The Anti-Capitalist Resistance Comic Book is the second graphic novel from activist Gord Hill. It is a chronicle of several anti-capitalist and anti-globalization movements over the last two decades, from the WTO protests in Seattle to the recent Occupy movements. Hill also places a great deal of emphasis on the
Continue readingTag: Visual art
Art Threat: Shunpo into the new year
I’ve been looking for nice ways to start the new year. Typically, I am diligent about making reviews of past years, goals for upcoming years, a handful of resolutions – but this December the time to do this slipped from my fingers. Shunpo landed in my inbox last week and
Continue readingArt Threat: Do grassroots archives have a future? – Exhibition from archive of activist histories
About 30 people gathered in Toronto last night to discuss what many hope will grow into a movement for archiving grassroots histories. The public meeting was organized by Ulli Diemer of the Connexions Archive as a way to bring like-minded activists and scholars together to find strategies for preserving the heritage of social movements and marginalized communities in Toronto and across Canada. (Check out #Connexions for the twitter feed from the event.)
Continue readingArt Threat: Life in Gaza is no day at the beach – Beach by video artist Guli Silberstein
In this 2006 work by Israeli-born, London-based video artist Guli Silberstein, painful footage from the infamous Israeli shelling of a beach in Gaza is juxtaposed with scenes of a happy family relaxing on the sand in Tel Aviv. According to the artist, “the video work refers to the thin line between tranquillity and chaos, and […]
Continue readingArt Threat: SkyMall Liberation: White vs Non-White
Ethnographic data visualizations of the Skymall catalog made in flight with non-sharp objects.
Continue readingArt Threat: An Era of Discontent – Political art takes over Kamloops Art Gallery
A political art exhibition was not what I was expecting to find when I visited Kamloops, a small city located in the interior of BC, so I was not only suprised but pleased to discover I had free admission to see An Era of Discontent Art: As Occupation at the Kamloops Art Gallery during my […]
Continue readingArt Threat: How Many Gallons per Hour? – Water Portraits brings water usage closer to home
In the excitement at finally convincing his father to be the first subject of his water portraits, Peter Holmes poured cold water over his father’s head. A surprise to both of them. Since the initial portrait, 16 have been taken over a two year period in North America, Europe, Morocco,
Continue readingArt Threat: Guernica brings Picasso’s grotesque cubist forms to life through theatre
I am no stranger to war history or art history, having studied both in some depth at university. So the idea of attending a play based on Pablo Picasso’s painted representation of one of the most destructive acts in the period between the world wars, the bombing of the small
Continue readingArt Threat: Why the Paul Frank powwow apology matters
The rise of fast fashion is unfortunate for many reasons: the proliferation of disposable clothing; the unethical sweatshop labour required to keep up with it; the additional motivations for teenagers to spend their weekends loitering in a mall trend-hunting; haul videos. But the issue in the spotlight this week has
Continue readingArt Threat: Art in the age of political absurdity
“The strength of our American-ness lies in our ability to question, to look frankly at the nation’s past and present, and to ask if we are living up to our own best selves.” – Eleanor Heartney, Party Headquarters curator The US Presidential election season is upon us, and with it, the
Continue readingArt Threat: An art exhibition hidden in plain sight
Street artist JR’s pasted eye watches the corner of Berry St and South 5 in Williamsburg, NY. If you happen to be walking around Williamsburg this month, you’ll likely pass right through the inaugural exhibition of New York’s newest art museum without realizing it. The Street Museum of Art has
Continue readingArt Threat: Blasphemous maggot artist erects new illegal billboards
Provocative Polish artist Peter Fuss is back with a new pair of guerrilla billboards. Each monochrome board is wallpapered with 36 depictions of an US one-dollar bill, with the text “reasons are still the same” pasted in loud, bold type across the rightmost panel. Fuss has pushed political buttons with
Continue readingArt Threat: Blu mural tackles Italy’s Chernobyl
Italian street artist Blu has created a towering critique of the militarization of Sardinia. His latest mural depicts the devastating impact that industrialization and military bases have had on the Mediterranean island. In the south-east near Salto di Quirra, a rocket launching site run by the Italian Air Force, electromagnetic
Continue readingArt Threat: Brandalism – Taking back public space for public debate
Twenty-four artists, 37 spots, 5 cities, 8 months. While millions of eyes look to London this week, these small numbers come together for a big purpose. Brandalism, a ‘crew’ and project that takes inspiration from Sean Tejaratchi and Bansky, has been re-appropriating ad space (billboards in particular) to creatively interpret big brands.
Continue readingArt Threat: Banksy the Olympian
Bansky posted a couple new pieces to his site that comment on the Olympics. It also gives me a great excuse to share my favourite quote of his with you: “The thing I hate the most about advertising is that it attracts all the bright, creative and ambitious young people, leaving
Continue readingArt Threat: Walking as art to avoid global catastrophe – Review: The Robinson Institute by Patrick Keiller at Tate Britain
Portrait of Patrick Keiller. (Photo: Samuel Drake) It is not always the case that definitive moments in art history can be precisely located. Certainly not the first act of artistic creation, that “strange beginning” of Gombrich’s Story of Art — a 35,000 year-old mammoth ivory carving, perhaps? The American architectural
Continue readingArt Threat: Invocation of the Queer Spirits – Book review: Queer Spirits by AA Bronson and Peter Hobbs
Invocation of the Queer Spirits (Governor’s Island) – AA Bronson There is always a certain magic to be found in the moment of queering. As bodies are opened to unsanctioned desires and sensations, tense moments of wonder unfold before them. Static charges crackle and spark as genders and sexualities are
Continue readingArt Threat: The art of roadkill – A conversation with artist Kate Puxley
Kate Puxley is a visual artist whose work has drawn attention to the Harper government’s damaging policies toward art and culture as well as our relationship with animals and the natural environment. Arresting, breathtaking, and inimitable, her drawings, paintings, installations, and most recently her taxidermy sculptures, are provocations and interventions
Continue readingArt Threat: The Hole Truth and Nothing but the Truth
The Hole Truth comes in two parts: altered US flags and drawings on vintage police shooting targets. In order to create his first show at envoy enterprises, German-born, New-York based artist Brian Kenny created a series with the Hole Truth that reconstructs iconic objects in his effort to reflect on
Continue readingArt Threat: In Afghanistan you risk your life to sing – The ROM displays photos by Larry Towell, Donovan Wylie and "Afghan Star"
Those interested in the reality of Afghanistan and located in Toronto can take in the photographic works of Larry Towell and Donovan Wylie at the ROM along with a showing of the film “Afghan Star” this Wednesday, June 20 at 7:00pm. The photographic works tell the story of the troubling
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