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Bryne McLaughlin

Bryne McLaughlin is Deputy Editor at Canadian Art.
Free Radicals

Free Radicals

The Centre for Experimental Art and Communication was both the darling and delinquent of the 1970s Toronto art scene

Numa Amun

Numa Amun

Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Quebec City, June 20, 2019, to February 16, 2020

Alexander Calder

Alexander Calder

With a few weeks left, the rare opportunity to see a survey of Calder’s work in Canada is an occasion for three reflections on science, systems and abstraction

An Exit Interview with Marc Mayer

An Exit Interview with Marc Mayer

This week, Marc Mayer steps down after a decade as director and CEO of the National Gallery of Canada. Here, he reflects on shifting institutional landscapes and a tenure marked by big changes and, at times, big controversies

Dirty Words: Old

Dirty Words: Old

You can never retire from being an artist—and other observations from a roundtable on aging and ageism in the arts

Structures: On Legacy, History and Influence

Structures: On Legacy, History and Influence

In light of the passing of former editor of artscanada Barry Lord, Bryne McLaughlin considers the publication's history, and the theme of our Spring issue.

Nicolas Grenier: How to Reverse Art-World Commerce—for a Time

Nicolas Grenier: How to Reverse Art-World Commerce—for a Time

In a recent project, Montreal-and-LA-based artist Nicolas Grenier made collectors pay for art with time; in the process, the acquirer became the acquired.

On Board Culture and Rule Breaking

On Board Culture and Rule Breaking

An exhibition at the Winnipeg Art Gallery looks at Indigenous relationships with the land that come through snowboarding, skateboarding and surfing.

When a Contemporary Ruin Becomes an Art Festival

When a Contemporary Ruin Becomes an Art Festival

From Expo 67 wannabe to civic relic—Ontario Place has seen it all. What does its new art festival, In/Future, mean to a critic with a history on the site?

Richard Ibghy and Marliou Lemmens and the Art of Underperforming

Richard Ibghy and Marliou Lemmens and the Art of Underperforming

How do you value time or action? What constitutes work? These are some of the questions that Richard Ibghy and Marilou Lemmens parse in their art.

Why the NSCAD Legend Mattered—And Still Matters

Why the NSCAD Legend Mattered—And Still Matters

Many have wondered why the notion of NSCAD as legendary still circulates. But it’s probably still around for the simple reason that it’s true.

Jaime Angelopoulos in her Studio

Jaime Angelopoulos in her Studio

Jaime Angelopoulos’s Toronto studio is filled with her vibrantly coloured and textured sculptures, while her drawings line the walls—take a look inside.

Bryne McLaughlin’s Top 3 of 2015: Sinister Chaos

Bryne McLaughlin’s Top 3 of 2015: Sinister Chaos

Neïl Beloufa, “The Unfinished Conversation” and Pascal Grandmaison make Bryne McLaughlin’s list of highlights from the past year.

Liz Magor’s Accumulations

Liz Magor’s Accumulations

At Susan Hobbs Gallery, Liz Magor gathers a tight selection of recent works that are as much puzzles as sculptures. Bryne McLaughlin reviews.

Dora García Q&A: James Joyce and Language’s Potential

Dora García Q&A: James Joyce and Language’s Potential

Dora García speaks with Bryne McLaughlin about “I SEE WORDS, I HEAR VOICES,” on view at the Power Plant in Toronto.

Caroline Andrieux: Build and They Will Come

Caroline Andrieux: Build and They Will Come

Caroline Andrieux, the French-born curator and founder and artistic director of Montreal’s Darling Foundry, always finds a way to make big things happen.

Tacita Dean Talks Spiral Jetty and Celluloid’s Enduring Appeal

Tacita Dean Talks Spiral Jetty and Celluloid’s Enduring Appeal

British artist Tacita Dean discusses her interest in land artist Robert Smithson and science-fiction author JG Ballard, and her commitment to celluloid.

Simon Brault Q&A: Rebranding the Canada Council

Simon Brault Q&A: Rebranding the Canada Council

Simon Brault discusses the implications of the Canada Council for the Arts's new funding model, which turns 147 programs into six non-disciplinary ones.

20 Years of Tribe: Milestones and Future Horizons

20 Years of Tribe: Milestones and Future Horizons

In celebration of Tribe Inc.'s 20th anniversary, Lori Blondeau and Wanda Nanibush discuss the organization's past, and the future for Indigenous artmaking.

Bryne McLaughlin’s Top 3 of 2014: Data-ism

Bryne McLaughlin’s Top 3 of 2014: Data-ism

Bryne McLaughlin's top three picks of 2014 loom large: artists delving into big data and big science, all under the watchful eye of Big Brother.

