Silent nights: Fernand Leduc at Olga Korper

Well, it's about that time, when everything non-retail discount related rolls up its front steps, bars the door, and waits for the inevitable necessity of a new year to re-engage with the world. Over the next couple of weeks, very little will be happening in the art scene, for this very reason; most galleries will shut down until at least the first week of January. That said, I recently saw a show that wil stretch well into the new year, at Olga Korper, that I'm more than happy to recommend.

You might have come across the satisfying show of the radical Quebec group Les Automatistes at the Varley Art Gallery in Markham, which follows their activity from 1941 to 1960. The gang of young Quebec artists, which included Paul-Emile Borduas, Magdeleine Arbour, Marcel Barbeau, Bruno Cormier, Claude Gavreau,  Marcelle Ferron, Françoise Sullivan, were a genuine creative and social revolution, adding to their artistic activity which, as the name suggests, was drawn from Surrealist ideas of primitivism and the unconscious, a bonafide manifesto: Le Refus Global, or Total Refusal, was drafted by Borduas in 1948, and signed by all members, and it did nothing more than issue a comprehensive challenge to Quebecois social, political and religious standards of the day. They called for "an untamed need for liberation," attacking the "cassocks that have remained the sole repositories of faith, knowledge, truth, and national wealth" in French Canada.

Needless to say, it was daring and risky, and sparked an outcry; Borduas lost his job at Ecole du Meuble, a Montreal Museum, and members were blackballed by official Quebec cultural institutions and society -- which, some contend, still exists today. Some historians generously also mark the manifesto as the point where contemporary French Canadian culture began.

In any case, one of those young ruffians is showing at the Korper Gallery through January 23. Fernand Leduc, now 93, has here a serene suite of abstract colourfields notable for a sense of absence; all the Modern hallmarks are here, stressing light, colour (or its lack) and proportion over all; it's a quietly contemplative assemblage of recent work, and easy enough to forget that, at one time, this was the stuff of revolution. Don't. Leduc was one of the few true radicals this country's art world has ever produced. Just this once, let your mind guide your eye for the full experience.

Happy holidays to you and yours. See you in January.

Attention Xmas shoppers: Gifts by Artists at Art Metropole; Bargain hunting at Hunter + Cook

A couple weekend events of note, namely Art Metropole's annual Gifts by Artists extravaganza, which continues up 'til Xmas eve. You can buy a grab-bag (or box, actually) of multiples by Stephen Andrews, James Carl, Andy Fabo, Derek Sullivan and Seth Scriver, among others, for $100. Today at AM is one of the associated events where Cecilia Berkovic will be holding a special artists' gift-wrapping station alongside local dematerialization troupe the CN Tower Liquidation Crew. Very yule-y.

Tomorrow at Hunter + Cook, the micro-gallery/magazine project on Ossington, they're holding Full Service, their own seasonal sale of a few hundred works for a mere $50 each. There's work from dozens of artists, including Scriver again, Tyler Clark Burke (left), Niall McClelland, FASTWURMS, and of course your hosts, Tony Romano and Jay Isaacs, among many, many others. Enjoy.

Do Not Pass Go: Melanie MacDonald opening tonight

Here's some fun for a freezing-cold Thursday: Melanie MacDonald's "Do Not Pass Go" opens tonight at 1142 Queen West. A suite of hyper-real paintings depicting board games -- and Monopoly in particular -- in extreme close-up, MacDonald's board's-eye view gives these familiar amusements an arresting sense of formalist gravity; a gifted renderer of light, MacDonald's painterly skill embues these banal pastimes with an eerie sense of contained menace -- a gift she's used on other oddly unremarkable forms as well. A standout is her series of portraits of realtors, painted from the thumbnail-sized snapshots that show up in mailbox flyers.

Anyway, maybe it's the bubbling up of raw childhood competitiveness, maybe it's nostalgia or maybe I'm just agape at the text embossed on the thimble -- I was always the thimble; I had no idea -- but something about these scenes unnerve, in the best possible way, like a not-quite-recalled memory, vexing in its haziness. Only until Dec. 22, at an oddly vacant space next to the Drake (MacDonald, from St. Catharines, is represented by the A.K. Collings Gallery in Port Hope). I'm guessing it's a quick-hit opportunity to give MacDonald some much-deserved big city exposure. My wild guess: It'll go over nicely.

Also tonight at Susan Hobbs is the first-ever commercial gallery show for Krista Buecking. Buecking, all of 27 years old, shows here a collection of charcoal-etched diptychs; a crumbling brick is paired with a disembodied song lyric. You might recall Buecking's Proposal for Ruins series, in which she drafted various icons of Modernist architecture (like Le Corbusier's Villa Savoy) in advanced states of tumble-down decay. That was easy enough to read, from a post-utopic point of view; this new series seems to me to need a closer look, which I'll give it as soon as I can.

Oh -- not to forget Mercer Union's Solid Gold annual member show and sale, starting in about 8 minutes. Dozens of works by artists like Margaux Williamson, Corwyn Lund, Katie Bethune-Leamen and Roula Partheniou, all priced at $149.99. A bargain, and for a good cause -- Mercer's continued survival. Win win.

Hi, sorry, a few other things

First of all, please let me introduce myself: I'm the blogger who dropped off the face of the earth for a couple of weeks there (again). Busy times in the pages of ye olde dinosaur, the newspaper, where I finally finished a two-part series on China and reviews of winter shows at the Oakville Galleries and the Power Plant (the first part, anyway, on "Nothing to Declare," the fun and engaging Canadian sculpture show; part two, on Michael Snow, will be this weekend.)

