Wicked cool interview

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A kick-ass interview with Steve Kurtz done by Changesurfer Radio. Beyond Kurtz, they have a bunch of other ones as well that I haven't heard.

I'm still trying to get mine transcribed.

Business & Pleasure stuff

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I came across this piece from Marketplace (a show on American Public radio) about the current flood of job openings in medium to large Museums in North America. Since we've already experienced something similar on this side of the border.

While they point out the facts and talk to some impressive sounding people, they don't really answer any of the questions asked (why is this happening?) nor do they go into any depth (what does this mean?).

Then on the flip side of the equation, the Christian Science Monitor goes and asks those folk who still are keeping their jobs, where they take their busman's holidays. I quite like the fact that not a single director or curator that they talk to does beaches when they go on vacation, yeah right.

Interesting...

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OK, lemme get this straight. The Formula One Grand Prix race is the most popular sporting event here in Montreal. And out dear mayor went to great lengths in order to keep it here. However, back before all of this, in 1996, they redid the track so as to keep Bernie Ecclestone happy. What does this have to do with art? Well, it appear that one of the companies (or someone working for one of the comapnies) that did the work on the track managed to walk away with an 8 foot sculpture by Marius Gérald Plamondon. And here I thought that they only stole art in Stockholm.

Listening with your eyes (or seeing with your ears)

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Some people listen to Zev Tiefenbach's photographs...


One


Two


Three


Four


Five

Dial (514) 907-0775 and hear what they were seeing.

If you would like more information on Zev's work, please click here.

Victoria Stanton's performance last night

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And Ms. Stanton was equally as good. Ditto on the if you couldn't make it, or want a keepsake, click here to hear it. [36:51 minutes, 33.7 MB]


Victoria Stanton


James Culleton's two pen drawing of Ms. Stanton.


Victoria Stanton performing.

Sarah Gregg-Granger's performance last night

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It was wonderful and if you couldn't make it, or want a keepsake, click here to hear it. [17:09 minutes, 15.7 MB]


















James Culleton's drawing of Ms. Gregg-Granger's performance.















Sarah Gregg-Granger.

Pierre Paquet and Michel Fortin rehash old stuff

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From the April 7th, 2005 issue of Hour magazine. An article by Jamie O'Meara about Billy Idol.
From the 25 août 2005 issue of Voir. An article by Jamie O'Meara about Billy Idol, translated into French.

Yes they are the same identical articles in different languages. I definitely need to see a hard copy to see if there is any notice of the French version being a reprint, because it doesn't appear anywhere on the web version.

Despite what I think about the quality of Mr. O'Meara's writing, I can't understand why Pierre Paquet and Michel Fortin (the publishers of Voir and Hour) would think that their readers would want to read a four and half month old article. Or is money so tight that next week they are going to translate Richard Burnett's article on Moby?

A virtual tour of Zev's show

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The show is up!

Money making and art

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First, I read this article by Stéphane Baillargeon in today's Le Devoir. In it M. Baillargeon reports on the Statistics Canada research that shows arts administrators make more money than artists, and artists don't make diddly. Like anyone would have thunk otherwise, in other news 2+2 = 4, details at 11.

But, then Timothy Comeau at his Good Reads blog, pointed out, this article from The Sydney Morning Herald by Sunanda Creagh about being an artist on the dole in Australia.

That, then led me to this. Since I'm already an arts administrator (although I'm not making $44,186 by a long shot) it looks like I won't have to move to New Zealand.

Zev Tiefenbach (514) 907-0775 Binary by Submission

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I've been working - here's the press release for Zev's exhibit.

For immediate release
Images available upon request

Zev Tiefenbach (514) 907-0775 Binary by Submission

Opens August 25 at Zeke's Gallery

Zev Tiefenbach (514) 907-0775 Binary by Submission opens August 25 at Zeke’s Gallery. Zev Tiefenbach (514) 907-0775 Binary by Submission is a wistful meditation on communication and city life. His images, accompanied by text and sound, evoke the way in which all communication is, in some sense, miscommunication. They reveal as much as they conceal, beautifully embodying all that gets lost in translation in conversation between two people, and hangs unrequited in the air. Go ahead dial the number, see for yourself.



Similar to Lee Friedlander or Nan Goldin (minus her friends), the images depict urban landscapes that are at once both familiar and strange. The pieces that compose (514) 907-0775 Binary by Submission, are neither cold nor satirical. For example, in works like (514) 907-0775 ext 806, a harsh and tacky 24 hour cigarette store done up in cheap garland for the holidays - is made vulnerable and curious by the image’s askew angle and the inclusion of text. Indeed, the addition of the sentence, “[L]ater, in her apartment he doesn’t say anything, only sits on the unmade bed,” renders the piece a thoughtful internal monologue. These images do not try to take over what they depict. They attempt to understand and grant access to a very private world of human consciousness. The images that do include people, emphasize how large the gulfs between the You, the I and the eye are. Tiefenbach is able to bridge these gaps in a very thought provoking manner that prevents the show from becoming a standard photography exhibit that is dreary and bleak. Indeed the gift that Tiefenbach has is the ability to stop the constant movement of life for an instant dead in its tracks which ends up making the banal both beautiful and dreamy.



