On Wednesday, July 9 at 6pm, local artist and one of the masterminds behind the homegrown 161 Gallon Gallery, Ryan Park releases It wanted to teach the world to sing (in perfect harmony) at Eyelevel Gallery (2063 Gottingen). Park’s drawing project involves “abstraction, information, aesthetics, politics, media and lots of X-acto blades, glue, cutouts, coloured pencil and paper.” Go before this young talented artist skips town for grad school in Guelph this September.
One of my favourite Park projects is “Medium,” a series of over 50 photographs where the artist asked individuals to photograph him, wearing their clothes, in their homes. It is the type of project that Tanya Mars might find intriguing. The Governor General Award-winning performance and video artist is in town on Thursday, July 3, from 3-5pm, at Anna Leonowens Gallery (1891 Granville) for the book launch of Ironic to Iconic: The Performance Works of Tanya Mars. Over the years the feminist artist has created spectacular performances and images---in her women-and-power “Pure” series, she dressed as a fire-breathing Queen Elizabeth 1, Mae West and as Wonderland’s Alice, sporting a dildo under her crinolined skirt.
Photo credit: Tanya Mars as Queen Elizabeth I in Pure Virtue, performance, 1986. Dress: Elinor Rose Galbraith. (Photo: George Whiteside)
