Last Wed. I thought I would pick up some stocking stuffers for the kids from Curry's Arts Supply near the AGO, which I did, though the selection wasn't quite as good as I had hoped. This is a small store, and it appropriately focuses on the needs of the students going to art school just down the street. I was running a bit late, but thought I might as well drop in at AGO and see the Michelangelo drawings one more time.
As it happened, the Art Spiegelman exhibit was opening and Art himself was there to give a short speech opening the show! So I got into the crowd and listened for a while. I had no idea it would be so short and focused, as I kind of drifted off (to see the Michelangelo) but had I waited another 5 minutes, I would have heard the whole thing. I am hoping AGO actually taped his remarks, and I will try to find out. My recollection was that he said he had been a low art snob for the longest time, but someone dragged him to the museum (MOMA) and he really fell for the cubists, particularly Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, which spoke to him. If I am interpreting him correctly, he said that he liked the Medieval art and then not much else up through the Cubists, and then not much after. I find that odd, since he ought to have more in common with the pop artists, particularly Roy Lichtenstein. Still, his point was that he liked art that had a bit of a story, so he would certainly like triptychs, and those with some "movement" to them, but overall some meaning had to be conveyed. He made it clear that he thought most contemporary art was a scam, more grounded in Wall Street values than anything else. In another interview, he did point out that he liked late Philip Guston, after he had returned to quasi-representational art. (I wonder if he thought much of Beckmann's triptychs?)
Now as it happens, I have seen the exhibit (or a version much like what will be on at AGO) a year or two ago in Vancouver. So I'll see it, though I am in no great rush. I certainly wasn't going to stand in line (the line on Wed. was very, very long). It is a bit of a problem presenting a comic artist in a museum, since you just really don't have the time to read all the panels. This review goes into some of the issues with this approach. If I recall, my favourite pieces were the ones after the Maus panels and before the In the Shadow of No Towers material. What I think will be quite interesting is the potential interplay between the Spiegelman and the Basquiat exhibit, which opens in early February. It will be quite interesting to see what they actually pick to display, as some of Basquiat is quite intricate and striking, but a lot looks pretty childish and certainly ugly. I think the apparent craftlessness of much of it is hard for many viewers to get past. I'm actually glad I didn't buy any of the Basquiat books on offer and just checked a few out from the library. Still, I'll want to go a few times and probably take the kids as well.
I'll be going into more detail about MOCCA (the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art) in the next post, but I was a bit thrown when I learned that the Doug Coupland exhibit is going to be co-sponsored by them and ROM this Feb. through April. First, I don't quite know how they will split it up, though perhaps the biggest/tallest pieces, such as the Lego towers and the fallen hydro tower, will end up at the ROM. Second, I am a bit worried that this is the second time that an exhibit has started in Vancouver and then Toronto gets it belatedly. I made such a big deal about how hit-or-miss the VAG is. However, I suppose it is more important that more people have the opportunity to see the exhibition. Also, Lost in the Memory Palace went the other way, i.e. it was on in Toronto first. I actually liked the Coupland exhibit quite a bit (as I mention here). I'll definitely check out the MOCCA part of the show a couple of times (MOCCA is pretty close to where I work and has free admission), but it is much less clear whether I will go to the ROM. I don't go very often, not least of all because the expansion was such an abomination (it's hideous architecture and I think it probably ended up losing them actual exhibit space), and the entrance fee is too high. I guess I'll probably make it to their upcoming exhibit on Pompeii this summer, however.
Ok, that covers off two of the topics. Next...
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