 Hi, art lovers! | | |  | Mason Poole for Parkwood Entertainment | | | Renaissance is all anyone (anywhere!) seems to be thinking about, and that includes the folks at CBC Arts. It’s up for discussion in our top promoted story (find that article after the jump), and CBC News has this extensive primer on the making of Beyoncé’s new record for those who haven’t already skimmed a bajillion breathless reviews).
When it comes to Renaissance, there have been too many headlines to digest, mostly focused on the fuss over lyric revisions (which is hardly a new phenomenon) and album credits (which has sparked some debate on the politics of song sampling). And if you’ve been bombarded with all those stories already, maybe it’s time for a few “well, actually” takes on the discourse. What are people actually saying when they claim Beyoncé is “saving” house music? Also, that album cover? It’s not actually a nod to Lady Godiva.
Other things that aren’t directly about Beyoncé: Instagram really, really, really sucks now — and on top of making photographers sad, changes to the platform are driving artists and activists away. Yep, concert tickets are definitely more expensive than they used to be. Is DALL-E art borrowed or stolen? How do celebrities (say, Kim Kardashian … or Beyoncé) use art to build their personal brands? | | | | | And because we promised you eye candy ... | | |  | @studiootherspaces/Instagram | Summer 2023 vacation goals: drinking wine in California under this rainbow-coloured canopy. (It’s at the Donum Estate in Sonoma. Olafur Eliasson’s Studio Other Spaces designed it.) | | | | |  | @riancaboco/Instagram | | Meanwhile in Toronto, Project Reframed has put up a bunch of new billboards. Work by emerging artists will be featured as part of ArtworxTO. Look for this painting by Bianca Roco at 288 Lawrence Ave. W. | | | | |  | @yorkvillemurals/Instagram | | Toronto’s Yorkville Murals festival is set to return Aug. 20 to 28, but this piece by local artist Ben Johnston is already up — or should I say down? He’s painted a stretch of road at 55 Bellair St. | | | | |  | Mason Poole for Parkwood Entertainment | | | | | Renaissance, the new album from Beyoncé, is a tribute to queer joy in the face of adversity. | | | | |  | Fantasia International Film Festival | | | | | For fans of horror and genre film, Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival is the place to be. After two years of pandemic pivots, it fully returned this summer with plenty of scares (including some of the COVID variety). | | | | |  | Sara Khan | | | | | | | Sara Khan painted this CBC gem, and the design has personal meaning for the Vancouver-based artist. | | |  | @dirtyl00ks/Instagram | | Does this picture look familiar? Maybe you read this trend piece about “deliberately weird” tattoos. Or maybe you’ve just seen something similar on Instagram already. Emerik’s a tattoo artist from Montreal, but he’s not the only person working in this “bathroom stall drawing” esthetic (his description, not mine). As he says in the story, social media’s responsible for the look taking off. | | | | | Share this newsletter | | or subscribe if this was
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I’m Leah Collins, senior writer at CBC Arts. Until next time! | | | | | |