Art & Tech Takeaways from Banff’s Convergence Summit

Art & Tech Takeaways from Banff’s Convergence Summit

Bryne McLaughlin reports on recent debates between art-and-tech leaders in Banff. The ultimate lesson: being human still matters.

4 Questions for Sobey Winner Nadia Myre

4 Questions for Sobey Winner Nadia Myre

Respected Anishinaabe artist Nadia Myre discusses hurt, healing and artmaking as relates to her latest projects on Montreal's Plateau and Senegal's coast.

BGL Reveals Plans for Venice Biennale & More

BGL Reveals Plans for Venice Biennale & More

Quebec trio BGL catch up with Bryne McLaughlin on their installation at Art Toronto, their plans for Venice and their budding relationship with Bonhomme.

Changing What Video Art Can Be

Changing What Video Art Can Be

Video art goes well beyond the screen—and into sculpture—in an pleasantly open-ended project at Trinity Square Video in Toronto. Bryne McLaughlin reviews.

TBD: Whither the Contemporary Art Museum?

TBD: Whither the Contemporary Art Museum?

MOCCA's lease will run out soon—a crisis it takes up in "TBD," a show where artists propose and critique ideas about art museums. Bryne McLaughlin reviews.

Garry Neill Kennedy: Taking it to the Banks

Garry Neill Kennedy: Taking it to the Banks

In a recent Berlin installation, Kennedy rejigged the logos of Canada's big banks to critical effect. And in this chat, he tells us why.

Radical Art: Can It Ever Preach to the Unconverted?

Radical Art: Can It Ever Preach to the Unconverted?

Onsite [at] OCADU, Toronto July 16 to October 11, 2014

Simon Blais Q&A: A Gallery 25 Years Young
Tris Vonna-Michell Q&A: From Montreal to the Turner Prize
Manif d’Art Critiques Capitalism—But To What End?

Manif d’Art Critiques Capitalism—But To What End?

Various venues, Quebec City May 3 to June 1, 2014

Melanie Authier on Abstraction, Painting and Going Grey

Melanie Authier on Abstraction, Painting and Going Grey

Rodman Hall, St. Catharines December 7, 2013, to March 16, 2014

Quebec Art Trio BGL to Represent Canada at 2015 Venice Biennale
Maskull Lasserre Q&A: How the Army Changed My Art

Maskull Lasserre Q&A: How the Army Changed My Art

Pierre-François Ouellette art contemporain, Montreal November 30, 2013 to January 18, 2014

Bryne McLaughlin’s Top 3 of 2013: Strange Encounters
Sakahàn: International Indigenous Art

Sakahàn: International Indigenous Art

National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa May 17 to September 2, 2013

Carnegie International Favours Play Over Pomp

Carnegie International Favours Play Over Pomp

Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh October 5, 2013 to March 16, 2014

New Award for Mid-Career Artists Launched by MNBAQ
Inside Story: Bryne McLaughlin’s Art Toronto Preview Reflections
Public Studio’s Latest Brings Drone Warfare Back Home

Public Studio’s Latest Brings Drone Warfare Back Home

O’Born Contemporary, Toronto September 12 to October 11, 2013

Downtown Developers: Galerie René Blouin
Q&A: Anthony Kiendl on Web-Art Pioneer Roy Ascott

Q&A: Anthony Kiendl on Web-Art Pioneer Roy Ascott

Plug In ICA, Winnipeg July 5 to September 27, 2013

Myfanwy MacLeod Revisits 1970s London in Bittersweet Survey

Myfanwy MacLeod Revisits 1970s London in Bittersweet Survey

Museum London April 20 to July 7, 2013

Andrew Wright’s Contact Show Shoots High at UTAC

Andrew Wright’s Contact Show Shoots High at UTAC

University of Toronto Art Centre April 30 to June 29, 2013

Curator Q&A: How Indigenous Art Took Centre Stage in Sakahàn

Curator Q&A: How Indigenous Art Took Centre Stage in Sakahàn

National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa May 17 to September 2, 2013

Papier 13 Strategy Pays Off, Striking Art-Fair Balance

Papier 13 Strategy Pays Off, Striking Art-Fair Balance

Quartier des Spectacles, Montreal April 25 to 28, 2013

Kristan Horton Masters the Mix at MacLaren Art Centre

Kristan Horton Masters the Mix at MacLaren Art Centre

MacLaren Art Centre, Barrie February 28 to May 26, 2013

Vancouver’s Patkau Architects to Design New, Expanded Presentation House Gallery
Gaze Chaser: Emanuel Licha and the Optics of War
Bryne McLaughlin’s Top 3 of 2012: Changing the Conversation
Pascal Grandmaison’s Projections Take Over Downtown Montreal

