Young Pups

60's & 70's art critic god, Clement Greenberg, once said there are no art prodigies. The more art shows I see of young pups coming out of art school and thrust into the spotlight with derivative New York slop, the more I believe it.

Kids lucky enough to get on the art treadmill out of college rarely have the benefit of developing a singular vision over the decades through trial and error - to find themselves. There seems to be a sort of Hollywood pump-and-dump, winners and losers way prevailing that does not permit young artists to fully flower.

The CV and sales history becomes the all for contemporary artists who hope to make a career in art. You've got a better chance of being trampled by wild elephants on Feb. 29 than making it as an artist over 40.

Bullshit, Etc.

I was reading some artist statements recently and was reminded of a wonderful little book, 'On Bullshit', by retired Princeton moral philosopher, Harry G. Frankfurt.

I'm so grateful to Frankfurt for clearly defining this particular malady of our times.

"It is just this lack of connection to a concern with truth—this indifference to how things really are—that I regard as the essence of bullshit."

Remember Brick's complaint to Big Daddy in 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'? Brick's pa demands to know why his son drinks so much. "Mendacity", says Brick, "liars and lying". Big Daddy says he has to deal with liars all day long - that's life. Brick doesn't choose life until he sees Big Daddy dying. I think we're much beyond lying now.

The cool move, the coping way of too many people sits in the warm bath of indifference to the truth value of what they express to others and, maybe, themselves. It's easier to just bullshit than make the effort to construct a verifiable reality.

Or maybe it's some kinda dissociation...

Dissociation is a mental process, which produces a lack of connection in a person's thoughts, memories, feelings, actions, or sense of identity. During the period of time when a person is dissociating, certain information is not associated with other information as it normally would be.

Bullshit, dissociation, whatever. It's destroying us.

He's Got Style

Whatever you want to say about the Libyan strong man, Col. Muammar Gaddafi has got some style on him.

BBC Online reports on the colonel's arrival in Nigeria:

Nigerian officials say Col Gaddafi was accompanied by more than 200 heavily armed Libyan bodyguards.

When security officers refused to allow them to keep their weapons, an argument ensued.... [The] Libyan leader angrily set off on foot, intending to walk some 40km (25 miles) to the capital, before he was persuaded to return to the airport lounge.

The Nigerian Prez just happened to be at the airport and took over negotiations. Things were resolved and the colonel took mobiles to the capital after all. But can you blame the strong man for wanting his trained killer female bodyguards loaded to the teeth in sketchy Nigeria? Who wants some local warlord to put the drop on you and all you've got is your dick in your hand?

Gaffy should've walked to the capital for full style points, in my opinion. I know the Prez talked you down, baby, but it would have been worthy of sculpture, walking on foot to the capital with your guards in tow. Set up tents midway, post guards and feast! C'mon, Colonel. Don't waste a grand gesture of defiance!

GC Tech

Apologies for the delay of this week's Gallery Crawl art openings. We're working hard to overcome some technical difficulties.

Stay tuned....

Picasso Speaks

Picasso by Karsh

"I who have been involved with all styles of painting can assure you that the only things that fluctuate are the waves of fashion which carry the snobs and speculators; the number of true connoisseurs remains more or less the same. "

- Pablo Picasso

Little Buddy

'Little Buddy', Graham Clegg, 1998

Just so everybody knows I'm no slouch in the cigar smoking department, here's a photo of me during that world famous salmon fishing trip with Skipper.

More laughy-boy second banana than hero, I'm afraid, Kat. But I'm the best goddamn second banana in the business!

Skipper

'Skipper', Bill Pocock, 1998

Parkdale Construction

Some photos I took wandering around.

