of the 65 photographs includes a certificate of authenticity signed by the artist. Proceeds from the sale of Artist Editions support the Vancouver Art Gallery ’s exhibitions and programming.

Please click HERE for more information.

3. THE BANFF CENTRE – BANFF, ALBERTA

Lori Blondeau, Belle Sauvage, 2005. Image: banffcentre.ca

These edition projects were commissioned by and entirely produced at The Banff Centre. Prints from these editions are available for purchase at The Banff Centre’s Walter Phillips Gallery. All proceeds from the sale of the editions support Visual Arts at the Centre, and provide ongoing opportunities for professional artists.

As a Cree/Saulteaux artist, Lori Blondeau’s artistic practice continues to explore the influence of popular media and culture (contemporary and historical) on Aboriginal self-identity, self-image, and self-definition. The title of the work, Belle Sauvage, references the central subject; a persona Blondeau has assumed in her performance art.

Lori Blondeau, Belle Sauvage, 2005, edition of 16, $500. A six-colour silkscreen print on BFK Rives 100 per cent cotton rag paper.

For more information, please click HERE.

4. PAUL AND WENDY PROJECTS – TORONTO

The Royal Art Lodge, Poster Making, 2007. Image: paulandwendyprojects.com

Paul Van Kooy and Wendy Gomoll have met and worked with a community of contemporary artists over the
years. The ambition of Paul + Wendy Projects is to produce limited edition art works by these artists whose work they love.

Poster Making, By the Royal Art Lodge. Handprinted Serigraph on acid free archival paper. Edition of 75, numbered, signed, embossed and date stamped by the artists. $250 CAD

The current members of The Royal Art Lodge are Michael Dumontier, Marcel Dzama and Neil Farber. The group was founded in Winnipeg in 1996. Since 2003, they have focused on painting as their main collaborative output.

Please click HERE for more information.

5. MARTHA STREET STUDIO - WINNIPEG

Simon Hughes, Some Icebergs, 2006. Image: printmakers.mb.ca

MPA was formed in the spring of 1984 by a group of Manitoba print artists. Now a non-profit organization, the studio has become one of the largest, best equipped and most diversified open printmaking facilities in Canada. New editions include work by Micah Lexier, Paul Butler, Krisjanis Kaktins-Gorsline and Michael Dumontier.

Simon Hughes, Some Icebergs. 2006, edition of 15. The portfolio of 3 images is hand-printed on Magnani Pescia paper using a multi-layered silk-screen process.

For more information, please click HERE.

1. ANALOGUE: Pioneering Video from the UK, Canada and Poland 1968 - 1988, at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto

Friday, November 2, 2007 1pm - 10pm
Saturday, November 3, 2007 10am - 6pm

For more information, please click HERE

Colin Campbell, Sackville I’m Yours, 1972. Image: uclan.ac.uk

This event seeks to illuminate the little-known early histories of artists’ video, linking the work of artists in the UK, Canada and Poland in order to broaden an understanding of how, in the course of 30 years, a versatile and politically charged medium made the transition from the margins to the mainstream of contemporary art practice. Continue reading →

1. Luis Jacob: A Dance for Those of Us Whose Hearts Have Turned to Ice, and Other Works
at the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, Vancouver

October 26 — December 2, 2007

This exhibition features the Vancouver premiere of work from a new series of video installations—A Dance for Those of Us Whose Hearts Have Turned to Ice…—that Jacob produced for Documenta 12, which took place in Kassel, Germany, from June to September 2007.

Dame Barbara Hepworth with one of her sculptures. Image: geocities.com/hepworth

Jacob’s work explores the relationship between sculpture and dance, and takes its inspiration from two art historical sources—the sculpture of British artist Barbara Hepworth, and the choreography of Quebecoise artist Françoise Sullivan.

Sullivan’s performance of Danse dans la neige in 1948 was a seminal event in the history of modern dance in Canada. A Dance for Those of Us Whose Hearts Have Turned to Ice… pays homage to this legendary work of modern Canadian art.

Francoise Sullivan, Danse dans la neige, 1948. Photographs by Maurice Perron
Image: canadacouncil.ca

Opening reception:
Thursday October 25 , 8—10pm

*Artist Talk*
Thursday, October 25, 7 pm

For more information, please click HERE.

