Is Canada a Group of Seven painting or a song by a band of five? The Robert McLaughlin Gallery's "Land Sea and Air" or the Hip's "Bobcaygeon"

Interesting timing from the Robert McLaughlin Gallery presenting Land, Sea and Air: Works from the Permanent Collection. The exhibit opened Aug 18 and runs through to Jan 22 2017. It explores the country's landscape through “portraits” of the Canadian topography. It is curated by Linda Jansma and works by Norval Morrisseau, Rita Letendre Emily Carr, Elizabeth Wyn Wood, Robin Mackenzie, Jim Davies, Alex Cameron, Yvonne McKague Housser and many others spanning the years 1860 to 2010.

Its interesting of course for many reasons but I find it more so in light of the recent cross-Canada gathering of Tragically Hip fans from coast to coast to coast on Aug 20 2016 for The Hip's Kingston concert. That show has been sensed as the band's last as lead singer Gord Downie, Canada’s unofficial poet laureate,  has terminal cancer. It was viewed on CBC platforms and had an audience of 11.7 million. What that says to me is that the idea of Canada has moved from the physical to the digital and from the visual to the aural. Downie's career has undergone assessment by critics and public alike, the end result being an agreement the man has become the voice, if not the face, of Canada. The voice was heard right around the world and it spoke of an agreed upon view of the Country. He brought this country together like no other.

Alexandra Luke, Moonlight - Banff, 1945, oil on canvas. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. E. R. S. McLaughlin, 1971

The “portraits” of Canada on display have literally overnight turned into artifacts, historical documents of a place that has ceased to be. Of course there is no attempt by the Gallery to present them as anything but Canada as it was, however there is always the idea that art can help us understand the future.

That future caught up with us in the words and sounds of the Tragically Hip. As Canada sets up to celebrate 150 years as a country it has grasped the digital realm firmly and will no longer be viewed in terms of just geography nor of history. Canada has embraced itself as an idea, one with no frame, no boundries, available online and in sound.

The question to be answered then by the exhibit and the artists of Land Sea and Air is, not who saw what in Canada but who heard what? A trip to the Gallery is a must now.

The Sadies - A photo review - Oshawa Aug 14

The Sadies have been busy this summer, Mariposa, River and Sky, Hillside for two sets, one with Buffy Saint-Marie, and they also played Oshawa's RibFest. They were joined on stage by Bruce and Margaret Good for a couple of tracks.

The Sadies are scheduled to play TURF in Toronto Sept 16. 

Visions of Summer at Navillus Gallery in Toronto

The Navillus Gallery annual Summer Group show opened July and runs through to July 29 2016. The exhibition showcases a selection of works by Patricia Avellan; Rosalind Breen; Mary Conover; Melanie Day; Christie Lau; Kirk Mechar Janet Read & Catherine Schmid.

While there are distinctions between each artist one can see in the works the same curiousity around pattern making, movement and water that has become quite a popular subject for contemporary artists. Read's evocative "Winter Ice" and Conover's "Michigan Study 1" echo each other as does Mechar's "Reach The Edge" and Avellan's untitled piece.

Maechar's "Reach The Edge" may sum up how many people are feeling this summer, on edge. There are those who stand on the precipice of the new, fearing the future and are turning back to the patriarchy of the past. There are those who are leaping into the unknown, eyes closed, noses held. (Britain's sudden wish to leave the EU for example is a great leap toward. . . )

The world is seeking new groupings, new alliances, (Lau's "Belgian Emu" sums that up quite nicely) and new tribes. Artists have moved on from such distinctions and are looking at the mosaic of media from outside and things are getting quite blurry. The world require visionaries, artists, including the artists in the Navillus Gallery show are scouting for them.

Artist Stew Jones maps out Urban Couture at the Wall Space Gallery in Ottawa

Prince Edward County based artist Stew Jones will exhibit new works at the Wall Space Gallery in Ottawa. The exhibit titled  “Urban Couture”  runs Friday June 10 to Sunday June 26 2016. Jones, who has worked with music stars such as Cuff The Duke and Sarah Harmer on album graphics, draws his inspiration from where light lands. With so many people looking down at their phones, screens, TVs, artists in response are looking up . . . at the interplay of light and space, clouds and times, sun, nights, moon, starts, the whole cosmos is becoming subject for many.  Jones as an artist has been documenting the light fall, not the wellspring, but where it lands. He follows the sun, he charts, and he sees the patterns. He is the sun’s cartographer. The exhibit opens June 11 2016, Jones will be on hand for a meet and greet 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mat Dube’s exhibit “Land Locked” will also have its opening.

