Western Canada's art magazine since 2002
9 Febuary 2021 Vol 6 No 03 ISSN 2561-3316 © 2021
From the Editor
Portia Priegert
Is the art world – and its understandings of art that matters – shifting under the weight of recent global crises? Our Vancouver-based contributor Mark Mushet, a longtime observer of the West Coast cultural scene, raises that question in his review of an exhibition by activist artist Syrus Marcus Ware in this issue of Galleries West.
Mark notes "the catalytic and commingling events" of last year – the pandemic, of course, but also the massive outcry over racism as a stubborn global health crisis has refocused attention on many hard realities, from climate change and environmental decline to economic inequality and the ways vulnerable members of society are warehoused for profit.
A dominant culture of heedless greed that encourages many of our worst traits has been threatening to overwhelm humanity's age-old strengths, such as our ability to care for each other with kindness and to work collectively to solve problems for the greater good, the very things that will help us find new paths forward.
Mark's comments are linked specifically to Vancouver's generation-long love affair with conceptualism, and whether that focus is shifting to include activist art – but it's an observation that could be applied more broadly. Across the West, I've noticed galleries, at least those that are open, are framing exhibitions around apocalypse and mental health, as well as equity and diversity. Given all that is happening, it's hardly surprising. But it's noteworthy all the same.
Certainly, Galleries West's coverage reflects some of these shifts. For instance, galleries are exhibiting work by an unprecedented number of Black artists, and we have been pleased to review many of those shows. In this issue, for instance, along with the story about Ware, an important figure in the Black Lives Matter movement in Toronto, we feature a Q & A between Galleries West contributor Lindsay Inglis and Chukwudubem Ukaigwe, an emerging artist from Nigeria who is guest editing a publishing project for Winnipeg's Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art.
One of Ukaigwe's most interesting observations: “There is a plantation pattern in the way Black works are shown and collected these days." I'm not sure precisely what he is referring to, and wish he had expanded further, but it's a rich metaphor that pulls in ideas relating to slavery, massive mono-crops imposed on native landscapes, the harsh economics of agribusinesses and more.
Other political insights in this issue come courtesy of a Calgary exhibition by Darija Radakovic, who is informed by her life in the former Yugoslavia and avant-garde European art of the early 20th century. Our Calgary correspondent, Lissa Robinson, writes that considered against recent events in American politics, including the insurrection on the Capitol, Radakovic's work can be read as a warning against extremism: "Be vigilant. Pay attention. Defend your democracy."
Meanwhile, a new book that explores the entwinement of contemporary craft and politics is reviewed by Vancouver-based Amy Gogarty. The New Politics of the Handmade: Craft, Art and Design explores everything from socially engaged art and makerspaces to economic theory and the role of craft in traumatizing conditions like refugee camps.
This issue is rounded out with stories about two trailblazers. The first, written by Paul Gessell, is based on Irene Gammel's just-published book about Mary Riter Hamilton, who bravely travelled overseas after the First World War to paint the battlefields, but was scorned as "dangerous" by the National Gallery of Canada. The second, written by John Thomson, looks at a Vancouver exhibition that honours 100-year-old Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, who left Germany shortly before the Second World War to become one of Canada's leading landscape architects.
Looking ahead, we are working on a review about States of Collapse, a group show at the Dunlop Art Gallery in Regina that considers apocalyptic futures. We will also feature an excerpt from a new book about Haida artist Bill Reid written by leading curator, artist and educator Gerald McMaster, a Plains Cree member of the Siksika Nation.
Keep well until next time,
CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE: Paul Gessell, Amy Gogarty, Lindsay Inglis, Mark Mushet, Lissa Robinson, John Thomson
We acknowledge the support of the Government of Alberta Media Fund, the Government of Canada Special Measures for Journalism Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts.