Pascal Grandmaison’s Projections Take Over Downtown Montreal

Quartier des Spectacles, Montreal December 6, 2012, to March 2, 2013

Garry Neill Kennedy Continues to Surprise with Most Recent Wall Painting Work

Garry Neill Kennedy Continues to Surprise with Most Recent Wall Painting Work

Diaz Contemporary, Toronto October 13 to November 10, 2012

Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec Unveils Significant New BGL Acquisition
AA Bronson, Anton Vidokle Challenge Canada’s Artist-Run Culture at Institutions by Artists in Vancouver
Pioneering Toronto Dealer Jared Sable, of Sable-Castelli Gallery, Remembered
Omer Fast on Making the News New Again
The New Alberta Contemporaries: Western Promises
Scott Rogers: Perpetual Returns
Backstory: Complicated Curation

Backstory: Complicated Curation

An article from the Summer 2012 issue of Canadian Art

Red Sky at Night: Atmospheric Pressures

Red Sky at Night: Atmospheric Pressures

Mercer Union, Toronto Jun 15 to Jul 29 2012

Kerry Tribe: Not-So-Total Recall

Kerry Tribe: Not-So-Total Recall

Los Angeles artist Kerry Tribe wades into the hazy nether regions of shattered mental recall in “Speak, Memory,” an exhibition of three recent film-based installations currently on at the Power Plant. Bryne McLaughlin reviews, considering the fickle nature of remembrance.

Pioneer Ladies [of the Evening]: A Different Famous Five

Pioneer Ladies [of the Evening]: A Different Famous Five

Mug shots go monumental in “Pioneer Ladies [of the Evening],” a Winnipeg exhibition that draws upon—and then redraws—histories of the city’s sex trade. In this interview with Bryne McLaughlin, curator and historian Laurie K. Bertram talks about her hopes for the show.

Althea Thauberger: Faraways

Althea Thauberger: Faraways

Himalayan peaks meet Queen West sidewalks in Althea Thauberger’s latest Toronto installation, where a massive, billboard-sized image shows Kashmiri actors staging King Lear. In this interview with Bryne McLaughlin, Thauberger discusses the work’s making and meaning.

Samuel Roy-Bois: Surreal Estate

Samuel Roy-Bois: Surreal Estate

As part of his latest project, Vancouver artist Samuel Roy-Bois posted an ad promising a rent-free apartment in Canada’s most heated real-estate market. Now, he chats with Bryne McLaughlin about the results.

28 Days: Black History Month, Reimagined

28 Days: Black History Month, Reimagined

February is Black History Month in Canada, a tradition that gets a compelling curatorial treatment in “28 Days,” a two-venue Toronto show. Bryne McLaughlin reviews the exhibition, which features Wangechi Mutu, Dionne Simpson and 16 other artists.

Michel de Broin: Cities of Light

Michel de Broin: Cities of Light

Michel de Broin's new street-lamp sculpture in New Orleans is a notable return to North America for the artist, who has spent much of the past six years living and working in Europe. In this feature from our Winter 2012 issue, managing editor Bryne McLaughlin takes a closer look at de Broin's work, which is both popular and powerful.

Bryne McLaughlin’s Top 3: Against the Grain

Bryne McLaughlin’s Top 3: Against the Grain

Year-end best lists often highlight popular favourites. But looking back over 2011, what lingers for managing editor Bryne McLaughlin are the figures who have gone against the grain—even, impressively, in one of the fall season’s biggest shows.

Raqs Media Collective: The Equation Makers

Raqs Media Collective: The Equation Makers

Poetics, politics and paradox multiply in the work of India’s Raqs Media Collective, which has gained wide international attention in the past decade. Last week, as its latest exhibition opened in Toronto, Raqs’ Shuddhabrata Sengupta sat down to chat with Bryne McLaughlin.

Wavelengths: An Interview with TIFF’s Andréa Picard

Wavelengths: An Interview with TIFF’s Andréa Picard

With the Toronto International Film Festival launching this week, movie madness is gripping the city. But it’s not just about popcorn flicks; the fest’s also got Wavelengths, an experimental program. Here, Bryne McLaughlin explores its highlights with TIFF’s Andréa Picard.

Bertrand Carrière: Crossing the Strand

Bertrand Carrière: Crossing the Strand

From Georgia O’Keeffe to Philip Glass, Canada’s Maritimes have inspired many iconic American artists. Now, Quebecer Bertrand Carrière is retracing photographer Paul Strand’s little-known trips to the Gaspé. Find out more in Bryne McLaughlin’s interview.

