Christina Mackie’s Extended Range of Vision
Christina Mackie has turned colour into a metaphor for knowledge at Tate Britain. Nancy Tousley reports.
Canada’s Biennale: Montreal’s Star-Making Machine
The Biennale de Montréal is a newly revamped star-making machine with international ambitions, and Nancy Tousley weighs in on the latest edition.
Duchamp Ghosts Geoffrey Farmer’s Spider House in Edmonton
Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton September 14, 2013 to January 12, 2014
Brian Jungen & Duane Linklater: Hunting Retreat
Banff Centre, Aug 2 to 15, & Aug 3 to Nov 18 2012
Oh, Canada: National Dreams
The survey “Oh, Canada,” billed as the largest-ever exhibition of contemporary Canadian art abroad, opened last week in Massachusetts. Nancy Tousley reviews the show and its nation-sized ambitions.
Julian Opie: A New Calgary Stroll
The animated public artworks of London’s Julian Opie are known for mesmerizing passersby in cities worldwide. Last week, his first four-sided LED tower with rotating motion debuted in Calgary. Nancy Tousley reports.
Fred Herzog: Retro Refresh
To celebrate its 40th anniversary this year, Vancouver’s Equinox Gallery opened a spectacular 12,000-square-foot project space in an old tractor factory. Here, Nancy Tousley reports on the space and its debut show: a vast Fred Herzog retrospective.
Kevin Schmidt: High Hopes
This winter, Canadian artist Kevin Schmidt has been trying to launch a 4-by-5 camera into the stratosphere. His goal, with the help of some Edmonton amateur radio operators: to create a massive image of our planet. Nancy Tousley reports.
Theo Sims: The Candahar Pub Returns to Calgary
Theo Sims’ detailed, working recreation of a Belfast pub has been a hit at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and other Canadian locales. Now, it returns to the place it first debuted: the Alberta College of Art and Design. Nancy Tousley reports.
Laurie Anderson: Down the Rabbit Hole
As a child, Laurie Anderson broke her back while showing off on a diving board. Now, she draws on that experience in The Gray Rabbit, a work having its North American premiere at Calgary’s Glenbow Museum. Nancy Tousley reports on the project, and its inspirations, in this feature interview.
Nancy Tousley’s Top 3: Supercharged Surveys
In early 2011, Nancy Tousley, our contributing editor from Calgary, won a Governor General’s Award for her distinguished arts-journalism career. Now, her expertise highlights some strongly curated surveys as the year’s best shows.
Prospect.2: Mardi Gras Masterpiece
New Orleans’ Prospect.2 biennial was founded to revitalize the city, and despite budget overruns and a recently resigned artistic director, reviewer Nancy Tousley finds that its artwork still shines brightly. Read on for her highlights of the event.
The Esker Foundation: A New Path for Alberta Art
The desire for a world-class, free-standing contemporary art gallery has been at large in Calgary for 40 years. Now, Jim Hill, a 62-year-old oilman, is opening a space that just might fit the bill. Nancy Tousley reports.
Sarah Anne Johnson: Northern Splendour
In this feature from our Fall 2011 issue, contributing editor Nancy Tousley focuses on Sarah Anne Johnson, the Winnipeg artist who recently debuted a series on the Arctic and who is known for exploring themes of environmentalism and community through photography.
Robin Arseneault & Paul Jackson: Taking Aim at the Art World
Hunting Blind, a new outdoor sculpture installation by Robin Arseneault and Paul Jackson at the Art Gallery of Alberta, proves an exception to the rules of public art. Moreover, notes Nancy Tousley, its design takes some shots at the art world itself.
Alison Rossiter: Darkroom Legacy
The Manhattan studio of Alison Rossiter is filled with neatly stacked packets of expired photo paper. In this feature from our spring issue, critic Nancy Tousley visits with Rossiter, exploring how her old discards are turned into admirable abstract prints.
Calgary Report: An Artist-Run Alberta
Calgary likes to brand itself as a place for mavericks, an identity that’s taken an unexpected creative turn as artist-run spaces pop up across the city. Critic Nancy Tousley reports on these fresh, youthful initiatives.
Are Curators Unprofessional?: Group Practices
The provocatively titled Are Curators Unprofessional? conference, which took place this weekend in Banff, was filled with stimulating presentations—and some controversy. Nancy Tousley reports on the panels and lectures that made this event both sassy and serious.
New York Report: Photo Finishes
Canadian Art contributing editor Nancy Tousley kicks off a series of monthly reports for our website this week with a look at New York’s current photography obsession. From MOMA and the Met to Chelsea and the Whitney, cameras are king of the fall season.
SAAG Reopening: Prairie Promise
Long known for its terrific contemporary art program, the Southern Alberta Art Gallery in Lethbridge reopened its newly renovated main space last week. As Nancy Tousley reports, the new facility promises to build on the gallery’s many strengths.
The Malcolmson Collection: A Passion for Photography, and its Evolution
Over the years, Toronto couple Harry and Ann Malcolmson have assembled one of the most important private photography collections in North America. Now, with a show of their collection on in Vancouver, the Malcolmsons sit down for an in-depth chat with critic Nancy Tousley.
Making Worlds: 53rd Venice Biennale
Contemporary art all but takes over La Serenissima during the Venice Biennale, spilling out of the Giardini and the Arsenale, the official exhibition sites, to dot the city with additional national exhibitions and special events, disturbing her serenity with art-world buzz.
Andreas Gursky: Interview with Insight
Andreas Gursky is one of the world’s best-known contemporary photographers. Now, on the occasion of an extensive show at the Vancouver Art Gallery, Gursky talks in-depth about his work—including a first-ever self-portrait—with critic Nancy Tousley.
Mark Lewis: So Much to See
The Canada-born, U.K.-based filmmaker Mark Lewis takes his exquisitely challenging work to the Venice Biennale
Dream Scenes
At the heart of David Hoffos's Scenes From the House Dream lies a dream about a house. Most of us have had a dream about a house at one time or another, even a recurring house dream, but here is the difference between a wizard illusionist like Hoffos and the rest of us.
Damian Moppett: A Trapper in the Woods
The Vancouver artist Damian Moppett achieves a fine balance between invention and homage
Brian Jungen: Cool Cooler Coolest
The crowd at the opening of “Hammertown” in Edinburgh, Scotland, didn’t quite know what to make of it—a Coleman cooler filled with Budweiser “tall boy” beers sitting on the floor in an art gallery—until Brian Jungen, whose work it is, walked over to it, took out a can and pulled the tab, a bit like a hostess leading with the correct fork.