2. Comicshow: Drawn to Story at The Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba

October 26 – November 29, 2007

Drue Langlois, Bubble Boss. Image: katharinemulherin.com

Featuring work by Nicholas Burns, Terry Corrigan, Lee Elvers, Paul Kim, Drue Langlois, Brent Lowrie, Alec Matheson, Bruce Palmer, Fred Pashe, Peter Pomart, Andrea Robbins, Mark Saunders, Curt Shoultz and Garret Van Winkle.

This exhibition explores the comic book medium and also showcases works by Brandonite and Southwestern Manitoba artists.

Comic books and alternative cartoons have long been associated with youth culture and underground scenes. Lately they have been making their way into art gallery exhibitions because art reaches large audiences while also speaking to significant contemporary issues.

An image by Garrett Van Winkle for the Walrus Magazine. Image: walrusmagazine.com

For more information, please click HERE.

Tim Schouten, the treaty 3 suite (outside promises). Image: timschouten

Wanda Koop, Green Zone (infrared) , acrylic on canvas, 2005. Image: harbourfrontcentre.com

1. Scratching the Surface, Plug-In ICA, Winnipeg

September 14 – November 17, 2007

Public Opening: Friday, September 14 @ 8:00pm

This major exhibition explores the changing landscape of the Canadian Prairies, and in particular Winnipeg’s social, cultural, and physical character.

Sylviamatas, Warm Rain, 2004. Image: sylviamatas.com

Esther Warkov, Samples, In the House of Pear. Image: kensegalgallery.com

Many Canadian artists have and continue to be been inspired by their immediate landscape (Group of Seven, Emily Carr, Ron Kostyniuk, Gershon Iskowitz, Peter von Tiesenhausen…)

Scratching the Surface: The Post-Prairie Landscape provides a multi-generational look into this transition.

The exhibition will bring together emerging, mid-career, and established artists including Keith Berens, Sylvia Matas, Doug Smith, Melanie Bone, Kazuteru Miyauchi, Jennifer Stillwell, Paul Butler, Kim Ouellette, Ewa Tarsia, Daniel Dueck, Robert Pasternak, Esther Warkov, Simon Hughes, David Perrett, Calvin Yarush, Jean Klimack, Tim Schouten, Collin Zipp and Wanda Koop.

Kim Ouellette, Mountains with Black Clouds, 2004. Image: marciawoodgallery.com

Highlights include Paul Butler’s public art project that transforms lampposts into an urban forest via applications of veneer tape, Jennifer Stillwell’s sculptural work that engages the artificial production of geology and Esther Warkov’s epic paper cityscape.

Collin Zipp, PIXEL 15. Image: collinzipp.info

2. Kelly Mark: Stupid Heaven, Hart House Gallery @ U of T, Toronto

Kelly Mark, 33 Minute Stare, 1996. Image: ireallyshould.com

Kelly Mark is one of those artists whose sophisticated, elegant, disarmingly simple and surprisingly effective work is also accessible - she makes lots of multiples and unlimited editions - and so should be coveted by young and beginning collectors.

In 2005, her Power Plant commission Glow House transformed a mansion on Palmerston Boulevard into an eerily haunted looking house every evening whose windows were lit up by the flickering blue glow of televisions.

Read what I wrote about it HERE.

Kelly Mark, Glow House #3, Installation: Apr 13, 2005. Image: mocoloco.com

This exhibition at U of T showcases Mark’s sense of humour in a number of strong works. VoCA has often quoted Bruce Nauman: “Art is a matter of life and death. This may be melodramatic, but it is also true.”

Bruce Nauman, Self-Portrait as a Fountain, c 1966. Image: artcomgroup.com

Nauman, like Kelly Mark, Maurizio Cattelan and others, uses humor to engage the viewer in deeply serious art.

Favorite pieces included the new film installation REM, the self-explanatory video 33 minute stare and the melancholy, amusing audio recording I Really Should…1000, wherein Mark repeats phrase after phrase beginning with the words “I really should…”

“…I really should…stop using the phrase Gaylord…I really should…read something utterly tragic…”

Kelly Mark, REM, 2007. Image: courtesy the artist

Check out the artist’s website HERE.

1. iPotlach by Vancouver artist Sonny Assu runs August 30 - 13 October at the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba.

Sonny Assu, iPotlatch Ego, 2007. Image: sonnyassu.com

iPotlach brings together consumer items with Aboriginal symbolism in order to explore the definition of personal lineage, for this artist whose cultural roots include pop and Laich-kwil-tach heritage.

His screenprints, drums, paintings and textile work reflect a diversity of influences, from Spiderman to West Coast Regalia blankets.