This is Paradise: Cameron Clubhouse

This is Paradise: Cameron Clubhouse

There’s a certain mystique that surrounds Toronto’s Cameron House, a storied past that forms the focus of “This is Paradise,” a summer exhibition on the bar’s 1980s art heyday. Bryne McLaughlin reviews, gauging the show’s balance between historical and here-and-now.

Frontrunners: Past, Present and Future

Frontrunners: Past, Present and Future

From Rebecca Belmore to Brian Jungen, a wave of First Nations contemporary art has swept Canada. It’s worth remembering, though, that this wave has precedents in the 1970s. Find out more as curator Cathy Mattes tells Bryne McLaughlin about “the Indian Group of Seven.”

Lynne Cohen: Space Invader

Lynne Cohen: Space Invader

Since the early 1970s, Montreal photographer Lynne Cohen has reshaped the way we see everyday spaces. Now, with a new $50,000 award under her belt and a group show about to open in Venice, Cohen talks with Bryne McLaughlin about her infiltrative oeuvre.

Biennale de Montréal: The Gamblers

Biennale de Montréal: The Gamblers

Curators Claude Gosselin and David Liss bet on the benefits of contingency when they themed the current Biennale de Montréal on elements of chance. Managing editor Bryne McLaughlin reviews, finding both payoffs and problems for this fast-and-loose motif.

Pascal Grandmaison: Star Power

Pascal Grandmaison: Star Power

With solo exhibitions this winter at Galerie René Blouin and Casino Luxembourg, it’s already been a big year for Montreal artist Pascal Grandmaison. Now managing editor Bryne McLaughlin reviews Grandmaison’s current show in Toronto.

Roy Arden: Life Cycles

Roy Arden: Life Cycles

Melding collage, photography and kinetic sculpture, Roy Arden’s latest exhibition reframes his wide-angle view of the world. Now, in an interview with Bryne McLaughlin, Arden discusses production circuits, personal cosmology and past atlases.

Bryne McLaughlin’s Top 3: Projective Imaginations

Bryne McLaughlin’s Top 3: Projective Imaginations

Whether looking at films, maps or archives, managing editor Bryne McLaughlin found many rich grounds for historical and psychological projection in 2010. In discussing his three year-end picks, he sheds light on these complex effects and more.

Northern Light

Northern Light

Charles Stankievech shapes his Ghost Rockets World Tour from Dawson City

Murray Favro: Machine Logic

Murray Favro: Machine Logic

For more than four decades, London, Ontario, artist Murray Favro has been a source of perception-bending sculptural constructions. A new show at Christopher Cutts Gallery, reviewed here by Bryne McLaughlin, reveals the inner components of Favro’s conceptual handiwork.

It Is What It Is: The Canadian Biennial in Question

It Is What It Is: The Canadian Biennial in Question

Biennial fever continues to sweep the globe, and this fall the National Gallery of Canada joins the fray with “It Is What It Is,” a survey of contemporary Canadian art. But what is “it” exactly? Bryne McLaughlin reports on the show and a day of related panel discussions.

Beyond/In Western New York: Buffalo Stance

Beyond/In Western New York: Buffalo Stance

Some say that one of the biggest Canadian art biennials actually happens every other year in the States—namely at the regionally focused fest Beyond/In Western New York. Bryne McLaughlin reports on the opening of this fall’s sprawling, Buffalo-based event.

The Khyber Controversy: Three Years’ Grace

The Khyber Controversy: Three Years’ Grace

For the past number of years, there's been controversy regarding the future of Halifax’s Khyber Arts Society. Seen by many as a key venue locally and nationally, the Khyber was back in the news this month as a city report recommended a new three-year plan for its space.

Blue Republic: The Order of Disorder

Blue Republic: The Order of Disorder

Artists Anna Passakas and Radoslaw Kudlinski, better known as Blue Republic, have a knack for drawing perennial truths out of life’s absurdities. Now Canadian Art’s Bryne McLaughlin chats with the pair about “Weather Report,” their latest Toronto exhibition.

La Colonie: Bonne Vacances

La Colonie: Bonne Vacances

What happens when you set a group of artists loose for an anything-goes summer camp in an historic rural village? That’s exactly what Quebec City’s L’Oeil de poisson aimed to find out with its 25th anniversary exhibition “La Colonie.” Here, curator Jean-Michel Ross and Canadian Art’s Bryne McLaughlin discuss the merits of taking art on vacation.

