Planet of the Arts ry x ® Pe ¢ § 0 c © E > 3 ® 5 . “ = g o = 3 he fe} . 0 c ._ = Rect 7 ow ; o ee eee ee fos rs Baar Qetteed gpetepnwboegees om iG -wuoizos B gor S98 D Sys oO oe ee ee eS eG 2.2 2 O8P 2 >. 2208 yOentol Boe G cay + ‘ +h i) fc, Soft go gos y ro fi DOS MOS /09g5E9 2 DeSZToESo!aoOr do |. soecicodaeer gag 0 G OpoX ECL oxy gs 233% 4g > a ee OG KEE OOSEEEUEDDZ = c OrPEDTRHKIIVOOO = GOS GOGH O-OOCOOOS O OLLI“ ZHL4=2>>CHHH- > future romantic travel the sharp hot mist mends mends minds scarred for life we walk like empty suitcases through the mist for pain is the always present sensation my mind mended is always like jumpstarting a car taking a piece of me and hanging it on the wall of a gas station like a cheap calendar it’s funny that a highway can have a dead end and when youve started your car you have no place to go . and the mist keeps rolling in mending and leaving scars oh the romance of it all Jerry Stochansky ® © hes oO - c g ve = 5 © > & } 2 2 & oD 2 D_=-9 ° = Wi. sage = 7) anes : = © Q D fe) fo) 2 re om == oO iS) DU o 0 Bae a ce Su 8 2 o 2S ® 7) 2 coo RS =< 55 Bae Be o o22 BHXOEQS 5 SE Bees (Ree ae Coorg == 9 2@eolae S Boy SSE Fozsoc = ~ > Seen oof OoxLZ§ ® nome) = sapere e = QO +#£090 ~~ O EfCcog ie) one, aes oes Sa E>2o 5 sav ceeculereees xf SasSVrVnoLfoaogdSoe BE S PSelo@ovgo lec tG 9 Q cdzqStoroSsezas® se wa ComoaQEOECalstses 5 == VE ST=~QDMnDGS oOSd fom) I. Sia SOP ower ris Or Go FEF S#HEBGLFaASGCGHF GES IE Volume 3 Number 3 December 1987 s IF YOU THINK LIKE | THINK YOU DON’T THINK AT ALL. IF YOU DON’T FEEL LIKE | FEEL, YOU DON’T FEEL AT ALL IF YOU THINK | FEEL, LIKE | FEEL YOU THINK, THEN THINK AGAIN BUT HARDER. | FEEL LOVE, BECAUSE | THINK THE WAY | FEEL. | THINK LOVE, BECAUSE | LOVE TO FEEL. This is an Art Show MacEwen’s Arts Ltd. November 15 to November 30, 1987 The New York art heroes are beginning to fall from grace. Ina_ recent Vanguard review, John Scott equates David Salle with a “small South American country that has been lent too much money to be allowed to default.” The Simulationists have also been critically (pun intended) bloodied, and by the very man whose theories they espoused and used as a foundation for their work: Jean Baudrillard. In the September ARTnews, he proclaimed “There is a misunderstanding in taking me as a reference for this work.” What Baudrillard has succeeded in doing is forcing a re-appraisal of the ideologies of Modernism, and the need to progress from it’s “exhausted cultural values.” The evolution from Modernism to Post - Modernism however, needs more substance than the critique of commodity and consumerism which has so dominated the art press and New York market in recent years, particularly now that the guru of these ideals has renounced his faithful. His theories were based on models of capitalism developed in post-war France, when Marxists were confident of capitalism’s inevitable demise. For artists like Terry Henderson and David Steele, social critique is not so unilateral. Political and socio- economic factors inherent in both socialist and capitalist ideologies come under fire: welfare, warfare and the mass media. In Steele’s work we catch glimpses of culture and media under the white-wash of paint. His use of sculptural elements and appropri- ated imagery subverts the calming effects of institu- tional colour schemes, and he allows us glimpses of the disturbing imagery underneath: like the feeling of passing down an asylum or hospital corridor, and stealing peeks into each room. Steele doesn’t differentiate between the transpor- tation systems of the human body and those of the circuit board or plumbing system. In Bedrock Buttplug we see Barney Rubble from the front and a photo of “him” from behind, being handled by an unseen attendant, perhaps about to be shorn for surgery. Biological and medical textual illustrations are collaged on to the surface, and what could be an artery or a length of pipe is slightly obscured. The evocation is of humanity dehumanised at the hands of the state and the institution. Steele uses appropriated photos from medical texts in the bulk of his work here, most effectively in Dole. Painted in Socred blue and red, we see hands (the tool for receiving handouts) as deformed and misshapen, unable to function in a market economy, unable to escape the poverty trap. Steele succeeds here with subtlety and not with pedantics. Terry Henderson also makes use of sculptural elements and text in his paintings, although not always as consistently effective as in Steele’s work. The large painting Where No Man Has Gone Before forces the viewer to approach the work and examine closely all the sculptural and textual elements. This loses the viewer in the same space that the Starship Enterprise, Mayor McCheese, and the Clown heads are anxiously occupying. In this painting, as in previous works, Henderson has made use of board games as metaphors for armed confrontation, and the bottom forefield of Where No Man Has Gone Before contains the dismem- bered bits of a dart board and, in a perhaps intentional critique of the latest art fashion, a checker-board. The one piece of Henderson’s that doesn’t work is The Progressionist. \t features a model of a skeleton holding a bullet in front of a painted holocaust. The piece is too narrative and borders on the cliché. This is not the case with Femme Fatale #1 however, a chilling twist on the precious family portrait. By using an antique ornate frame for this painting, Henderson ingenuously forces us 2 Floyd Troman to stare into our familial past and find Frank, the antagonist from David Lynch’s Blue Velvet, staring back. In small letters around Frank’s head we see the words “ You're like me”, making us assess the nature of evil in everyday