sally mckay and lorna mills

Andrew Harwood’s Winnipeg top 10, Honourable Mentions & Dishonourable Mentions

1) Diana Thorneycroft, “Canada, Myth, and History, Group of Seven Awkward Moments Series” Winnipeg Art Gallery, June 12, 2010 to August 22, 2010

Diana Thorneycroft never ceases to delight me with her often humourous and darkly themed artworks. This exhibition of photographs toys with the paintings of the Group of Seven, as they serve as backdrops to plastic dolls and homemade props engaged in various “Canadian” activities. I haven’t laughed out loud in a gallery in a very long time. Thank you for this treat of a show and hilarious re-visioning of Canadian history and art history.

2) Deirdre Logue, “Rough Count”, Platform Gallery, Winnipeg, “Cabin Fever” group exhibition curated by JJ Kegan McFadden, October 30 – December 15, 2010

Counting confetti never looked so good! In this series of videos by Logue, she undertakes the onerous task of hand counting a big bag of confetti. “Rough Count”, 2006 –present, seems like an impossible task and according to her own rules, she stops and starts the counting over again as she miscounts pieces, she also stops taping and starts over again. This work is about patience, a playful form of obsessive compulsion and trying to make order out of chaos. Several monitors portray Logue’s counting so that while watching these works, I was almost overwhelmed with the idea of having to count and recount confetti.

3) Mary Anne Barkhouse “Game”, Urban Shaman, Sept 10 – Oct 2

Barkhouse uses nature and the idea of play in her whimsical and engaging show “Game”. One of the best sculptures/maquettes I have seen this year is “Beaver Lodge”; a riff on modernist architecture, doll houses and yes beaver damns. In “Beaver Lodge”, a mock up of a beautifully constructed modernist house scattered with toy-like beavers going about their work of making damns and chewing wooden bits. This work is deceptively cute in that it also questions our understanding of what is “natural” and “manmade”. And perhaps Barkhouse is also questioning our current obsession with modernist architecture?

4) Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art, New Gallery at the Buhler Centre, University of Winnipeg

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Congratulations to Plug In, on their groovy new digs on Portage Avenue. The grand opening of this gorgeous new gallery was also a fabulous event attended by thousands over the course of 3 official evenings of welcome. (Winnipeg Art Gallery – take note – Plug In knows how to host thousands of people, see: Dishonourable Mentions below.) Neil Minuk and his architectural firm, DIN, are also to be congratulated on a spare, bright, modernist-inspired building located on the campus of the University of Winnipeg, housed in the Buhler Centre. The whole centre was also designed by DIN and the Buhler Foundation is to be given huge props for donating $4 million to this project. Three great new galleries now house the exhibitions of Plug In; my only complaint – dump the florescent lights in the gallery spaces – this trend comes into vogue for galleries and artists every ten years or so (like camouflage in fashion). Otherwise - REALLY WELL DONE!

5) Lori Blondeau & Adrian Stimson, “Putting the Wild Back Into the West”, Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art, Nov 6 – Dec 19, 2010

OK I am so crushed out on these two artists, I am not sure I could ever be objective! Blondeau and Stimson exhibited restaged black and white photographs reminiscent of colonial portrayals of the west. They deconstructed the racist portrayals of “Cowboys and Indians” to revise and update the historical content. What was so fabulous about this work is, that these artists also had tonnes of costumes at the opening reception and the audience participated in dress up and a photo shoot! People learn way more through play than dusty inaccurate history books written by white dudes!

6) Eleanor Bond, “Mountain of Shame”, Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art, Nov 6 – Dec 19, 2010

Prairie fave Eleanor Bond’s new works, “Mountain of Shame”, looks at the naïve and vibrant aspects of modernist art in painting and sculpture. Bond makes reference to colour field and abstract expressionism in her lush, yet simultaneously spare paintings using a heavily 1970’s inspired colour palate. The child-like qualities and intentional naiveté of her works are wonderfully disarming and cheerful. I know you are not supposed to say that about art, but touché Eleanor Bond!

7) Ming Hon’s performance at Plug In ICA. Summer Institute, August 2010

Ming Hon is a Winnipeg-based performance artist and dancer who participated in this past summer’s Summer Institute at Plug In. Hon wowed a large audience at the Summer Institute’s closing reception in August with her dance performance that incorporated the use of a meat cleaver that she used suggestively on her body, but also clanged on the floor so that it issued sparks from the blade to punctuate moments in her dance. Her choreography and movements were elegant and also violent. The piece also hinted at the idea of the body as food and the tension between the knife and her body was electric.

8) “I Know What My Weakness Are, Probably Better Than You Do” August 2010, group show, Freud’s Bathhouse and Diner

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“Freud’s Bathhouse & Diner is a private, artist-run gallery in Winnipeg’s Exchange District attempting to showcase the work of captivating and challenging artistic individuals and endeavors from Canada & abroad.” The name says it all for me! This new space is 3rd wave Grunge, with an emphasis on the juncture of music and art. Their summer Zine show in August “I Know What My Weakness Are, Probably Better Than You Do” was refreshing; featuring works by emerging Winnipeg artists such as Reuben Illanos, Zine artist Ameena Scream, genius live video mixer mrghosty and up-and-comers from out-of-town such as Toronto-based Beth Frey, Rhode Island artist William Schaff, and Ramsey Beyer from Chicago. I loved the sculptural piece by Kara Passey called “Foxes are the Wolves that Bring Us Flowers” using what looked like “Dad’s” beer bottles and his foam insulation sprayed and stuck together. This wonderfully hideous piece was set on a depressing wooden coffee table – perfection! Freud’s Bathhouse and Diner is so hip and grungy - you can feel the bedbugs crawling off the used furniture and biting you with provocative art!! Amazing! Or was that a performance?