The work recalls the sculpture of Canadian art-star Brian Jungen, who has wittily transformed Nike Air Jordans into First Nations masks, or plastic lawn chairs into a large-scale whalebone sculpture.

Brian Jungen, Prototype for New Understanding #16, 2004. Image: makezine.com

Brian Jungen is presently participating in the Lyon Biennale 2007, on through January 6, 2008. The Biennale, entitled 00s —The History Of A Decade That Has Not yet Been Named, is curated by Hans-Ulrich Obrist. The concept involves 49 international curators and art critics being asked the following question: “Who, in your opinion, is the artist who best represents this decade?”

Curator Trevor Smith chose Brian Jungen.

2. Mark your calendars for this not-to-be-missed exhibition, coming in October to Toronto.

Sculptures by Gertraud Möhwald at Toronto’s Gardiner Museum, from October 12, 2007 to January 20, 2008.

Although little is known of her work in North America, Gertraud Möhwald (1929-2002) is renowned for her contribution to ceramic art, both as an artist and teacher. Her work combines classical European sculptural traditions with her experiences as a young German, having survived the bombing of Dresden and lived in East Germany after its separation from the West.

Gertraud Mohwald, Bildnis R.M. II, 1990. Image: by Klaus E. Goltz, Halle, courtesy of Galerie b15.
Collection of the Möhwald Family, Germany.

There will be an exhibition symposium on October 14, which will feature German experts Gabi Dewald, Editor-in-chief of KeramikMagazin, and Möhwald’s University colleague and friend, Dr. Renate Luckner-Bien.

Moderated by the exhibition’s curator Susan Jefferies, the symposium will address Möhwald’s life and important influences on her work. Tickets are available on the museum’s website HERE.

Gertraud Mohwald, Head with Wire Curl, 2000. Image: by George Meister courtesy of Galerie b15
Collection of Renate and Bernd Wunderle, Germany.

VoCA is already looking towards the fall - here are a few exhibitions to look forward to:

1. MONTREAL: Marc Quinn at DHC Art

October 5, 2007 - January 6, 2008

Marc Quinn, Selma Mustajbasic, 2000. image: artregister.com

Click HERE for more info.

2. TORONTO: Greg Girard at Monte Clark Gallery

September 22 to October 14, 2007

Greg Girard, Fuzhou Lu Mailboxes, 2005. Image: monteclarkgallery.com

Click HERE for more info.

3. WINNIPEG: Edith Dekyndt at Plug-In

September - February, 2007

Edith Dekyndt, A is hotter than B, B is hotter than C, C is hotter than D, 2006 (Video still).
Image: edithdekyndt.be

Click HERE for more info on the artist.

4. CALGARY: Alex Janvier at the Art Gallery of Calgary

August 31, 2007 to January 5, 2008

Alex Janvier, The Insurance on the Teepee, 1972. Image: artbank.ca

Click HERE for more info.

5. VANCOUVER: Douglas Walker at the NEW Jennifer Kostuik Gallery

September 13 - 30, 2007

Douglas Walker, Untitled #851, 2006. Image: douglaswalker.ca

Click HERE for more info.

PLUS: VoCA will preview the best of Nuit Blanche Toronto, September 29, 2007 and of Mois de la Photo Montreal, September 6 - October 21.

**VoCA IS NOW POSTING DAILY UPDATES - PLEASE CHECK BACK!**

Omer Fast: Godville runs August 7 - 11

Omer Fast, Dogville 2004. Image: plugin.org

Video Installation by Omer Fast opens this Thursday, August 9 @ 7:00pm

Plug In ICA in Winnipeg presents Israeli-born, Berlin-based artist Omer Fast’s video installation Godville. This topsy-turvey portrait of a community straddling historical periods is, at 50 minutes,long but worth it and definitely not to be missed!

Visit the Plug In website HERE

Omer Fast, Dogville 2004. Installation view. Image: postmastersart.com

From August 7-11, don’t miss this disorienting portrait of a community straddling historical periods. Fast interviews people living and playing the role of characters in Colonial Williamsburg (Virginia, USA).

Omer Fast, Dogville 2004. Installation view. Image: postmastersart.com

In this seemingly documentary context, Fast cuts and re-cuts his footage to create unsettling collages of people whose words reflect a time better left to the past.