High + Low

At last you are tired of this ancient world
O shepherdess Eiffel Tower, the flock of bridges
bleats this morning
You're fed up with living in Greek and Roman
antiquity . . .
You read handbills, catalogs, advertisements that
sing aloud
Here's your morning's poetry, and for prose there
are the newspapers,
Dime detective novels packed with adventures,
Biographies of big shots, a thousand different
titles,
Lettering on billboards and on walls,
Doorplates and posters squawk like parrots . . .

- 'Zone' by Guillaume Apollinaire

Punk Chick

Gallery Crawl Update

I'm taking a couple weeks off for a little R&R. Two weeks on leave in Tokyo should do the trick. Until then, I invite you to enjoy 'Recent Openings' in Toronto art galleries.

Art Gallery Catering

My trusted agent tells me about a film set caterer who wants to shift her business into high-end art gallery receptions and corporate catering. Her story, and her connections, were good enough for a half-hour TV show. Reminds me of a favourite cartoon called, 'Business Television' showing a TV camera pointed at a cat in a litter box.

Catering at gallery openings may seem glamorous for people who don't generally go to gallery openings. A couple plates of decent tapas will do. I'm trying to diet here! Bet the caterer dangles the bright and shiny gallery gigs to impress knuckle-dragging corporate function buyers. What, does the woman plan to put on a banquet?

Photo, Julia Walther

Good wine in glass (or crystal) is the thing.

Give them halfway decent wine (they don't want to spit out) and keep the art targets in the gallery long enough to get elevated to the stars on alcohol so they'll impress their date or the sexy gallery girl by dropping some crazy-cash on a painting. Buying art is about sex and status. That or the wife decides which piece of art her friends won't ridicule.

Gallery owners don't want potential buyers eating because it'll soak up the booze and keep people sluggish and sober. Maybe some cheese and the tiniest little wafers. Very, very good cheese. And foot massages....


'Ode to an Art Gallery Caterer'
Dionysus, 2006


O!
Just drink,
Bitch!

The Portrait as Individual in Society

Erasmus of Rotterdam by Albrecht Durer, 1526

Herbert Burda, art historian and German media mogul, has a super article, 'How People See Themselves', tracing the history of portraiture through a somewhat anthropological lens.

A quote:

Whoever managed to climb the social ladder automatically won the right, so to speak, to have their own portrait painted, which in earlier times had been the preserve of the saints. Using a few examples, I would now like to show how those classes which were climbing the social ladder at that time used the portrait to give visibility to their claim to power and status, how the painted portrait lost this function following the invention of photography and how the portrait, as a result of the opening up of the media to anyone wanting to get themselves seen, has been superseded by other forms of expression.

Sure, the portrait I wish to present to the world, Art Slob, consists of tossing random cultural fragments at the computer screen. That or cheesy photos like the one below.

Bill Pocock by James Naylor, 2005

Remembrance Day

A selection of photos from Canadian war efforts in remembrance. [click on images for source].

The Boer War, South Africa.

Vimy Ridge, France, World War I

D-Day Landing on Juno Beach, France, World War II

A soldier returns from patrol, Korean War.

Afghanistan, 2006

Goth Boots

At the risk of sounding super square - what gives with those elevator goth boots?

Have you seen those crazee kids trying to ambulate on the monster foam foot pads? We're approaching 16th Century Venetian chopine territory here.

A University of Toronto webpage talks about history's extreme foot fetish wear:

Exceptionally wealthy noble women in Venice demonstrated their superiority in a material way by wearing on their bodies extravagant items, including very tall chopines. The more restrictive to movement the platforms were, the higher the status of the woman (just like the Chinese believed in relation to the tiniest, thus most prized, feet).

Wiki tells me Goth is more about aesthetics than ethics or politics. Okay, so maybe it's a little sexy but let's be practical for a moment, kids. How fast can you run away from that gang of skinheads? Venice, gateway to the orient, was different times, babe.

Mang

Mang hexagram.

Once in a while I'll consult the I Ching. Mang was the reply.

About.com's alt-religion section has this on Mang [the 'NINE' or 'six' referred to are the six horizontal sections of the I Ching symbol, interpreted from bottom to top]:

............................................................

