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MASS MoCA features a Comprehensive Survey of Canadian Contemporary Art

June 10th, 2012 01:35:15 am

North Adams, Massachusetts.- To assemble the exhibition "Oh, Canada" at MASS MoCA curator Denise Markonish visited nearly every province and territory in Canada. In her travels (comprising over 400 studio visits) Markonish discovered a fascinating world of art, rich in craftsmanship with a deep interest in landscape and identity. Oh, Canada showcases the vast expanse of art made in the country, spanning all media and crossing generations and geography. Acknowledging that this is one curator's view and by no means acomprehensive picture of Canadian art today, Oh, Canada focuses mostly on artists less recognized outside of Canada, providing a fresh glimpse of a vibrant art scene that is too little known in the United States. "At a moment in the international art scene that is particularly attuned to the exotically remote and embracing of 'anti-aesthetics', this is a show of art from close to the United States, often beautifully made," said Joseph Thompson, director of MASS MoCA. "Canada's proximity, and shared North Americanism, is a source of interesting friction. It's so close and familiar, yet we sometimes barely know it." New commissions for "Oh, Canada" include an EP of songs by art-alternative folk rock band The Cedar Tavern Singers AKA Les Phonorealistes, such as Oh Canada, Oh Canada, which is an absurdist romp through imagined genres of Canadian art like Neo-lumberjack Abstraction, Relational Lacrosse, and Beaver Dam Earthworks; Gisele Amantea's Democracy, which adapts a Louis Sullivan design in flocking down a 90'-long gallery; Micah Lexier's A Coin in the Corner, in which a series of newly minted coins will be installed treasure hunt-style throughout the museum; and Michel de Broin's Tortoise, an outdoor installation constructed of oversized picnic tables. Other artists creating new works for the exhibition include: Daniel Barrow, Rebecca Belmore, BGL, Janice Wright Cheney, Michael Fernandes, Eryn Foster, David R. Harper, Terrence Houle, Craig Leonard, Divya Mehra, Graeme Patterson, Ed Pien, and John Will. Through her research Markonish identified several trends prevalent in contemporary Canadian art some of which include artists examining identity like First Nations artists Rebecca Belmore, Ruth Cuthand, Wally Dion, Terrence Houle, Kent Monkman, and Joseph Tisiga. Many of these artists address the history of Aboriginal peoples throughout Canada's history, from early colonialism and land ownership debates to the Indian Act, which took away many rights, including the right to vote and participate in cultural practices. Other artists addressing identity are Mario Doucette, who examines the Acadian history of the Maritime Provinces, and Annie Pootoogook and Shuvinai Ashoona who depict lnuit life in Nunavut. Close looking at the landscape is a trend also evident in "Oh, Canada". Artists like Amalie Atkins, David Hoffos, and Graeme Patterson examine surreal/uncanny elements in this landscape, whereas Ned Pratt, Kim Morgan, and Rita McKeough explore memory and politics. Morgan and Pratt probe the coastal landscape: Morgan's cast latex lighthouse becomes a memorial to a time long gone, while Pratt emphasizes where the man-made meets nature. Rita McKeough's Alternator addresses the controversy over the oil sands in northern Alberta. Another key element of the Canadian landscape is the North, as exemplified in Charles Stankievech's LOVELAND. This work comments on the militarization of the landscape by Cold War paranoia and the North American Air Defense (NORAD) Defense Early Warning (or DEW Line), installed in the late 1950s as a defense against Russian invasion. Canada has a long history of conceptual art practices, from early collectives like the Vancouver-based N.E. Thing Co and Toronto's General Idea, to the visiting artist and printmaking programs at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD) that brought well-known conceptualists like John Baldessari and Sol LeWitt to Halifax. Senior artists Garry Neill Kennedy (who was once president of NSCAD) and Michael Snow continue to explore the conceptual - Kennedy, in his installation Spotted which addresses CIA planes used to transport suspected terrorists, and Snow in his video Solar Breath [Northern Caryatids] which contemplates subtle natural phenomena through the framing device of the camera. Other conceptual-based practices include those of Craig Leonard, Eryn Foster, Michael Fernandes, Hans Wendt, and Eric Cameron. In Canada there has been a notable return to the emphasis on craft materials and labor-intensive techniques like felt, ceramics, paper-cutting, and embroidery. A new generation of artists has emerged who borrow from these media and processes, using them to create contemporary works that speak to varied ideas such as beauty, the grotesque, history, and materiality. This group includes: Luanne Martineau who works with handmade felt; Ed Pien whose use of intricately cut paper was inspired by a 2004 trip to China; Shary Boyle who extends the themes of craft and the body; Clint Neufeld who uses traditional craft to explore gender; and Janice Wright Cheney and David R. Harper who both employ taxidermy as their launching point. References to the vernacular are frequent in the exhibition: Kim Adams' materials come from hardware stores, dollar stores, and even car dealerships. Valerie Blass and Diane Landry transform the mundane into the magical, using materials like artificial hair on mannequins (Blass) and water bottles filled with sand (Landry). Both Nicolas Baier and Kristan Horton use photography to explore the commonplace, creating portraits of the artists through studio objects. The trends listed here are just a few of the sub-themes present in Oh, Canada. Other artists in the exhibition include Patrick Bernatchez, Bill Burns, Douglas Coupland, DaveandJenn, Marcel Dzama, Brendan Fernandes, Noam Gonick and Luis Jacob, Hadley+Maxwell, Allison Hrabluik, Sarah Anne Johnson, Wanda Koop, Myfanwy MacLeod, Kelly Mark, Chris Millar, Andrea Mortson, Janet Werner, Mitchell Wiebe, and Etienne Zack. MASS MoCA is the largest center for contemporary arts in the United States. The institution is dedicated to the creation and presentation of provocative visual and performing arts pieces, and of works that blur conventional distinctions between artistic disciplines. In addition, MASS MoCA functions as a laboratory for the contemporary arts, fostering experimentation by artists, encouraging collaborations among institutions, and allowing visitors a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process. MASS MoCA is housed on a 13-acre campus of renovated 19th-century factory buildings in North Adams, Massachusetts. The complex occupies nearly one-third of the downtown business district. By coupling the versatility and size of its spaces with the latest digital, fiber optic, and new media technologies, MASS MoCA is able to present and catalyze the creation of works that can be shown nowhere else in the world. These facilities serve as a testing ground to expand and redefine the nature of contemporary art. Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.massmoca.org

Source Reference http://www.artknowledgenews.com/2012_06_09_220719_mass_moca_features_a_comprehensive_survey_of_canadian_contemporary_art_.html