Tag Archives: The Globe and Mail

Honouring Arts Advocate Dr. Shirley Thomson

The headline Donor supports Venice Biennale’s Canada Pavillon caught my eye.  I’m fond of Venice  – one big art gallery, really! – and visited the Architecture Biennale in 2016.  (You can read a short post about my Biennale adventures here, and a brief description about the Canadian exhibition here.)

Venice Biennale site, image by T. Vatrt

Venice Biennale site, image by T. Vatrt

What is interesting about the $3 million donation to maintain the Canadian Pavillon at the Venice Biennale site is that the donor remains anonymous.   Instead, the patron wishes to honour a former director of the National Gallery of Canada, Dr. Shirley Thomson (1930-2010.)  Barbara Stead- Coyle (National Gallery of Canada Foundation) reports The donor wanted the focus to be on Dr. Thomson and Dr. Thomson’s time at the gallery.  

Among her many achievements, Dr. Thomson was the director of the National Gallery of Canada when it moved from an office building to its current (and stunning) purpose-built location along the Ottawa River.

Maman, Louise Bourgeois, 1999 National Gallery of Canada image

Maman, Louise Bourgeois, 1999 National Gallery of Canada image

National Gallery of Canada, T. Vatrt image

During her 1987-1997 tenure at the National Gallery, Dr. Thomson diversified the permanent collection, acquiring contemporary art, as well as important historical works.  Under her direction, the gallery purchased  Barnett Newman’s Voice of Fire (1967) in 1989 for $1.8 million.  It proved to be a highly controversial topic in Canada, outraging Conservative politicians, and sparking discussions amongst Canadians. How wonderful to have citizens talking about art!

Here’s a concise video by  National Gallery curator Annabelle Kienle Ponka  explaining the significance of this painting.

Voice of Fire, Barnett Newman, Winnipeg Free Press image

In addition to her degrees in fine art and history, Dr. Shirley Thomson received an honorary degree from Université Concordia in 2001.  This citation outlines some of her many accomplishments throughout her career, as well as at the National Gallery.  Besides diversifying the permanent collection with savvy purchases (imagine what Voice of Fire is worth today) she valued education and accesibility for all:  she initiated an internship program for university students, and began the Cybermuse program, which ensured the collection’s online availability.  In honour of the donation, the Abstract Expressionist space is now The Dr. Shirley L. Thomson Gallery.

Isn’t it refreshing to have an arts advocate honoured, instead of the usual Mr. and Mrs. Millionaire/Billionaire Memorial Gallery?  For a bit of insight into Dr. Thomson’s leadership style and personality, this interview with Rob Labossiere provides some insight into this remarkable woman.  Our thanks to the generous donor for maintaining the Canadian Pavillon at the Venice Biennale and for bringing Dr. Shirley Thomson to our attention.

Dr. Shirley Thomson, Ottawa Citizen image

Dr. Shirley Thomson, Ottawa Citizen image

 

Significant Book Alert (part II)

Last month I practically ordered you to read Michael Harris’ book, Solitude.  (Click here for the post.)  No! I am not checking up on your progress…but I don’t mind if this is a gentle reminder.

This month I will try to persuade you to read his first published book The End of Absence.  

The End of Absence by M. Harris

The End of Absence by M. Harris

Or, perhaps, I’ll let the author convince you.  Here are a few of his observations that, I think, make The End of Absence essential reading:

If you were born before 1985, then you know what life is like both with the Internet and without.  You are making the pilgrimage from Before to After.
…………….
Seen in a prudential light, our circumstances are also a tremendous gift.  If we’re the last people in history to know life before the Internet, we are also the only ones who will ever speak, as it were, both languages.  We are the only fluent translators of Before and After. (p. 15-16)

The strength of the book comes from his balanced, honest  approach.

    Technologies themselves, though, are amoral.  They aren’t good and evil, only dangerous and beloved.  They’ve been a danger we’ve been in love with for millennia, and rarely do we remember that, for example, the goal of human relations my extend beyond efficient transmissions.

