View on Canadian Art

We will be posting intermittently until June 2, from London, Amsterdam, Berlin and Hamburg….

Stay tuned…

Who will win this year’s Sobey Art Award? The list is full of strong contenders including the hot photographer Scott McFarland, the excellent Paul Butler and Theo Sims, Luis Jacob, Raphaelle de Groot and the fun, funny art collective BGL.

While choosing among the contenders is tough, VoCA has chosen one artist from each region who we feel are deserving of the Sobey, regardless of whether they win this year or not.

For more on the Sobey Art Award, please click HERE.

WEST COAST AND YUKON: Althea Thauberger; Tim Lee; Scott McFarland; Mark Soo; Kevin Schmidt.
VoCA PICK: TIM LEE

Tim Lee, My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue) / Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black), Neil Young, 1979. Image: hustlerofculture.com

Tim Lee shows with Tracey Lawrence Gallery, Vancouver.

(The above piece is reminiscent of London-based Canadian artist Mark Lewis’ excellent film, Rush Hour. Click HERE for Mark Lewis’ website.)

PRAIRIES AND THE NORTH: Daniel Barrow; Paul Butler; Theo Sims; KC Adams; Terrance Houle.
VoCA PICK: DANIEL BARROW

Daniel Barrow, Every Time I See Your Picture I Cry (performance), 2006.
Image: aceart.org

ONTARIO: Kristan Horton; Luis Jacob; Terence Koh; H. Lan Thao Lam; Kelly Richardson.
VoCA PICK: KRISTAN HORTON

Kristan Horton, Broadcast, 2007. Imge: jessicabradleyartprojects.com

Kristan Horton shows with Jessica Bradley Art + Projects, Toronto.

QUÉBEC: Mathieu Beauséjour; BGL; Raphaëlle de Groot; Adad Hannah; Carlos and Jason Sanchez.
VoCA PICK: ADAD HANNAH

Adad Hannah, Internal Logic: Camping, 2006. Performance at the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Image: coolhunting.com

Adad Hannah shows with Pierre Francois Ouellette Art Contemporain, Montreal.

ATLANTIC: Andrea Mortson; Tonia Di Risio; Craig Francis Power; Mario Doucette; Craig Leonard.
VoCA PICK:  CRAIG FRANCIS POWER
For information on last year’s winner, Michel de Broin, please click HERE and for VoCA’s interview with him, click HERE.

Michel de Broin, Silence Shouts, 2008. Image: micheldebroin.com

The $50,000 Sobey Art Award, presented by Scotiabank, is given annually to a Canadian artist under 40 who has exhibited in a public or commercial art gallery within 18 months of being nominated.

Stay tuned for the names of shortlisted artists on May 20.

Our 2nd annual Most Influential People in the Canadian Art World:

Click HERE for last year’s list.

1. Phoebe Greenberg, Founder, DHC Art Foundation, Montreal.

Phoebe Greenberg. Image: ledevoir.com

For bringing internationally relevant shows to Canada. Next is Sophie Calle’s installation from the last Venice Biennale.

More HERE.

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The late Haida artist Bill Reid received the Order of British Columbia. Image: protocol.gov.bc.ca

In Canada, the first time the work of contemporary indigenous artists made it into an art context was in 1965-67 when Doris Shadbolt, at the Vancouver Art Gallery, organized the groundbreaking exhibition, Arts of the Raven: Master Works of the Northwest.

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Between Observation and Intervention: The Painted Photographs of Melvin Charney
The Americas Society, New York
May 1 - July 31, 2008

Melvin Charney, Cities on the Move… The Swinging Burbs…, 2003-06, oil pastel and acrylic.
Image: metiviergallery.com

VoCA was quite taken with the exhibition of Melvin Charney’s architectural, city-inspired paintings at Toronto’s Metivier Gallery in April 2006. Now a major exhibition of the artist’s work has opened at the Amercias Society in New York.

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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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VANCOUVER:

Moodyville at Presentation House Gallery
May 3 - 15 June, 2008

An image by Dan Siney. Image: tinyvices.com

Moodyville is a group exhibition featuring work by:

Karin Bubaš - click HERE
Jim Breukelman - click HERE
Babak Golkar - click HERE
Mike Grill - click HERE

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HALIFAX:

Kelly Mark: Stupid Heaven at MSVU art gallery
Continuing through 1 June 2008

Kelly Mark, I Really Should…(Neon) - 2001. Image: kellymark.com

Kelly Mark is a VoCA favorite, and this exhibition, which originally showed at Toronto’s Hart House gallery, is now touring. We have seen it and it is great. Mark makes funny, whimsical pieces that say a lot about human nature and the way that societal constructs shape our behaviour. She uses her cat, and often her television to create her multilayered pieces.

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Coming up this week on VoCA: A selection of recommended exhibitions across the country.

TORONTO:

Barbara Probst at Jessica Bradley Gallery
Exposures
May 8 – 7 June, 2008

Barbara Probst. Image: gfineartdc.com

The New York-based German photographer “breaks the photographic moment into several points of view through the use of multiple cameras in a single shot.” It’s surprising and charming for the viewer to be suddenly placed inside perspectives other than their own. And it’s not that often – anymore - that photography is able to surprise.

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In a move perhaps inspired by the spate of American, European and Chinese collectors opening up their own spaces, the dashing Canadian collector Bob Rennie will open his own private museum to showcase his collection of contemporary art.

Collector Bob Rennie. Image: rennie.com

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