Visual Art | Council Blog

Category Archives: Visual Art

Mar
26

What’s in a prize?

by Diana Nemiroff - 0 Comments

Picture from the video on Chantal Pontbriand, directed by Lysanne Thibodeau.

What’s in a prize? I’ve been asking myself this question while looking at the videos of the 2013 laureates of the Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts. I know from my own experience that it’s humbling to receive such an honour. Being recognized by one’s peers and by Canada’s Head of State is a double acknowledgment: a personal one, of course, but also an acknowledgment of the importance of the visual and media arts to this country and to our shared identity, whatever our politics. Read more

Mar
20

On meeting Rebecca Belmore

by Danielle Sturk - 0 Comments

Picture from the video on Rebecca Belmore, directed by Danielle Sturk.

We met for a coffee, two artists in Winnipeg in January: one a nationally recognized laureate of a 2013 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, the other an independent filmmaker; one new to the city, the other born and bred here; one an Aboriginal performance, visual and media artist, the other a francophone filmmaker and former dance artist; both women and multi-disciplinary artists where the loss of, struggle for, or re-creation of one’s language is potential common ground. Read more

Mar
12

Meeting Marcel Barbeau and Ninon Gauthier

by Luc Bourdon - 0 Comments

Picture from the video on Marcel Barbeau, directed by Luc Bourdon.

Our first impressions of a film subject are generally influenced by our prejudices, clichéd ideas or our own ignorance regarding the subject. This was certainly the case for the film portrait that I was commissioned to make of Marcel Barbeau.

And so it was that just before my first meeting with the famous painter, I’d imagined a severe man who would only reluctantly allow himself to be filmed by our intrusive cameras – a unique individual, to be sure, but one who would be protective of his privacy (and really, who isn’t when faced with a stranger’s prying eye?).

Feb
25

RE-FRAME: International spotlight on Aboriginal art

by Louise Profeit-LeBlanc - 0 Comments

Danis Goulet’s Barefoot, 2012

From February 7-17, several contemporary film and video works by some of Canada’s most talented Aboriginal filmmakers were screened at the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale), as part of the festival’s first in a three-year series on Indigenous film and video. The Canada Council funded Canada’s representation, working in partnership with the ImagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival and the Embassy of Canada was a key supporter Canada’s representation at the festival.

Louise Profeit-LeBlanc, Coordinator of the Aboriginal Arts Office at the Canada Council discussed the growing international interest in Aboriginal film and the impact of participating in events like Berlinale.

Nov
09

On the Road with the Asia Pacific Visual Arts Delegation: Part 2 –Taipei

by Jon Davies - 0 Comments

A couple of weeks ago Jon Davies posted on his recent experiences in Shanghai, China as part of the Asia Pacific Visual Arts Delegation sponsored by the Canada Council. Now he shares his insights on the second part of the trip: Taipei.

Sunday, 30 September 2012, 11:30 PM

Taipei Biennale at the Fine Arts Museum

Taipei is dramatically different from Shanghai – somehow more familiar though less overwhelming in scale, the people more laid-back, and the wide streets a fascinating hodge-podge of architecture. First stop is the Treasure Hill neighbourhood, essentially a shantytown given heritage status, and incorporating an experimental artists’ residency program. We then dropped by small media-arts venue, Cube, which does great programming on a shoestring budget.

Oct
30

On the Road with the Asia-Pacific Visual Arts Delegation

by Jon Davies - 0 Comments

Thursday, 20 September 2012, 11:30 AM

I’m sitting at gate E77 at Pearson International Airport, soon to board a 14-hour flight from Toronto to Shanghai. I have never been to East Asia before, and my anxiety about the flight and nervous excitement about the next two weeks is tempered by the music of The Smiths and ABBA being pumped out of the loudspeakers.

Our Canada Council-supported mission: to attend the openings of the 9th Shanghai and 10th Taipei Biennials, and meet with artists, curators, gallerists and arts professionals in both cities, and in Hangzhou, China. The goal: connecting Canadian visual arts communities with opportunities for exhibition and exchange in Asia.

Sep
24

Being 40 – or not being 40

by Victoria Henry - 0 Comments

Becoming Laura (2012), Meryl McMaster, giclée on cotton rag

Yes, we did announce that Spotlight on 40 Years: Artworks from the Canada Council Art Bank would be an online exhibition showcasing 40 works for the 40^th anniversary of the Canada Council Art Bank. How did we end up with 41? Believe me, we didn’t lie about our age — the Art Bank is indeed 40 – but sometimes art is bigger than life, it defies our views, our curatorial intentions, and imposes itself … art tells us stories and sets us on a different path.

Amy and Laura

Everything started when Art Bank consultant Amy Jenkins saw Becoming Laura (2012), by Meryl McMaster, in a show at the Harbourfront Centre. Not even printed at the time of planning our exhibition, the work seemed to have been created for it. It speaks to the idea of Canadian identity and national pride, it keeps the viewer looking for further clues as to what’s going on. It also offers a hint of tongue-in-cheek humour: Meryl McMaster, a Plains Cree artist who professes to be a distant cousin of Laura Secord!

Aug
13

Tracking Philip Beesley: From his first grant to the Sydney and Venice Biennales

by Doug Sigurdson - 0 Comments

Detail of Philip Beesley’s <i>Sibyl (Hylozoic Series)</i>, currently on view at the Sydney Biennale in Australia. ©PBAI

For many of us at the Canada Council, one of the great privileges of our jobs is following the trajectory of an artist’s production over time and from many perspectives.

We learn of artists’ plans through their applications and witness the peer assessment committees’ response to them. We also see the plans made by organizations that apply for Council support to bring the artist’s work to the public. Then, once the work gets out into the public, we observe how the world responds to it – through the media, or simply through the word on the street.

It’s always exciting when an artist’s career “takes off,” suddenly capturing the attention of a variety of decision-makers in a variety of circumstances, seemingly all at once. Such is the case of Toronto artist and architect Philip Beesley, whose installation, Hylozoic Series, is currently beguiling audiences at the Sydney Biennale of contemporary art in Australia. He is one of 12 artists in the Canadian representation at this prestigious event, which was supported by the Canada Council, administered by the Art Gallery of Ontario, and organized by AGO curator Gerald McMaster.

Jun
27

Contemporary portraits give a new face to a historic landmark

by Victoria Henry - 1 Comment

From the exhibition New Faces: Portraits from the Collection of the Canada Council Art Bank, Les Jardins de Métis - Reford Gardens

The Impossible Speech Act, from the exhibition of contemporary Canadian artworks from the Canada Council Art Bank collection in the main rooms of the Estevan Lodge. Photo: Luc Raymond

Last week some of my fellow Canada Council Art Bank staff and I installed an exhibition of 18 artworks at Estevan Lodge. This historic building, the 125-year-old former summer home of the Reford Family, is the centerpiece of Les Jardins de Métis – Reford Gardens, a significant tourist venue on Quebec’s south shore.

Jun
15

Oh, Canada takes Massachusetts by storm

by Robert Sirman - 0 Comments

Opening of the exhibition Oh, Canada at MASS MoCA (the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art)

On the last weekend of May, three of us from the Canada Council – John Goldsmith, Director of Stakeholder Relations, Melinda Mollineaux, Program Officer in Visual Arts, and I – drove to North Adams, Massachusetts to take part in the opening of the exhibition Oh, Canada at MASS MoCA (the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art). MASS MoCA is located in a repurposed set of industrial buildings in the heart of New England’s summer festival region, which boasts Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Jacob’s Pillow, a dance festival that programs over 300 performances each summer.

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