Harris recounts the story of meeting his long-term partner on PlentyofFish.  It was more than a little unsettling to see that such a calculated and crowdsourced system had brought us together in the first place.  (p. 183)

The ideas in the book are based on thoughtful synthesis and research.  Harris doesn’t spare us from acknowledging the negative influence of the Internet.  Citing research from UCLA’s Digital Media Centre regarding TV shows for tween audiences, he writes how fame has become an overwhelming focus:
If a good life today, is a recorded life, then a great life is a famous one.
…..
The post-Internet television content (typified by American Idol and Hannah Montanna) has swerved dramatically from family-oriented shows like Happy Days in previous decades. 
…….
One recent survey of three thousand British parents confirmed this position when it found that the top three job aspirations of children today are sportsman, pop star and actor.  Twenty-five years ago, the top three aspirations were teacher, banker, and doctor.  (p. 69)

I like how he extends my thinking about  the possible long (and short) term effects of some Internet usage:
….Since 2009, Google has been anticipating the search results that you’d personally find most interesting and has been promoting those results each time you search, exposing you to a narrower and narrower vision of the universe.  In 2013, Google announced that Google Maps would do the same, making it easier to find things Google thinks you’d like and harder to find things you haven’t encountered before.  Facebook follows suit, presenting a curated view of your “friends'” activities in your feed.  Eventually, the information you’re dealing with absolutely feels more personalized; it confirms your beliefs, your biases, your experiences.  And it does this to the detriment of your personal evolution.  Personalization–the glorification of your own taste, your own opinion–can be deadly to real learning.  (p. 91)

He makes a strong case for the importance of absence in our lives, lives now increasingly connected to others, thanks to technology.    …real thinking requires retreat.  True contemplation is always a two-part act:  We go out into the world for time, see what they’ve got, and then we find some isolated chamber where all that experience can be digested.  You can never think about the crowd from its centre.  You have to judge it from a place of absence.  (p. 133)

The book is not all doom and gloom.  It is a measured response to the reality of our present (and ever-changing) world, and the impact of technology.
We must remain critical of technological progress as we are desirous of it.  And we must make these decisions not because we disike the things we could connect to, but precisely because they’re so crucial to our survival.
…..
Every technology will alienate you from some part of your life.  That is its job.  Your job is to notice.  First, notice the difference.  And then, every time, choose.

I’m not the only person who liked this book.  It won a (Canadian) Governor General’s Literary Award in 2014.  Coincidentally, Michael Harris discusses the Governor General’s Award experience in an opinion piece published today in the Globe and Mail.  Click here to read the article for a sampling of Michael Harris.

 

 

 

A Closer Look at Georgia O’Keefe

The largest show (ever!) in Canada of Georgia O’Keefe’s work is opening at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Jimson Weed, White Flower No 1, by Georgia O’Keefe (The Telegraph image)

There’s an article today in the Globe and Mail discussing the show.  Click here to read Rosie Prata’s excellent description of this retrospective.  I am intrigued by the AGO’s interpretation of O’Keefe’s large body of work.

Curiously enough, last year the Tate Modern hosted the largest showing ever of O’Keefe’s work in Britain. Here is a very brief article from The Telegraph.

We may have missed last year’s show in London, but there’s ample time to plan to visit Toronto.  The show runs until July 30.

 

 

Terence Koh and Emily Carr…..

Emily Carr young+emily+carr

…a match (or mis-match) made in art heaven?

Terence Koh, contemporary artist, graduate of the Emily Carr School of Art + Design. Think performance pieces, sculpture, installations from New York to London to Switzerland….

Emily Carr, (1871-1945) belatedly beloved Canadian painter and writer. She lived and worked (nay, toiled) in British Columbia.

James Adams recently wrote a great feature in the Globe and Mail about Koh’s participation in Luminato, the  Toronto arts festival. One of Koh’s projects is an homage to dear Emily, at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg (just north of Toronto.)  As part of the installation he wrote this haiku….

a way to the light

For Emily Carr
Growing straight towards God’s light
Seasons forgotten

Not bad for a guy who’s been labelled a “young punk capitalist.” I’m guessing Emily would be honoured.