Mang (indicates that in the case which it presupposes) there will be progress and success. I do not (go and) seek the youthful and inexperienced, but he comes and seeks me. When he shows (the sincerity that marks) the first recourse to divination, I instruct him. If he apply a second and third time, that is troublesome; and I do not instruct the troublesome. There will be advantage in being firm and correct.

1. The first six, divided, (has respect to) the dispelling of ignorance. It will beadvantageous to use punishment (for that purpose), and to remove the shackles (from the mind). But going on in that way (of punishment) will give occasion for regret.

2. The second NINE, undivided, (shows its subject) exercising forbearance with the ignorant, in which there will be good fortune; and admitting (even the goodness of women, which will also be fortunate. (He may be described also as) a son able to (sustain the burden of) his family.

3. The third six, divided, (seems to say) that one should not marry a woman whose emblem it might be, for that, when she sees a man of wealth, she will not keep her person from him, and in no wise will advantage come from her.

4. The fourth six, divided, (shows its subject as io bound in chains of ignorance. There will be occasion for regret.

5. The fifth six, divided, shows its subject as a simple lad without experience. There will be good fortune.

6. In the topmost NINE, undivided, we see one smiting the ignorant (youth). But no advantage will come from doing him an injury. Advantage would come from warding off injury from him.

..........................................

I'll buy that.

Office Bull

More laughs.

I got this e-mail from Ripper.

***
[This] really happened to our buddy martin... un-be-frickin-lievable... bet you can make a blog out of that somehow. Martin Lennox, no I don't suppose you have met him. Maybe at Briar's new year party, I can't recall.

[Girlfriend and I] am going to Martin's wedding tomorrow...

Find out what happened HERE.

Ripper's girlfriend had this to say:

Yesterday, a close friend of mine (an engineer) was preparing to ship a $400,000 piece of equipment to the buyer after dedicating eight months (including countless hours of overtime) into research and development.

Snakes In Mouth

BBC On-line's got another great comedy article on this year's Guinness Record Day attempts.

What's not to like about Jackie Bibby's new record of holding ten live rattlesnakes in his mouth?

Extra points for tipping your hat, Jackie.

Ditch The Black

What gives with all the black clothing all the time?

I ducked into Hipster Depot (aka The Drake Hotel) on my way home from the hockey game. Full disclosure, there were some super hot chicks in the window. Anyway, I asked one of the gals if it was a wedding reception. No, it was a company thing. I commented on the black attire generally and asked what company. Holt Renfrew. Renfrew is the sort of clothing chain where you go to buy $100 underwear.

Humans can be such slaves to fashion. Conformity is the new black.

The Ghoulish Bride

Some fine comedy in a BBC On-line article about a bride who has a surprising portrait made of her as a wedding present.

Controversial UK artist, Jake Chapman, created the portrait (below) for £4,500 along with a slew of other ones. You gotta love the expression on the artist (centre) and the bride (right). Maybe there is some hope for this crazy art thing.

A young child who saw the portrait being unveiled announced it looked like a corpse. He wasn't far off the mark. Chapman thought it was hilarious - the comment and the portrait.

Comments made on the article are also pretty funny like, "My 12 year old brother could do that. Martin, London, UK". Sure, kid, but could your bro charge that kinda coin and get paid?

Chapman and his brother Dino did two portraits an hour for eight hours a day in four days. £288,000 in cold hard cash. I'd be smiling and laughing too.

GC Guest Photographer: Keith Orpen

"Ripper" Bill Pocock, 2006

Guest Gallery Crawl photographer, Keith 'Ripper' Orpen on the waterfront.

GC 061104

The new Gallery Crawl is finally HERE!

Thanks to guest photographer, Keith Orpen, for shooting Oct. 4th.

Gallery Girl

'Gallery Girl' Bill Pocock, 2006