life, as Lynch was able to do so successfully in the film. Brad Chernoff is the odd one out here, his body of work consisting of beautifully crafted oil paintings with fairly academic and art historical . subject matter. (His work at Artropolis is more indicative of his current direction — social and urban commentary that functions as art without being narrative or illustrative). The landscapes here are much more evocative and visceral than the dry acrylics of Gordon Smith’s work, now showing at the VAG. Where Smith’s expressionis- tic images of the B.C. coast forests fail is in the _ dullness of the surface - Chernoff on the other hand glazes and builds up surfaces of oil and varnish which recreate the dampness of the rainy coastal forest. Like Derek Root, Chernoff handles this traditional subject matter and succeeds in keeping it interesting. The only works of Chernoff's which fail to convince, in spite of their technical virtuos- ity, are the two paintings with neo-classical and religious iconography. This is notable purely because of Chernoff’s transition to a more post- modern critique of urban and social concerns. The re-evaluation of Modernist art history that Post-Modern artists are undertaking will inevitably focus on content and subject. The ideal of the artist who need not take responsibility for their divine inspiration has failed, as has the project of the recent Post-Modernists who couched their work in theoretical rhetoric. Steele, Hender- son, and Chernoff all are focusing on the subjec- tive, and in most cases, are aware of the dangers in being too literal. Paintings and art objects, in terms of narrative capability, cannot compete with mass- media in terms of accurate depiction; however,no other discipline is so qualified to portray a reality that the lens cannot. The artists here indicate no reluctance to abandon traditional techniaues and media, and the challenge now lies in strengthening their critique and subversive views. @ lan. Verchére Planet of the Arts ve had more than any man can take. ‘get right on that. G z : i pasate 3 2 E 3 $ 2 2 oe 3 feo 38F g foo Bhs $393 5298, Fy BA & Fy rer 3 $ oHiiise : g ass 3 é i future romantic travel the sharp ‘mends for pain is the always present sensation ‘my mind ied is always like jumpstarting a car eadead end d your car ‘and the mist keeps rolling in ‘mending and leaving sears oh ye oft all Volume 3 Number 3 December 1987 When India entered a war it could not possibly finance ee sl 8 z Fi 3 B83 §62 A 9 268 S38 8 § gaiyseeg Boa? 2 Peas = 52538903 5 2g IF YOU THINK LIKE | THINK YOU DON’T THINK AT ALL. IF YOU DON’T FEEL LIKE | FEEL, YOU DON’T FEEL AT ALL IF YOU THINK | FEEL, LIKE | FEEL YOU THINK, THEN THINK AGAIN BUT HARDER. | FEEL LOVE, BECAUSE | THINK THE WAY I FEEL. I THINK LOVE, BECAUSE | LOVE TO FEEL. This is an Art Show MacEwen's Arts Lid. November 15 to November 30, 1907 The tow Yrkrtnros ar taplaing oa trom gee in roan vongunarrow, Son Sot ‘coe Dev Sao wh “oma Sout Aeon Suny tat hes been ent to mosh money tbe Stowe te dtet The Simtel fae cate (pon ‘September ARTnews, he procialmed “There imlsunderetanding In taking me as a reference erltique of commodity and consumerism which has 60 Gominated the art press and Now York market in. ecent years, partleulerty now thatthe guru of these [deals has renounced his fathiUl His theories were ‘based on models of capitalism developed in post-war France, when Marxists were confident of caplalism's Inevitable demise. For artists lke Terry Henderson and David Steele, ‘socal ertque isnot so unilateral. Poltcal and socio ‘economic factors Inherent in both socialist and capitalist Ideologies come under fre: welfare, warfare ‘and the mass media. In Stoole's work we catch ‘limpeos of culture end medie under the whlte-wash ‘f pat. Hie use of sculptural elements and appropr- ‘ied Imagery subverts the calming effects of inattu- {lonal colour schemes, and he allows us glimpses of ‘the disturbing Imagery underneath: ike the feeling of peesing down an asylum or hospital corridor, and Stealing peoks Into exch room. ‘Steole doosn't diferentate between the transpor- {ation systems of the human body and those ofthe clrcult board or plumbing system. In Bedrock ‘Buttplug we see Barney Rubble from the front and 2 photo of "him from behind, being handled by an, Unseen attendant, perhaps about tobe shorn for surgery. Biological and medical {re colaged onto the surface, texts in the bulk of his work here, most effectively In Dole. Painted in Socred blue and red, we see hands (the too for recelving handouts) as deformed and misshapen, unable to function in @ market economy, Unable to escape the poverty with aubllety and not with pedantic. ‘Terry Henderson also makos use of sculptural made ute of board games as metaphors for armed ‘confrontation, and the bottom forefield of Where ‘No Man Has Gone Before contains the damem- bored bits ofa dart board end, in perhaps Intentional ertque ofthe latest art fashion, a for thls painting, Henderson Ingenuovaly forces us 9 D4 VIp Floyd Troman StEpy p to stare ino our familial past and find Frank, the ‘antagonist from David Lynch's Blue Velvet, staring ‘back In small lttere sround Frank's head wo see, the words " You're lke me", making us assess ‘the nature of evil in everyday Ife, ae Lynch was able to do so successfully inthe fim, Brad Chernoff Is the odd one out here, his ‘body of work consisting of beautifully crated of palntings with faltly academic and et historical Subject matter. (His work at Artropolis is more. his curcent directo being narrative or ustrative). Th here are much more evocative and visceral then the dy acrylles of Gordon Smith's work, now showing atthe VAG. Where Smith's exprosslonie- tic Images ofthe 8.C. coast forests