Canadian Art

Statement from the Canadian Art Foundation Board of Directors Today, the Board of Directors announced the difficult decision to cease operations of Canadian Art after 37 years, due to its financial position and revenue loss directly resulting from the COVID pandemic. Canadian Art had been operating at a reduced capacity for the past seven months, pausing both the summer issue and online publishing to deal with unprecedented financial circumstances. After thoroughly exhausting all options to allow Canadian Art to survive, the Board began the process of pursuing a wind-up that would best maintain the organization’s charitable status, protect the stewardship of its cultural assets for the future, and maximize recoveries to stakeholders such as employees, landlords, trade creditors. The pandemic has disproportionately affected arts and culture institutions and organizations across Canada and we know that this will leave a hole in the Canadian arts landscape. To preserve the archives of Canadian Art, one pristine copy of all CA magazines will be donated to the AGO with the aim to eventually provide digital public access for future generations. We once again express our deep appreciation to every supporter, writer, artist, curator, donor, funder, and member of our creative community. It is because of you that Canadian Art became a beloved and essential hub for critically engaged writing and discourse on the art and culture of our time. Sincerely, Board of Canadian Art Foundation Lee Matheson, Co-Chair Elizabeth (Dori) Tunstall, Co-Chair Gabe Gonda Toronto, Ontario, October 4, 2021 For more information, please contact Canadian Art Foundation, info [at] canadianart [dot] ca

Statement from Canadian Art

Coming out of the reckless and creative vitality of Montreal in the 1990s, Gambletron has become known as a maverick of improvised soundscapes that layer vocals, field recordings, circuit-bent electronics and manipulated radio waves. From the Frequencies issue, senior editor-at-large Yaniya Lee (@yaniyalee ) writes about Gambletron’s technical submission (online now). “If Gambletron had to be situated in a creative landscape, they might land somewhere between Rita McKeough and Throbbing Gristle…. Their dedication to failure and improvisation is nearly radical in a field that values perfection as success and so often rewards bland, uncomplicated contributions.” Image: Gambletron and Johnny Forever, Radio Flotilla, performance at La Grande rencontre des arts médiatiques en Gaspésie, 2018. Photo: Antoine Amnotte-Dupuis.

As Michelle Jacques (@jacques_michelle ) embarks on a new position as Remai Modern’s (@remaimodern ) New Head of Exhibitions and Collections/Chief Curator, she looks back at her achievements at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (artgalleryvic). More online in this interview with senior editor-at-large Yaniya Lee (@yaniyalee ). Image: Charles Campbell (@charlescampbellart ) and Farheen HaQ (@farheenhaqart ) preparing the molds for The Ground Above Us, 2019. Courtesy University of Victoria Legacy Art Galleries.

Our editors put together a few outdoor and indoor art picks for Capture Photography Festival (@capturephotofest ) in Vancouver, which runs April 2 to 30: Jordan Bennett (@jordanbennettart ) and Zinnia Naqvi (@zsnax__ ) in public art; Vivek Shraya (@vivekshraya ) at SUM; Erika DeFreitas (@erikadefreitas416 ) at Art Gallery at Evergreen (@artgalleryevergreen ); and Will Kwan at Centre A (@centre_a ). Image: Zinnia Naqvi, The Border Guards Were Friendly, 2019. Courtesy the artist.

@Capturephotofest , Western Canada’s largest lens-based festival, begins April 2nd. Capture’s vision is to connect Vancouver to the world through lens-based art and it is devoted to presenting compelling and urgent work by local and international artists annually. Each April, photography and lens-based art is exhibited at dozens of galleries and other venues throughout Metro Vancouver as part of the Exhibition Program, alongside an extensive Public Art Program, a youth-oriented Learning Program, and an Events Program that spans tours, films, artist talks, and community events. A center piece for the Festival is the BC Hydro Dal Grauer Substation Public Artwork. This year Jordan Bennett (@jordanbennettart ) a Mi’kmaq artist was commissioned to create new site-specific work curated by Kate Henderson (@18_percent_grey ). Inspiration for the work al’taqiaq: it spirals comes from a photograph of a Mi’kmaq porcupine quill basket created by his ancestors, an artifact currently held in the collection of the Museum of Vancouver. Drawing on the colours, patterns, and history of this basket, he arrived at the final work for the Dal Grauer Substation Public Art Project: a photographic work featuring a brightly painted moose skull that was gifted to the artist by a family friend who harvested the moose in Bennett’s home community. Bennett took the skull’s patterns directly from the ancestral designs found on the porcupine basket and then photographed the painted skull on Mi’kma’ki land. Through photography, Bennett reconnects the spirit of the displaced basket back to its origin and home territory. Bennett’s work will be on view at the BC Hydro Dal Grauer Substation in Downtown Vancouver  from April 2, 2021 until March 1, 2022.   An Artist Edition of Bennett’s work can be purchased through capturephotofest.com The Dal Grauer public art installation is made possible due to the partnership of BC Hydro. Sponsored by the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association Image Credit: Jordan Bennett, al’taqiaq: it spirals, 2020, Courtesy of the Artist #CapturePhotoFest2021 #PublicArt #IndigenousArt #LensBasedArt #ContemporaryArt

