 Hi, art lovers! | | |  | Joyce Wieland. The Arctic Belongs to Itself, 1973. (Artwork: Joyce Wieland; Photo: Jean-François Brière/MMFA) | | | Everyone’s talking about shopping local these days. But what if we applied the same nationalistic thinking to the Canadian art canon? I’m stealing that rhetorical question from Eve Thomas, who posed a similar query in this report from the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. She was there to cover Heart On for CBC Arts. It’s a new retrospective devoted to Joyce Wieland, the influential Toronto artist who died in 1998, and the show — arguably one of the most anticipated events of the season — will be at the MMFA through May 4 before moving to the Art Gallery of Ontario in June.
Heart On is a wide-ranging survey, which gathers more than 100 works from Wieland’s career: prints, paintings, films, quilts, salacious artifacts of Trudeaumania lore. And there hasn't been an exhibition of its kind since 1987, when the AGO mounted the last major retrospective devoted to the artist. (You've got to see how CBC covered it back in the day.) The timing couldn't be better, however. Or more eerie.
Nationalism, Arctic sovereignty, American imperialism, gender, ecology, war — the ideas Wieland was bringing to the table more than 50 years ago are beyond relevant today. Even back in 2022, the same could be said. That’s when CBC Radio’s Ideas aired this comprehensive episode on Wieland’s legacy — long before anthem-booing and annexation entered the chat. The doc is a must-listen, and as you hear how Wieland’s art continues to inform our thoughts on national identity, you’ll get insights from experts including the AGO’s Georgiana Uhlyarik, who happens to be a co-curator of Heart On with Anne Grace of the MMFA.
For more on the new exhibition, CBC News has video from the MMFA. (And for eagle-eyed readers in Toronto, yes, you've definitely seen those puffy caribou at Spadina station.) | | | | | Because we promised you eye candy ... | | | | |  | Gabrielle L’Hirondelle Hill; Photo: CAG | | The Viva Awards recognize the outstanding achievements of mid-career visual artists in B.C., and the latest recipients were announced just last week. The winners? Gabrielle L’Hirondelle Hill and T’uy’t’tanat Cease Wyss, who were each awarded $15,000. Pictured: an installation view of M***** by Gabrielle, as it appeared at the Contemporary Art Gallery in Vancouver. | | | | |  | Phuong Nguyen | | Planche LXIV by Phuong Nguyen. The Toronto-based artist will be exhibiting work alongside Jessica Wee and Hidenori Ishii at Tian Contemporain in Montreal next month. The show, A Familiar Distance, opens March 1. | | | | |  | Jonathan Savoie | | Want to sink even deeper into this image? It’s an untitled piece by Canadian-born photographer Jonathan Savoie, and you can see it at Youn Contemporary in Montreal. According to the gallery, the title of Jonathan’s exhibition — Mono no Aware (物の哀れ) — is a Japanese concept, which “refers to the bittersweet feeling or quiet sadness that arises when you realize that everything — whether it be people, moments or objects — is transient and constantly changing.” | | | | |  | Artwork: Élise Provencher; Photo: Noémie Sylvestre | | Also happening in Montreal: Élise Provencher has a new exhibition at Chiguer Art Contemporain. A collection of surreal sculptures inspired by everyday life, it’s on through March 22. (Pictured: Brasseuse.) | | | | |  | Artwork: Riisa Gundesen; Photo: Ksenia Korniewska | | Want to know what everyday life looks like for me? Well, it’s something closer to this: Altarpiece and Self-portrait with Shower Cap and Metallic Facemask by Riisa Gundesen. Both works are appearing in a group exhibition right now. It’s at the Esplanade Arts & Heritage Centre in Medicine Hat, Alta. | | | | |  | Artwork: Pardiss Amerian; Photo: Em Moor/Zalucky Contemporary | | Pardiss Amerian is showing new paintings at Toronto’s Zalucky Contemporary through March 29, and I love this description from Danica Pinteric’s exhibition essay: “Her works are palimpsests of the present.” Yes! Such a deliciously accurate phrase. The title of this palimpsest of the present? Sending Word. | | | | |  | Denis Farley/MMFA | | | | | The art of Joyce Wieland is as vital today as it was 50 years ago. The legendary Canadian artist is the subject of a sprawling retrospective, which is on now at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. | | | | |  | Artwork: Oluseye; Photo: Steve Farmer | | | | | For his new exhibition at Dalhousie Art Gallery in Halifax, Oluseye takes inspiration from the “faith and grit” of the local Black community. | | | | |  | Séamus Gallagher | | | | | | | Séamus Gallagher explains how they brought those ingredients together for their homecoming exhibition at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. | | |  | Destinie Adélakun | | If you find yourself at Toronto’s Union Station, look for this piece by Destinie. It’s featured in a public art show about the past, present and future of Black creativity. (Learn more here.) | | | | | Share this newsletter | | or subscribe if this was
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I’m Leah Collins, senior writer at CBC Arts. Until next time! | | | | | |
