Cedric Bomford’s “TOWER BLOCK”
My review of Red Bull 381 Projects' latest exhibition, "TOWER BLOCK" by Cedric Bomford, is out now on the Canadian Art website. The show is open for another week, so I highly recommend stopping by and seeing it (and climbing it!) if you get the chance. With Nuit...
Stephanie Vegh’s “A postscript (and continuation) on the dubious value of art education”
Just a quick note for those interested: Stephanie Vegh has followed up on the discussion about studio art PhD programs on her blog in an article called "A postscript (and continuation) on the dubious value of art education". She points out that the University of...
On the “new” PhD in Visual Arts
In the current issue of C magazine, which just came out this week, I got the opportunity to review James Elkins' new volume on the advent of the Visual Arts PhD in the magazine's inaugural book review section. Artists with PhDs: On the New Doctoral Degree in Studio...
Reviews of two Toronto shows: “The Old College Try” at Red Bull 381 Projects and “feelers” at Susan Hobbs
Two quick reviews that I wrote for Montreal-based esse magazine came out this week, online and in print. One was for "The Old College Try," a joint show by Jon Sasaki and emerging artist Jessica Vallentin (whose work, especially the project Smithissauga, is...
Amy Lockhart’s “Walk for Walk”
The lovely folks at No More Potlucks recently invited me to write about Amy Lockhart's 2005 video Walk for Walk for their issue on fixation which just came out yesterday. You can find my article here, along with a streaming version of the video itself (which is...
Jon Rafman on Google Street View
Despite not getting to as many shows this summer as I would have liked (not helped by the fact that so many galleries are closed this time of year - I just discovered that during my two week trip to Vancouver, only one gallery is open!), I have been better at looking...
Fillip podcasts from the Judgment and Contemporary Art Criticism forum
This summer, like last year's, has turned out to be unexpectedly busy. I've been doing a lot of writing, as well as work on The Leona Drive Project, and have been neglecting this poor blog. Things should return to normal in a few weeks when these last few deadlines...
ArtStars*: bringing glam to the Toronto artworld
I know they have already been getting a lot of props and attention from the art blogosphere, but I want to go on record saying that I love ArtStars*, the new video blog/arts infotainment talkshow produced by Torontonian artists Jeremy Bailey and Ryan Edwards and...
No More Potlucks
One of the editors of this amazing online journal/magazine, published out of Montreal, just drew my attention to the existence of no more potlucks. The magazine "focuses on arts, activism and politics across Canada from coast to coast" with a decidedly feminist slant...
Vancouver Art in the Sixties
Earlier this month, the Morris and Helen Belkin Gallery and Grunt Gallery, both in Vancouver, launched a new website devoted to documenting, analyzing and critiquing art production in the city in the 1960s. "Ruins in Process: Vancouver Art in the Sixties" includes...
Reverse Pedagogy in Venice
Along with following Art Fag City's Venice updates on Twitter and text message updates from a friend who is there for the Biennale, I've also been following the antics of the mischievous Canadian collective Reverse Pedagogy as they infiltrate the festival with some...
Joni Murphy on Althea Thauberger’s “Carrall Street”
For almost a year now, Vancouver's artist-run centre Artspeak has been focusing on off-site, publication and performance activities rather than (and sometimes alongside) traditional art exhibitions. Cynics have implied that Artspeak's decision may be one way for the...