Zev Tiefenbach went to Concordia University. He then proceeded to organize and coordinate the People's Potato, a vegetarian soup kitchen for students. After a stint managing the finances at CKUT Tiefenbach is currently pursuing photography full-time. He also is very active in the Palestinian cause. This is his first solo exhibition.



For (514) 907-0775 Binary by Submission - there will be six (6) separate vernissages, or openings. Thursday, August 25 - a Zeke's Gallery Member's Only preview at 5 pm. Friday, August 26 - a non-smoking vernissage at 5 pm. Friday, August 26 - Toronto exile preview at 7 pm. Saturday, August 27 - The Smoking vernissage at 7 pm. Sunday, August 28 - the Kid Friendly vernissage at Noon, and Sunday, August 28 - the Pet Friendly vernissage at 3 pm. On Monday the 29th everybody will sleep.



Zeke’s Gallery, a non-profit commercial art gallery, only exhibits First Solo Shows. It has been voted the best gallery in Montréal for the past 4 years. Tiefenbach’s exhibition is the 45th in an ongoing series, graciously supported by Contact Image and CKUT. During the exhibition (514) 907-0775 ext 805 one of Tiefenbach's prints (along with a CD of the audio) will be raffled off to a lucky patron. The exhibition continues at Zeke's Gallery (3955 Saint Laurent, 514-288-2233) until October 4th, 2005. Zeke's Gallery is also open from roughly 10 am until 8 pm seven days a week, and by appointment.




If you would like more information on Zev's work, please click here.

Wicked Cool Interview

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Coming in through in a rather round about manner, I discovered this interview with Shirley Reiff Howarth. Ms. Reiff Howarth is an art historian and expert on corporate art collections. And the interview is kick-ass.

No Birds live at Zeke's Gallery last night

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If you'd like to listen, click here [40:22 minutes, 36.9 MB]. If you'd like more information about the band, click here. Or if you'd like a picture, look down.

Beneath These Idle Tides at Zeke's last night

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If you'd like to listen, click here. [56:48 minutes, 52 MB] If you'd like more information about the band, click here. Or if you'd like a picture, look down.

Advance Knowledge

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If you can't decipher the graphics
Friday, August 26 - non-smoking vernissage 5 pm
Friday, August 26 - Toronto exile preview 7 pm
Saturday, August 27 - The Smoking Vernissage 7 pm
Sunday, August 28 - Kid Friendly vernissage Noon
Sunday, August 28 - Pet Friendly vernissage 3 pm

You're invited to one or all of them depending on which way you swing. I'll have more to write about Zev's exhibit in a couple of days.

The Globe and Mail copies The New York Times

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As it is from the The Globe and Mail you're gonna have to be quick to catch it, but does anybody else see similarities between this article, and this article written by Holland Cotter about a month ago?

Or maybe the appropriate comparison is between St. George Marsh and Cinders Gallery?

Nice Summer Reading #1

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No, it isn't about Montreal Art, but fun and enlightneing none the less. Michael Kimmelman goes on a tour of public art and then writes about it.

Zoe Keating Live at Zeke's - Part Two

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The performance continued after I broke things up so that the files didn't get too large, apologies for doing so, but i figured that it would be better than potentially losing everything. Click here if you'd like to hear part two. [28:08 minutes, 25.7 MB]

The songs Ms. Keating performed were:
1. Improvisation 2
2. Whistler in the Wind
3. Tetrishead

If you'd like to see some more photos, try these:


Zoe Keating picture 4, taken before the show.



Zoe Keating picture 5


Zoe Keating picture 6

And once again, some wonderfulness from the Artist-in-Residence.


Zoe Keating #2 by James Culleton, drawn in the dark.

Zoe Keating Live at Zeke's - Part One

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Last night we had a rather spectacular performance by the one and only Zoe Keating. If you'd like to hear it, click here. [50:16 minutes, 46 MB]

The songs she performed were:
1. Improvisation 1
2. Walking Man
3. Sun Will Set
4. Countless
5. Legions (War)
6. Fern

If you'd like more information about Ms. Keating, try clicking on this.


Zoe Keating picture 1


Zoe Keating picture 2


Zoe Keating picture 3

And then as usual, James Culleton was sketching the proceedings. This time though, he really did draw without looking at the paper.


