On Friday, Gig City published a preview of our two upcoming shows by Emanuel Licha and Nicole Rayburn, as well as an artist talk this Thursday at the Art Gallery of Alberta featuring local artist Dara Humniski in conversation with curator Catherine Crowston. We weren’t quite sure what to make of it. Aside from the headline, “Edmonton visual artists debut shows at Latitude 53, AGA” which gives rather the wrong impression of our two shows (Nicole Rayburn used to live here but is now based in Toronto, and Emanuel Licha hails from Montreal and works in France and internationally), the article mostly focuses on random sentences pulled from our press release, and presumably that of the AGA to try to make a point about how artists are bad at writing.
Well, while we were a bit puzzled, Dara Humniski was writing a response:
Well Ann, this is the second time you’ve taken a swipe at my credibility, so I feel inclined to comment. First by implying that a commission I received by putting forth an application to an open-call & juried selection committee had something to do with my partner (commissioned later for a different project by a different branch of the gallery), and now this causal implication that the meaning of my work is vapid or superficial.
Fluffy? Spacious? Thanks for continuing with the subtle jabs to emerging artists. I’m not sure what your agenda is with the visual art ‘coverage’ your supplying to gigcity. Shrugging your shoulders saying, “Welp! I don’t get it, Artists are pretty superficial aren’t they?” seems like a sloppy attempt at provocation to increase hits on your site, rather than thoughtful criticism or an interest in seeding a dialogue.
She goes on to talk more about her work and the role of ambiguity in her art—and to take author Ann Smart to task for her writing. You can find her full comment below the article.
Also not mentioned in the article: the time of Dara’s talk. It takes place Thursday at 6pm at the Art Gallery of Alberta, and admission is free.
Tomorrow is media visionary’s Marshall McLuhan’s 100th birthday. To celebrate, catch the last days of SPACES&PLACES:VisioningMcLuhan@100 in our Main Space. It’s on until July 23. And it’s Thursday, so of course we’ll be partying out on our patio from 5-9pm. Stay tuned for all of the details here on the blog or on Facebook.
While you’re out and about, commemorate the man of many aphorisms tonight at the AGA at 7:30 with a celebratory evening of performances, special displays and cupcakes. Sounds pretty great! Plus, Professor Mark Adria will lead a tour of the AGA’s Warhol exhibition in relation to McLuhan’s ideas at 7pm. Before you go, refresh yourself about the interplay of McLuhan and Warhol’s ideas here, with a post from Anne Pasek.
McLuhan, we’re so happy that you were born in Edmonton. Happy birthday!
This post is written by Latitude 53’s Writer In Residence, Carolyn Jervis. She will be writing critically about Latitude 53 programming, the community and more on a regular basis over a six month term. Read more about the Writer In Residence program.
Like every other child who grew up with parents in possession of a television, my Saturday mornings were spent in front of it, watching a coyote get pancaked onto Arizona valleys after unfortunate falls from the hills above, a rabbit who is a terrible tease (especially when faced with the ever-gullible Elmer Fudd), and a doe-eyed little penguin in constant need of rescue. Throw into the equation a parent in love with popular culture from the era in which the original cartoons were made, and you have all you need to create a child’s religious dedication to the Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show.
The famous and highly memorable Fudd-Bugs “Kill the Wabbit” opera does speak to a creative complexity beyond the televisual norm in its fusion of a medium easily accessible to children and Wagner. However, despite all attempts at careful consideration of the artistic merit and my intense nostalgia for Bugs and all this fictional conspirators, I struggle to understand why Warner Brothers has an exhibition at my provincial art gallery.
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