Reviews
On Charles Campbell and the Underrepresentation of Caribbean Art in Canada
The Jamaica-born, Victoria-based artist has shown at the Brooklyn Museum and Pérez Art Museum Miami—but only recently had his first Vancouver solo show
On Charles Campbell and the Underrepresentation of Caribbean Art in Canada
The Jamaica-born, Victoria-based artist has shown at the Brooklyn Museum and Pérez Art Museum Miami—but only recently had his first Vancouver solo show
Carol Wainio: Unsettling Painting’s Landscapes
Painting that unsettles our expectations can be increasingly rare. But as critic Emily Falvey contends, Carol Wainio’s work continues to step outside painting’s “proper” concerns—to superb, if challenging, effect.
Jay Isaac: Think Tanked
In his recent show titled “The Zone of No Ideas,” Jay Isaac rejected neo-conceptualist logic in favour of more painterly problems. Now, Adam Lauder finds that Isaac’s paintings offer a complex and mature statement on abstraction.
Lisa Steele & Kim Tomczak: Urban Renewal
Well-known duo Lisa Steele and Kim Tomczak have a couple of new works that deal with cities in ways both public and personal. Peggy Gale reviews these in Caen, France, providing a peek at a work that will be exhibited in Toronto this summer.
Sarah Anne Johnson: Going Live
Sarah Anne Johnson has won major awards for her photography. But in a recent exhibition, she ventured into a new realm—performance. As Mary Reid observes, the results, which traced a legacy of family trauma, were very emotionally powerful.
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.
Jonathan Forrest: Exploding Abstraction’s Histories
The abstract paintings of Saskatoon’s Jonathan Forrest often evoke modernism’s past. Yet as Jeffrey Spalding observes while reviewing Forrest’s current Calgary show, they also generate wondrous reactions, delightful effects and bright future prospects.
Marcel Dzama: Thinking Bigger
Marcel Dzama, known primarily for eerie, comic-like drawings, has branched out into a whole new 3-D scale in recent years. Now, critic Isa Tousignant chats with Dzama about the fresh directions seen in his current Montreal museum show.
Border Zones: Crossing the Line
The recently revamped Museum of Anthropology at UBC transcends stereotypes through its current exhibition of contemporary art, “Border Zones.” As critic Ann Danilevich observes, the show challenges boundaries in culture, ideas, geography and (perhaps most importantly) museum practice.
Brenda Draney: Thanks for the Memories
The 2009 RBC Canadian Painting Competition winner, Brenda Draney, shows new works in a current Edmonton show. As critic Amy Fung observes, Draney’s art continues to evolve a bold, less-is-more approach to the fluid field of human remembrance
Myfanwy MacLeod: The High-Art Lowdown
Myfanwy MacLeod is known for forays into modernism’s iconic moments as well as for delving into the vernacular. Here, National Gallery curator Josée Drouin-Brisebois reviews MacLeod’s latest show with an eye to her “high” and “low” influences.