Zoe Keating by James Culleton, drawn in the dark...

Piling on Hour, a minute at a time.

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It used to be that every Sunday I would review the art reviews of the week from here in town. But that got long and tedious, especially for a Sunday. So I switched to a more catch as catch can method, but I got the impression that I was missing more than I was catching. So for a little bit now, I've just been gathering all the articles written in a specific publication and waiting for something like an appropriate time to comment on them all at once. So since something by Isa Tousignant caught my eye this morning, I thought I'd clear out what I have hanging around from Hour magazine.

July 28, 2005 - The summer show at the Saidye Bronfman centre gets reviewed. It has been slightly more than twelve months since Ms. Tousignant stopped working at the Saidye Bronfman centre, and started working full-time for Hour. I would assume (yes, I know that's dangerous) that Ms. Tousignant was involved in some aspect of the planning of this exhibit, as the Saidye's programming is organized on a somewhat longer time frame than exhibits here. Small surprise that Ms. Tousignant gives it a good review. I'd give her review a B- (it would go up, significantly, if she explained her participation (or lack thereof) in the exhibit).

August 4, 2005 - In the news section, Richard Burnett (who has preformed here, and is a very good friend of mine) wrote an article about Under Pressure, the city's graffiti festival. I've commented on the festival, the city's behavior ad nauseam. But I'm always extremely happy to see art coverage in the news section, way more people read it. Ungraded due to my conflict of interest.

August 4, 2005 - In the visual arts section, Ms. Tousignant writes about the current exhibit at Quartier Ephemere. I'd disagree with her assessment that Quartier Ephemere is "the city's most difficult-to-drive-to gallery." Some other potential nominees are Art en majuscule, Galerie Diagonale, and The Cirque du Soleil's gallery, she then goes on to mention three of the 13 artists participating. I'm not certain that she got the memo about how you're supposed to leave out from your review those artists that aren't good. I think it is more a case of her missing a large part of the exhibit. I'd give it a C+ if I was a teacher.

August 11, 2005 - Ms Tousignant, again, this time writing a short interview with Yves-Laroche, on the occasion of his recent opening of his basement as a place to see art. Nice enough on the surface, there is a whole lot of stuff just under there which, to me at least, deserves being looked into. However, I understand the constraints of writing in Hour, and so will refrain from busting her chops over omissions. My grade is a B.

August 11, 2005 - Now this is something I like seeing. Mr. Burnett, gets the gig to review the Château Ramezay. More writers, more art coverage, and not of the "mainstream" knee-jerk places, either. Cool! It definitely ain't my cup of tea, and is more likely to inspire your mom to go, but I can't think of the last time I read anything about the Château Ramezay outside of a guide book to Montreal for tourists. Ungraded due to my conflict of interest.

Questions, questions, questions

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Isa Tousignant writes very nice ad copy in today's Hour magazine for something called Maisonneuve Magazine's amateur photo competition called The Art of Living.

I can't find anywhere, who, what or how they're gonna judge the photos. But, I would guess that Ms. Tousignant is involved in the process. It would have been nice if she had mentioned this (or that she wasn't) in her advertisement.

That grand prize of a "Maisonneuve prize pack (which will include our limited-edition box set and a year’s subscription to the magazine)" sounds real exciting. I've always wanted one for sure.

And lastly, they didn't coordinate their scheduling real well. I'm busy on the 20th of October...

Psst, wanna shirt?

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The Zeke's Gallery T-Shirt.
The gallery gets $5 (US) if you buy one, thanks in advance.

Comparing and Contrasting

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Submitted for your approval, without comment:

Chasing the Dream, an exhibit currently on display at the United Nations.

I read Montreal, currently on display on McGill College and at the Atwater Market.

Matthew Woodley does Sefi Amir

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I always like it when the Montreal Mirror does full articles on visual art (they don't do it enough). However, in this one it seems that Mr. Woodley might be slipping, just a tad. Given the content, it appears to me that Mr. Woodley has a prurient interest when it comes to paintings (I seem to remember another article by him where the idea of sex was the main content of the paintings). Then, before Mr. Woodley wrote the article, I think he should have checked out Beautiful Agony and The Erotic Museum. He would have been aware that there are an awful lot of people who in fact take pictures of themselves while having an orgasm instead of presenting Ms. Amir's portraits like they came from that muse in the sky.

Sean Peever at Zeke's Gallery

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And then Mr. Sean Peever did a little finger picking. Click here to listen [35:15 minutes, 32.2 MB]


Mr. Sean Peever singing his heart out, and getting calluses on his fingers.



And once again, the evocative artistic stylings of Mr. James Culleton, who is artist in residence here at the gallery and draws absolutely every event that happens.