Keeping ever busy, I endured a white-knuckle drive up to Owen Sound yesterday to the Tom Thomson Gallery, where I saw Steven White's very good sculpture show, The Combine Project. A little piece on that, and Sandra Smirle's excellent Been & Gone, at Board of Directors -- that's one of her 100 pieces, at right -- will be in the paper tomorrow.  

Anyway, heard something interesting today -- that Jamie Angell will be abandoning his Queen Street digs in the new year, relocating up around the corner on Ossington. This shouldn't surprise anyone; after 13 years here, Angell was a notable holdout on Queen east of Shaw, where contemporary galleries have long since been supplanted by the inexorable creep westward of retail, restaurants and other such predictabilities.

It's a bit of an inevitable shame: This has been in process for a long time, but it's always sad to see remainign bits of urban texture smoothed over for the generic mean. Not that I don't enjoy a quality Americano and croissant, but I like it with a generous serving of difference, too -- something Queen notably lacks these days. In any case, best of luck to him -- Ossington seems to be the same process in hyperdrive, a night-time playground where the bigger-dollar draw of booze seems destined to do in the art presence on short order. But Angell hasn't survived this long not knowing what he's doing, so I'm sure he has a plan. Hopefully he can stick there and help keep the process at bay.

Shot through the heart: Viktor Mitic's "Dealers" opens tonight

I can imagine that few experiences could be as simultaneously flattering and unnerving as having your portrait done. For one thing, it's a complete surrender of agency as to how you're represented to the artist, but at the same time, it's ego-stroking to be considered important, interesting or visually compelling enough to have it done in the first place.

Ego usually wins out over insecurity, though, and Viktor Mitic has has given us 36 examples of the same with his series, "Dealers," a collection of portraits opening tonight at the Odon Wagner Gallery, of most of Toronto's gallery owners of import (that's Benjamin Diaz, of Diaz Contemporary, above). This is not to disparage those who didn't make the cut -- I can guess some fell on the other side of the equation, politely refusing -- but the roster Mitic presents is remarkably complete.

Endearingly indistinct and -- dare I say it -- impressionistic, Mitic's portraits are an uncharacteristically tender homage; if you don't know him, Mitic's probably best-known for works like "Hole Jesus," (2008), a portrait of Christ rendered from 22-calibre rifle shots. In another portrait, Mitic forged a likeness of Prime Minister Stephen Harper using wood screws on plywood (the title (drumroll, please: "Screw Harper.")

If nothing else, it's an abject lesson in careerist artistic priority: Religion and politics? Perfect for the profane. But art dealers? Now there's something sacred.

Happy weekend.

Well, that hurt

Sorry for the silence. After much pain, I've just finished a two-part series on China's (ahem) cultural evolution. Into what, pray tell? Pick up the Saturday paper and see.

On Sunday, I'll be reviewing the Power Plant's new shows, Nothing to Declare, featuring a bunch of old and new favourites (Luanne Martineau, James Carl, Valerie Blass, Kerrie Reid; that's her 2008 piece, "Things Fall Apart"), and new work by a favourite emeritus, Michael Snow. I'm excited. You should be, too. 

Opening tonight, by the by. See you there.

Well, well

Despite apparent industry subterfuge and a last-minute effort by councillor Norm Kelly to yank out most of its teeth, the billboard tax levy bylaw passed virtually intact today. The end result is it'll generate an additional $10.4 million annually; communtiy groups had hoped it would be officially directed mostly to community art initiatives, but as it stands, it just enters the general revenue stream. Allotment will get more specific in the 2010 Budget Committe, but hey, it's a start.

It also scales back the size and prominence of billboards in our city, as well as gives the city greater enforcement power, which can only be a good thing. 

Vancouver Biennale?

I didn't know about this.

http://vancouverbiennale.com/index.php

They have a major commissioned sculpture by Yue Minjun (above), for heaven's sake.

Now I'm really annoyed at this town of ours.

Billboard art levy de-fanged; vote today

A couple of days ago I mentioned that the controversial billboard tax was going before city council to either be rejected or enacted into bylaw; the upshot, if passed, would be some $11 million being directed towards community art initiatives and general city beautification.

That might still happen, but the Beautiful City Alliance has offered an update, which is that councillor Norm Kelly put a motion in the floor to cut the tax more or less in half, as well as allow LED and active screen billboards virtually everywhere (not just in over-illuminated zones like Yonge/Dundas Square).

It's my understanding that this is the revised motion being voted on today, which strikes me as a shame, particularly given deceptive behaviour by the industry and a broad-based public desire to reduce the prominence of outdoor advertising in our lives, not make it greater .

More later.

EDIT: Vote delayed to Monday. Stay tuned.

Old chestnuts, not roasting open fire?

Here's a little seasonal silliness: This week, Rogers on Demand introduced a new feature that allows you to proudly display on your wall -- in HD, no less -- a selection of works from those old Canadian chestnuts, the Group of Seven (that's A.Y. Jackson's Road to Baie St. Paul, from 1933).

Others on the list include Lawren Harris's Pic Island and Tom Thomson's Snow Shadows. All the works are from the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, which stands to make a mild profit from this, one would hope; the cost of putting a piece of Canadian history on the wall is 99 cents a day.

Some may prefer this to that other decorative holiday TV favourite, the yule log channel, which has the proverbial open fire crackling 24 hours a day. Then again, the fire is free; but the art, priceless. Right?