Manif d’art 5: Sylvie Fortin Talks on Curating Catastrophe

Manif d’art 5: Sylvie Fortin Talks on Curating Catastrophe

Catastrophes have dominated news this year, from Haiti's earthquakes to BC's avalanches. Now, Bryne McLaughlin talks to curator Sylvie Fortin about “Catastrophe? Quelle catastrophe!” the 5th Manif d’art biennial opening in Quebec City this weekend.

Magnetic Norths: Of Domes and DEW Lines

Magnetic Norths: Of Domes and DEW Lines

Archival documents, audio works and contemporary art come together to riff on ideas and actualities of the Arctic in the exhibition “Magnetic Norths.” Bryne McLaughlin reviews, reflecting on territorial ambitions both real and imagined.

Dan Perjovschi: Drawing Criticism

Dan Perjovschi: Drawing Criticism

Dan Perjovschi’s large-scale installations of critically edged drawings on gallery walls have been featured at the Venice Biennale, Tate Modern and other notable venues. With his latest project now on in Toronto, Bryne McLaughlin talks with the artist about his life and work.

Guido van der Werve: King’s Gambits and Artist’s Games

Guido van der Werve: King’s Gambits and Artist’s Games

Marcel Duchamp and John Cage spring to mind when viewing Guido van der Werve’s latest film at Prefix. As Bryne McLaughlin observes, the intertwining of life, art, chess and music in van der Werve’s work invites rich comparisons.

Mowry Baden: Perception Machines

Mowry Baden: Perception Machines

“Mirroring,” the latest exhibition by Victoria’s Mowry Baden at Diaz Contemporary, consists of no mirrors—at least none of the typical kind. Instead, Bryne McLaughlin notes, Baden’s sculptures offer the idea of reflection as a tactile experience.

2009 Windsor Biennial: Kick Out the Jams

2009 Windsor Biennial: Kick Out the Jams

With General Motors declaring bankruptcy this week, there’s a lot of focus on the Windsor-Detroit region. Now Windsor Biennial co-curator Lee Rodney shares some thoughts with Bryne McLaughlin on cultural prospects in the area.

Roger Ballen: Raw Power

Roger Ballen: Raw Power

There are few contemporary image-makers who capture the essentially chaotic beauty of human existence as well as the Johannesburg-based photographer Roger Ballen. A tight overview of work at the OCAD Professional Gallery clarifies his practice.

Shary Boyle: Bat Drama sans Dracula

Shary Boyle: Bat Drama sans Dracula

Shary Boyle’s magical world is infused with dreams of a distinctly gothic air. Her latest show focuses on new porcelain bat sculptures set alongside pastel drawings, demonstrating further proof of Boyle’s mastery of technique and concept.

Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster: Back to the Future, or A Cautionary Tale

Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster: Back to the Future, or A Cautionary Tale

Last week Tate announced that Polish sculptor Miroslaw Balka will be the next artist using the massive Turbine Hall. Whether he’ll be able to outdo the current, sci-fi flavoured installation by French artist Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster is an open question.

Thomas Demand: Mom, Apple Pie and the Oval Office

Thomas Demand: Mom, Apple Pie and the Oval Office

From JFK at his desk in Life Magazine to blog speculation over Barack Obama’s decorative tastes, there are few better representations of a conflicted sense of history, power and celebrity than the Oval Office. A new UK exhibition by German artist Thomas Demand deconstructs the meaning of this cultural monolith.

Hot Buttons: To Be or Not to Be?

Hot Buttons: To Be or Not to Be?

The legacy and future of artist-run culture in Canada was on the agenda at this past weekend’s Hot Buttons conference in Ottawa. Even if the conference’s most promising panels also proved to be its most unresolved, there's still good reason to believe ARCs can break from the predictable—just as they originally did four decades ago.

Not Quite How I Remember It: Rapid Memory Gloss

Not Quite How I Remember It: Rapid Memory Gloss

The need to examine the past—personal and otherwise—to make sense of the present is a strong, if not innate, human quality. This tendency gets a fair, though sometimes uneven, treatment in the Power Plant’s summer exhibition.

Simon Starling in Review: 21st-century Colonialism

Simon Starling in Review: 21st-century Colonialism

The centerpiece of Simon Starling’s new exhibition at The Power Plant, Infestation Piece (Musselled Moore), demands some explanation to be fully understood.

“1973: Sorry, Out of Gas” in Montreal

“1973: Sorry, Out of Gas” in Montreal

Like an old scrapbook that we open years later, “Out of Gas” takes us back to the 1973 oil crisis and reminds us of how much we have forgotten of those times when driving a car was banned on Sundays by many European governments and gas was rationed in the United States.

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