Interviews
Viewing Conditions
In mining the stuff of the world, two artists untangle beauty from consumption and attraction from complicity
Viewing Conditions
In mining the stuff of the world, two artists untangle beauty from consumption and attraction from complicity
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
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.
Venice Biennale Preview: Shades of Shearer
This week, the Canada Pavilion at the Venice Biennale launched its look at the art of Vancouver’s Steven Shearer, who marries old-master awe with a hard, heavy-metal edge. Here, David Balzer chats with the project’s lead curator and posts preview-peek pics.
Thomas Hirschhorn Interview: Eye Contacts
The North American premiere of Thomas Hirschhorn’s Das Auge (The Eye) has generated much debate in Toronto this spring. Find out more about Hirschhorn’s take on ethics, form and audience in this pre-opening interview with critic Sholem Krishtalka.
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.
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
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.
Ron Terada Conversation: Painting, Pathos and the Pictures Generation
Ron Terada’s latest solo show, currently in Banff, references painting, the image of the artist and Jack Goldstein’s memoirs, among other themes. Talking on-site with critic Amy Fung, Terada expands on art-world anxieties, genre mashups and the difficult ways Canadians view artists.
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.
Spring Hurlbut: Deadfall Dialogues
Spring Hurlbut has examined themes of life and death using motifs that some viewers find frightening. But as writer Bill Clarke discovers in an in-depth interview, Hurlbut’s main desire is for us to contemplate the human condition.
From the Archive
Veronika Pausova Paints a Spidery Sublime
This artist spins webs of imagery by turns cartoonish and trompe l’oeil, ab ex and VFX, rife with loopy insects, nail-bitten fingers and other surreal turns
I Need to Know Where I’m Standing
Following her Sobey win, a conversation with Kapwani Kiwanga on audiences, critique strategies and when critics get it wrong
Moyra Davey Discusses Her Mother Reader, 15 Years On
Acclaimed Canadian artist Moyra Davey published her perennially relevant Mother Reader in 2001. Now, she reveals how motherhood continues to affect her art.