Canadian Art - Online

Arnaud Maggs: Winner of the $50,000 Scotiabank Photography Award

2012-05-10T13:00:00Z

After Nadar: Pierrot Turning 2012 Courtesy Susan Hobbs Gallery / photo Toni Hafkenscheid" />
The 85-year-old artist Arnaud Maggs nudged out Fred Herzog and Alain Paiement as winner of the second annual Scotiabank Photography Award, announced last night in Toronto. This $50,000 win follows the opening of a major Maggs survey at the National Gallery of Canada.

Public: Big Ambitions

2012-05-10T12:30:00Z

Arirang   2006 Courtesy Eric Franck Fine Art" />
As one of the primary exhibitions for Contact 2012, “Public: Collective Identity | Occupied Spaces” is ambitious. Charlene K. Lau observes that the two-venue show mirrors the fractures of contemporary life: public and private, visible and invisible, place and non-place.

Abbas Akhavan: Up, Down and In-Between

2012-05-10T12:15:00Z

Envelope 2012, Mortar 2012 and Like a Bat Afraid of its Own Shadow 2012 Courtesy the artist, Darling Foundry and the Third Line / photo Josée Pedneault" />
In this review, writer and artist Joni Murphy considers Abbas Akhavan’s current solo show in Montreal, which activates a variety of themes—war and art, destruction and nation building, human and animal—with a distinctively light touch.

Luke Painter: The Ornamentalist

2012-05-10T12:00:00Z

Crystal Palace Warehouse 2012 Courtesy LE Gallery and Luke Painter" />
Melding William Morris-style ornamentation with more contemporary concerns, artist Luke Painter detours around dry academicism for something more vibrant and visceral. Mariam Nader reviews his current Toronto show at LE Gallery, finding depth in decoration.

Frieze New York: Taking it Outside

2012-05-10T11:50:00Z

Most games are lost, not won, part of Frieze Projects / photo Barbara Solowan" />
Frieze opened its first New York edition last week with some surprising highlights: sculptures that were free for public viewing outside the big commercial tent. Canadian Art art director Barbara Solowan was there, and brought back this slideshow.

Full Opening & Event Listings

2012-05-10T11:00:00Z

Fifth Night opens May 12 at the Vancouver Art Gallery / image courtesy Yang Fudong, ShanghART Gallery and Marian Goodman Gallery" />
Dozens of openings, talks and other events happening from coast to coast this week, May 10 to 16, 2012.

The Craft of Being an Artist

2012-05-03T12:15:00Z

The Artist is Present at the Museum of Modern Art in 2010 / photo Scott Rudd courtesy Museum of Modern Art New York" />
Have you ever noticed that, upon graduation from art school, many artists are hesitant to declare themselves as such? It would appear that a degree is not enough. In her second column for our site, author Sarah Thornton looks at credibility as the crux of being an artist.

Contact 2012: Going Public

2012-05-03T11:50:00Z

Turns 11231, 18242, 19358  2004" />
Issues from the surveillance society to armed conflict get the spotlight in the Contact Photography Festival’s 2012 outing, which is themed on ideas of the public. As usual, there’s lots to see; here are our picks.

Angela Grossmann: Flesh for Fantasy

2012-05-03T11:30:00Z

Girl Leaning 2012 (left) and Black Bra Blue Background (right) 2012 Installation view Courtesy the artist and Winsor Gallery" />
For journalist Danielle Egan, Angela Grossmann’s collages conjure Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Here, Egan describes Grossmann’s current Vancouver show and examines how her figures highlight the wondrous in contemporary womanhood.

Judging Books by their Covers: Reading Surfaces

2012-05-03T11:15:00Z

Painted Theories of Modern Art Series 1996–8 Courtesy SBC galerie d’art contemporain / photo Ronald S. Diamond" />
Is it possible to track the demise of a medium based on its increasing prevalence in art galleries? If so, the physical book is well on its way, as indicated by several recent exhibitions. In this review, David Balzer studies one such show on now in Montreal.