Read Holland Cotter’s New York Times review HERE

Read more about Mr. Fast’s earlier work HERE

VoCA recommends 5 summer exhibitions across Canada:

TORONTO

July 13- August 6, 2007

The 8th Annual Emerging Artist Exhibition at InterAccess Electronic Media Arts Centre

TWO STEPS BACK: featuring Adam Bellavance, Jason de Haan, Kristen Kellar, Derek Liddington, Laura Paolini, Matthew Willamson

Go to Interaccess website HERE

Technology and failure go hand in hand, sometimes with disastrous consequences, though more often with a sadly comic twist. Two Steps Back is interested in this game of trial and error, the featured artists play with glitches, futility, randomness and ridiculousness. The fraught relationship between machines and their shortcomings is often represented as apocalyptic and ominous.

CAMBRIDGE, ONTARIO

Patty Johnson’s toy bricks. Image: cbc.ca

June 30 - August 18, 2007

NORTH SOUTH PROJECT
A new model of viable design and craft collaborations in the developing world

Cambridge Galleries, Design at Riverside

Check out the North South Project website HERE

The initiative reflects the interchange between research and design and commerce and culture. Inspired by the idea of reaching across a global North/South axis, Toronto designer Patty Johnson is working with partners in Botswana, Guyana, Mexico and India to bring stylish new lines of furniture, lighting and fine craft to the North American and world market. At the same time she is continuously developing a design methodology that emphasizes a flexible and collaborative approach and the designer’s willingness to adjust to the changing conditions of the different societies in which she works.

The sustainability of each object in North South Projectis measured many times over. Every collection is designed for maximum economic, cultural, ecological and aesthetic sustainability. The long-term impact of the projects on the manufacturers, producers and communities is a principal factor of the design process.

VANCOUVER

Kristan Horton, Dr. Strangelove, 2006. Image: jessicabradleyartprojects.com

June 29 to August 19, 2007

Visit the Contemporary Art Gallery website HERE

KRISTAN HORTON
Dr. Strangelove Dr. Strangelove

DRAWINGS BY SIX ARTISTS: Kim Kennedy Austin, Luanne Martineau, Shannon Oksanen,
Laura Piasta, Ryan Sluggett and Corin Sworn

ELSPETH PRATT
Bluff

Dr. Strangelove Dr. Strangelove is an ambitious project in which Kristan Horton, a Toronto-based artist, reproduced 200 scenes from Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 film Dr. Strangelove: or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb as sculptures. Using various commonplace items from his studio (a glue-stick, garbage bags, cutlery, felt markers and dirt) Horton constructs the overall composition of each scene. He then photographs his improvised constructions to match the original film still, which are displayed side by side.

Vancouver based artist Elspeth Pratt will produce an abstract sculpture for the gallery’s street front windows. Using common building materials, she will create a unified design over nine windows. In general Pratt uses forms and materials that align closer with architecture than the history of visual art.

WINNIPEG

Coco Fusco and Guillermo Gomez-Peña. Undiscovered Amerindians, 1992. Image: yorku.ca

July 20 - August 18, 2007

Plug In ICA premieres renowned performance-based work to coincide with Winnipeg’s Fringe Festival

PRETEND: THEATRE AND VIDEO

NOTE: Open LATE every night of the Fringe Festival 10AM - 10PM

A New Opening Reception every Thursday Night from July 26 - August 16: 7-10PM
• July 20 (Friday): Tellervo Kalleinen (Finland)
• July 26: Theo Sims (UK/Canada)(artist in attendance)
• August 2: Nathalie Djurberg (Sweden/Germany)
• August 9: Omer Fast (Israel/Germany)
• August 16: Coco Fusco (USA)

In conjunction with the 2007 Winnipeg Fringe Festival, the Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art will present performance-inspired works by a group of renowned international artists working in the fields of video and installation. Combining elements of theatre, animation, and journalism with collage, melodrama, and confession, each of these artists will present their work for a single week over a four-week period, next to an in-gallery pub that turns audience members into the actors of an imaginary place.

Check the performance schedule HERE

SHAWINIGAN, QUEBEC

Carsten Holler’s slides at the Tate Modern, 2007. Image: news.bbc.co.uk

2 June - 30 September 2007

The National Gallery of Canada at Shawinigan Space (Quebec)

CARSTEN HOLLER

Read more on the website HERE

This is German artist Carsten Höller’s first major solo exhibition in Canada. Höller, who was born in Belgium and now lives and works in Stockholm, has received international acclaim for his diverse artistic practice. That includes sculpture and large-scale installation-based works aimed at challenging viewers’ perceptions and rational beliefs. Scientist turned artist, Carsten Höller has experimented with a diverse range of mediums and art forms that each ask the viewer to reconsider their relationship with natural and built environments.