Paul Gessell, writer for the Ottawa Citizen, finally printed his 2006 yearly art review...for those of us in the art world...it's much anticipated!! It's equivalent to the best and worst dressed reviews for the year and as for 2006...let's just say that he didn't hold back!!
His review, titled Portrait of a strange year, clearly had some stronge personal views between the lines (sorry Jason and Stefan St-Laurent...he doesn't appear to be a fan!!!). As for us, we didn't score well and we didn't score poorly (if you can call "ending artist apartheid" scoring points!) but, for all his "anti-contemporary talk" that he threw at us...he'll have a lot of explaining to do when Mueck comes to town in March. It doesn't seem overly justified to say that we don't make contemporary art a priority when we are about to host the largest Ron Mueck exhibit in the world. I will be patiently awaiting his apology!!
His review, titled Portrait of a strange year, clearly had some stronge personal views between the lines (sorry Jason and Stefan St-Laurent...he doesn't appear to be a fan!!!). As for us, we didn't score well and we didn't score poorly (if you can call "ending artist apartheid" scoring points!) but, for all his "anti-contemporary talk" that he threw at us...he'll have a lot of explaining to do when Mueck comes to town in March. It doesn't seem overly justified to say that we don't make contemporary art a priority when we are about to host the largest Ron Mueck exhibit in the world. I will be patiently awaiting his apology!!
All in all, personal biases aside, it's a good article and as always, highly entertaining!!
Here's a brief exerpt of today's review. Check out the rest of it here!
"In the year that was 2006, Ottawa scientists discovered the secret of Mona Lisa's smile. Even more startling: For the first time a gallery admitted it was exhibiting "bad art". And two old-fashioned art salons emerged to inject some pizzazz into the national capital art scene. Oh yeah, and art apartheid ended at the National Gallery.
But, unquestionably, Ottawa's most fascinating art story of 2006 was the Portrait Gallery of Canada. The saga of the gallery just kept getting juicier as the year unfurled."
But, unquestionably, Ottawa's most fascinating art story of 2006 was the Portrait Gallery of Canada. The saga of the gallery just kept getting juicier as the year unfurled."
- Paul Gessell, Ottawa Citizen
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