Editor-at-large Adrienne Huard (@adrienne_loon ) reflects on the powerful impacts that Indigenous burlesque performers make when reclaiming their bodies and narratives through their artistic practices. In conversation with Pemmican Milkshake (Kirsten Lindquist) (@lindkirs ) and Lou Lou la Duchesse de Rière (Lauren Jiles) (@loulouladuchesse ), they discuss the intersection of sexual sovereignty and visual storytelling. Image: Jessie Jannuska (@jessiejannuskaart ), Aapiji ozaagi'aan ookomisan, 2020. Seed beads, thread, velvet attached to board. Courtesy the artist.

From our Frequencies issue, curator Megan MacLaurin @megan.maclaurin speaks to ten artists who build worlds beyond the visible—through vibrotactile arts, sonic waves, pop culture and meme-making's social reverberations, and more. Read "Circular Logics," online now. Images: Marissa Sean Cruz / Laura Anzola / Jawa El Khash / Fallon Simard / David Bobier / Lauren Marsden / Julia E. Dyck / Colby Richardson / Casey Koyczan / Ronnie Clarke

The exhibition “Early Days: Indigenous Art at the McMichael” (@mcmichaelgallery ) tells the story of the Gallery’s long history with the art of Indigenous Peoples, reaching back to the collecting practices of McMichael Canadian Art Collection founders Robert and Signe McMichael. Their early forays into collecting Indigenous art included major acquisitions of Inuit prints and sculptures; masks, historic rattles, headdresses and totem poles from the Northwest Coast of British Columbia; and paintings and prints by the Woodland School of artists in Ontario, in particular the work of Norval Morrisseau, who was artist in residence at the Gallery in 1979.   The McMichael’s collection has since grown to include exceptional works of contemporary art by leading artists such as Carl Beam, Alex Janvier, Bill Reid, Robert Houle, Daphne Odjig, Arthur Schilling, Shelley Niro, Faye HeavyShield and Gerald McMaster. As an institution, the McMichael continues to lead the way in promoting discussion on Indigenous fine art, with landmark exhibitions of works by Itee Pootoogook and Annie Pootoogook, and an upcoming exhibition of the carver Dempsey Bob. Thanks to the Gallery’s long history of strategic acquisitions and carefully cultivated donations, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection is ready to intrigue and engage audiences with “Early Days: Indigenous Art the McMichael.”

Three artists have won the New Generation Photography Award, an annual prize that recognizes lens-based Canadian artists aged 35 and under. The winners are Dustin Brons (@dustinbrons ) of Vancouver, Chris Donovan (@cdonovanphoto ) of Saint John and Dainesha Nugent-Palache (@notsad.jpg ) of Brampton. Image 1: Dainesha Nugent-Palache, Angaer, 2016. Inkjet print. The Wedge Collection, Private collections. © Dainesha Nugent-Palache. Image 2: Chris Donovan, Dog with Pipeline, 2019. Inkjet print. Collection of the artist. © Chris Donovan. Image 3: Dustin Brons, Demand/Demands, 2019. Offset printed poster. Collection of the artist. © Dustin Brons.

Qaumajuq, the largest Inuit art museum in the world, opens later this week with an inaugural exhibition that is the most openly queer and inclusive Inuit art exhibition to date. Feature by Ossie Michelin (@osmich ) Image: Glenn Gear (@glenngear ) Iluani/Silami (It's full of stars), 2021, acrylic paint on canvas and projection, photo courtesy of artist.

Born in India, P.Mansaram spent most of his life in Canada, where he defied the hyphenated ways that the art world categorizes diasporic artists. Curator Deepali Dewan (@deepalidewa ) explores his life and legacy in this essay. Image: P.Mansaram, Maharaja, 1966–68. Mixed-media collage with paper and paint on board, 124.5 x 124.5 cm. Royal Ontario Museum Collection. #pmansaram