Stuff Seen - Caili Woodyard
Howdy!
B-
It has been a while, if I remember correctly I saw this show on September 21. I was hanging out at Brutopia (one of perhaps three places downtown where I won't feel like I need to run away screaming) when I discovered that there in fact was an art exhibit. Given that the place is right across the street from the Concordia University Visual Arts building, I'd place a calculated guess that Mr. or Ms. Woodyard is a Concordia University student. If someone knows better than me, please let me know.
In the intervening month and a week, all I can really remember is that there was one tiny painting that looked like a guy giving someone a blowjob, and there were two portraits on the back wall (I'm certain I have notes here someplace, but I can't seem to find 'em). The portraits were quite nice, the blowjob painting, not so nice (not because of the content, because it actually was of something else, but because it was of something else).
I'd really like to have something nice and happy to write about Mr. or Ms. Woodyard's art, unfortunately, I just spent 30 minutes looking for my notes that I took while I was at Brutopia but was unable to find them. So then, I can hear some of you out there asking 'if you can't find your notes, and your memory is shot, and you're only going to say bad things, then what is the point of writing about the art?'
Well, if someone only writes 'good reviews' then how are they going to gain your trust and become a credible source for opinion? I can name scads of reviewers and places where they publish reviews where you will never ever ever see any words approaching 'this is bad' when they write about an exhibit.
This is the (incomplete) list of publications that write about art here in Canada:
The last time I looked none of them were in the habit of writing anything but positive reviews, sometimes even going so far as to write glowing previews without having seen the show, some of them even going so far as to only write about exhibits from places where they have been paid to run an advertisement.
Then on top of it, most of them can't even give away for free all the copies that the government pays to have them print up, and they only for the most part get enough money from the government to print 5,000 copies. Could it be that the reason why they aren't read, is because they have no credibility? I dunno, but while it always pains me to write a negative review, if I only wrote positive reviews then I am certain you wouldn't be reading.
B-
It has been a while, if I remember correctly I saw this show on September 21. I was hanging out at Brutopia (one of perhaps three places downtown where I won't feel like I need to run away screaming) when I discovered that there in fact was an art exhibit. Given that the place is right across the street from the Concordia University Visual Arts building, I'd place a calculated guess that Mr. or Ms. Woodyard is a Concordia University student. If someone knows better than me, please let me know.
In the intervening month and a week, all I can really remember is that there was one tiny painting that looked like a guy giving someone a blowjob, and there were two portraits on the back wall (I'm certain I have notes here someplace, but I can't seem to find 'em). The portraits were quite nice, the blowjob painting, not so nice (not because of the content, because it actually was of something else, but because it was of something else).
I'd really like to have something nice and happy to write about Mr. or Ms. Woodyard's art, unfortunately, I just spent 30 minutes looking for my notes that I took while I was at Brutopia but was unable to find them. So then, I can hear some of you out there asking 'if you can't find your notes, and your memory is shot, and you're only going to say bad things, then what is the point of writing about the art?'
Well, if someone only writes 'good reviews' then how are they going to gain your trust and become a credible source for opinion? I can name scads of reviewers and places where they publish reviews where you will never ever ever see any words approaching 'this is bad' when they write about an exhibit.
This is the (incomplete) list of publications that write about art here in Canada:
- Art Le Sabord - http://www.lesabord.qc.ca/
- Azure - http://www.azuremagazine.com/
- Blackflash - http://www.blackflash.ca/
- Border Crossings - http://www.bordercrossingsmag.com/
- C Magazine - http://www.cmagazine.com/
- C-Ing Magazine - http://www.c-ingmagazine.ca/
- Canadian Art magazine - http://www.canadianart.ca/
- Colour Magazine - http://www.colormagazine.ca/
- Coupe - http://www.coupe-mag.com/
- CV ciel variable - http://www.cielvariable.ca/
- Espace - http://www.espace-sculpture.com/
- Esse - http://www.esse.ca/
- ETC - http://www.dsuper.net/%7Eetcmtl/etc%202.html
- Front - http://front.bc.ca/
- Fuse - http://www.fusemagazine.org/
- Fusion - http://www.clayandglass.on.ca/magazine.htm
- Inter - http://www.inter-lelieu.org/inter_pres.html
- Inuit Art - http://www.inuitart.org/
- Kiss machine - http://www.kissmachine.org/
- Le Devoir - http://www.ledevoir.com/
- Mix - http://www.mixmagazine.com/
- Muse - http://www.museums.ca/
- Parachute - http://www.parachute.ca/
- Parcours - (no website)
- Prefix - http://www.prefix.ca/
- Spacing - http://spacing.ca/
- Studio - http://www.craft.on.ca/info/publication_magazine.html
- Tart Magazine - http://www.tartmagazine.com/
- Vernissage - http://www.national.gallery.ca/english/default_3037.htm
- Vie des arts - http://www.viedesarts.com/
- Visual Arts News - http://www.visualartsnews.ca/
- Voir - http://www.voir.ca/
The last time I looked none of them were in the habit of writing anything but positive reviews, sometimes even going so far as to write glowing previews without having seen the show, some of them even going so far as to only write about exhibits from places where they have been paid to run an advertisement.
Then on top of it, most of them can't even give away for free all the copies that the government pays to have them print up, and they only for the most part get enough money from the government to print 5,000 copies. Could it be that the reason why they aren't read, is because they have no credibility? I dunno, but while it always pains me to write a negative review, if I only wrote positive reviews then I am certain you wouldn't be reading.
posted by Zeke's, the Montreal Art Gallery on 1.11.06
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