9) “Remix City”, Kevin Fawley, October November 2010, Raw Gallery

“RAW: Gallery is a site specific art gallery dedicated to establishing a dialogue between artists/architects and the general public on issues pertaining to the art of architecture and design. Our mission is to promote experimental and exploratory architecture and design.” Raw Gallery is great new gallery in Winnipeg run by smart and sexy Joe Kalturnyk, located in the basement of 290 McDermot Street. The space is, as the title implies, quite raw, but beautiful, like a gorgeous version of the basement in “The Amityville Horror”, but not at all creepy. Kevin Fawley’s “Remix City” was a perfect fit for this space. He re-imagined the city of Winnipeg through the use of collaged imagery – portraying an apocalyptic future. He used historical photos and the use of drawings to imagine grayed-out visions of speculative pasts and futures colliding.

10) Leslie and the Lys at Plug In’s “DIY Craftiva” May 2010.

I had the great honour of hosting an event at Plug In’s DIY Craftival this past May. Leslie and the Lys performed their amazing music and sold all things crafty and Leslie at the Craftival, a three-day craft fair with performances and dj’s organized by Plug In. Her wicked beats and hilarious Iowa white rap holds up well and her new tunes got the entire gallery dancing with delight! It was so great to see her again after introducing her to Toronto at TAAFI 2005 (the year it was really good – thanks Barr & Pamila!)

1) Honourable Mention - Golden City Gallery

One of the new crop of DIY and alternative galleries sprouting up in Winnipeg. It hosts some of the best in emerging artists and throws wicked parties, thank you! Adrian Williams show rocked!

2) Super Honourable Mention – The Orphanage

Local booze can, speakeasy, after hours club – the best one I have ever been to anywhere. Dj Beekeeni (she’s worked with the B-52’s) plays the most delicious retro 60’s, 70’s music mixed with current dance faves. Dreamily beautiful bartender April doles out great cocktails! Artists love this place, on occasion there are Hollywood types here too, when in town they show up after long days on film shoots. A fascinating mix of fame, artists, grunge, booze, fags, dykes, trannies, dancing, music and the friendliest straight people evah! Wish I could thank the owner here, but its Winnipeg’s best kept secret!! Refuge and respite for all Orphans. Thank you!

1) Dishonourable Mention - Winnipeg Cultural Capital 2010

Who, what, when, where, why and how much? Well no one seems to know much about any of this. The Winnipeg Arts Council maybe largely to blame for the mismanagement of this enourmous failure of a project. It was granted federal monies and then made it difficult for artist-run centres and public galleries to access the funds and on top of this, they also then tried to control any of the funds that they did give to non-profits. The transparency of whom the monies were doled out to has not been made particularly clear and the “process” smacked of favouritism. Ouch, and well with the exception of Nuit Blanche no one seemed to go to any of the events planned for Cultural Capital LOL – disaster! Like a tornado of federal cash cascading over the Prairies – except where did it go? It may have gone down either the Red or the Assiniboine. Shame! We’re not talking $100 dollars here.

2) Dishonourable Mention - Winnipeg Art Gallery and Nuit Blanche Winnipeg.

Huh? The WAG hosted Winnipeg’s first Nuit Blanche. It seems to be too dangerous to have performances and art on the streets of Winnipeg by artists and also for the general public to attend. Mind you, also a bit late in the season to have artists out in the cold at the end of September, anyways. The WAG was reportedly prepared for roughly 400 guests, but had thousands and turned away that many people at the door. The building can easily hold 1,000 + people comfortably. They did not have enough security, gallery staff or hospitality to actually host the event. Apparently, Wanda Koop’s art also fell off the wall during the event and she insisted that it be re-hung by whatever overwhelmed and scant gallery staff present during all of the chaos, divine!! Diva! I would have done the same thing girl, even if it had been my shoddy workmanship that caused the installation problems in the first place.

3) Dishonourable Mention - aceartinc.

Do not ask any questions of the staff here, they are way too busy and self-important to talk to artists or writers. Do not enjoy yourself whilst viewing their shows or have fun at their fundraisers. aceartinc. feels like one of the most unfriendly places in Canada to view art, folks it’s colder inside this gallery than Mercer Union in the early ‘90’s after the Eli Langer debacle. Would it kill you to be nice for three seconds – does visiting an artist-run centre have to feel that uncomfortable for your viewers? Young commercial gallery receptionists and administrators from New York, should be sent to an aceartinc. residency to learn how to work with the public. Oh yeah aceartinc. is publicly funded – oh I almost forgot. P.S. I have discovered that I am not the only artist in Winnipeg that feels this way, without even prompting the topic. Public relations. People.
However, aceartinc. did sneak out a great two-person show by Elisabeth Belliveau and Jessica MacCormack, “Natural disasters, pets and other stories” August to October 2010.

This exhibition featured beautifully rendered animations, drawings, and collages using the themes of psychic phenomenon, animals and disjointed narratives.

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