Marcus Bowcott's TransAm Totem inspired by the towering figures of Marshall McLuhan, Neil Young, Walt Whitman cedar and cars

Vancouver-based artist Marcus Bowcott is the creator TransAm Totem which is located near False Creek. It is a powerful piece that questions more than answers. Slowcity.ca had an opportunity to chat with Marcus and he answered our questions but left us with more. The sculpture was created as part of the Vancouver Biennale. 

Slowcity.ca: Marshall McLuhan says when the North American male wants to be alone he gets into his car. The car is an extension of ourselves and in a way projects a certain face to the world. Why did you choose these particular faces? And where did you source them?

Marcus Bowcott: "McLuhan talks about the invention of the wheel as our “feet in rotation”. The general point is that the wheel speeds up our ability to move and that this speed - using this technology - will continue to increase and that we’ll never bloody well catch up. He also talks about "extensions of our bodies" as a form of “autoamputation” that induces a sense of numbness (narcosis/narcissus). He flat-out says that we’ve become “servo-mechanisms … of technology". His book Understanding Media  is brilliant. It contains insight after insight and should be a “must read” for every budding art student … and computer programmer.

"I suppose it would be an understatement to say that my intentions with Trans Am Totem directly relate to McLuhan. My intentions also relate to Walt Whitman, Marcel Duchamp and Neil Young. 

Instagram collage by Maks Fisli

"Whitman’s poem 'Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking' is worth reading in relation to this sculpture. My wife Helene read it to me after we finished working on Trans Am Totem. In our discussion we came  to the understanding that ‘cars’ are a mobile ‘cradles’ and that they echo the rocking motion the unborn child experiences in it’s mother’s womb. Given the form and structure of our bodies (and minds) I suppose one could say that cars are an inevitable form of mobile architecture. Cars are private enclosures, they’re sexy and they rock. We love them and I’m convinced that Trans Am Totem is as popular as it is because we’ve used cars as ‘media’. It seems that people who identify with cars like the sculpture because they themselves relate to cars as art objects. Environmentalists seem to like it for the subversive way it sends up advertising and consumer culture. Some people simply hate it and call it "junk on a stick” … the Dada-ist in me is fine with this perception/reaction. I’m interested in jamming the notion of “high” and “low” art & culture (I’m presently working on a series of paintings named “Branded, Logo’d & Art’d”.

"I like Neil Young’s music a lot (again, an understatement). The lyrics of his song Trans Am got me thinking about the type of car that needed to be on top of the sculpture. Trans Ams are muscle cars made during the "apex" of the American empire (and Donald Drumph wants to “make America great again’). The other cars were secured to a visit to the ABC Metal Recycling yard. I went to the wrecking yard with Eric Karsh, the structural engineer who helped build Trans Am Totem. Eric and myself picked out cars according to their length - I had previously made a maquette as a proposal and wanted cars that were small at the bottom of the sculpture and larger on the top. Chance played a big part in this … and when my eyes locked on to the beemer I knew for certain that I wanted it for the sculpture."

Photograph by Marcus Bowcott

Slowcity.ca: We live in a throwaway culture, trees are thrown away, cars are thrown away.  If all is temporary, for you what is permanent? 

Marcus Bowcott: Check out Whitman’s "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking".

Slowcity.ca: I see in the piece also an extension of the canoe, A tree is crafted into a boat for transportation, this particular tree has its skin half removed to reveal cars, another means of transportation; Are issues of mobility something that informs your work as an artist? 

Marcus Bowcott: "Interesting observation, but the skin of the tree has been completely removed - there are still some patches of bark - this magnificent old growth cedar has been logged and almost put through the mill. We got the tree for a fairly decent price because it had a really pronounced twist in it - which compliments the intentional twist of the cars in relation to each other. The twist of the log was chance (a guiding principle for Marcel Duchamp).

"In regards to the canoe: Helene and I have discussed this aspect of the sculpture at length. The cedar tree implies the potential for a canoe given that canoes have been carved from cedars on the West Coast for thousands of years. The centre of this particular tree was carved out to accommodate the central steel column holding the structure together (and provide stability against 150 mph winds and potential earthquakes). When we were carving out the centre of the tree we had a lot of discussion about canoes and the cultural history of this particular place. 

"Trans Am Totem  is a site specific sculpture in that it addresses the history of the site it occupies. Presently, the site is an urban transportation hub surrounded by condo towers. Thirty five years ago the site was a collection of sawmills, beehive burners and creosote soaked soil that was surrounded by an ever-changing ring of log booms. 150 years ago it was an old growth forest and tidal flats in proximity to the Squamish and Musqueam Nations. The bear paw carving at the base of the cedar is by my fellow Squamish artist/carver Xwalacktun - Rick Harry, the presence of Rick's bear paw embraces this history of the site and is intended to invoke/provoke historical discussion."

Story was edited June 14 2016 to include link to Vancouver Biennale.