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ARTSCEJME Editor: Carol Baldwin Phone: 905-845-3824 (ext. 254) Fax: 905-337-5567 e-mail: baldwin@haltonsearch.com Wl n \ H S P \Y. \t)\ IMUliK JS. _H \>1 · |\U40 C'S become a landmark of style and savings Come & see what all the fuss is about! I pscale Resale Ladies Wear 1 1 5 T rafalg ar RtL . . . . . . . . . OP6N 7 DAYS A WEEK By Consignment. ® Exhibit highlights permanent collection's obsessive aspects By Lois Crawford S P E C IA L T O T H E B E A V E R Enter Oakville Galleries' Centennial Square location and be ready to be amused, bemused and perhaps confused. Isn't that what galleries are for? Oakville's reputation as a place to jump-start and react to creative thinking is confirmed by this divergent group of works drawn from the galleries' $ 1.8-million Permanent Collection. The selection is confined to the past decade (except for the late Greg Cumoe piece, Mariposa , dated 1979), a fact that reflects the intellectual foresight of current gallery director, Francine Perinet whose tenure began in 1992. "We want to integrate usage of media arts and computer image with the overall collection, as well as to reflect the ideas and culture of the time," she explained during a recent telephone interview. The inquisitive Perinet is excited by work made possi ble by the wealth of new electronic materials avail able to artists, such as computer, sound, and video. By selecting pieces from the Perinet period, guest curator Shannon Anderson emphasizes the obsessive and reactive characteristics shared by this crop of Canadian conceptual artists. The Centennial location deals mainly with artists obsessed with mechanical and technological objects and how they work, whereas at the Gair loch location features artists who created works that interact with its lakeside estate location. At Centennial, conceptual artists in particular appear to be compulsive collectors - the late Greg Cumoe, for example, with a lithograph, on plexi glass of his racing bicycle, Mariposa. Enraptured with the smallest mechanical details of his bicy cles, he included on one side of the work a list of each part, its function, and even the bicycle's his tory. The London-based artist was given a huge ret rospective at The Art Gallery of Ontario last year to celebrate the donation of his life's work to the AGO's Permanent Collection. As well as a formi dable number of paintings and prints, it also included tables full of junk he had collected, pro viding a real insight into the artist's inspirations. Oakville Galleries permanent collection also includes work by Daniel Olsen, who removes the sound-making apparatus inside certain objects, mostly toys, that he has found at flea markets and garage sales. W hat the viewer sees is a varied col lection of tiny mechanisms, all white, displayed under a glass-cover just as collectors of Victorian art have displayed their art treasures in the past. It's fun to try to guess which toy or item the mechanism originated from. It helps to watch the video that Olsen has made of himself, dressed in white, winding up or squeezing the things in slow motion to reveal the sounds. Titles like Zippa-deedo-dah provide whimsical hints. His installation is entitled White Trash. Being "trash" puts a new spin on the custodi an's job, Anderson said at a curator's talk last week. Archival notes on the condition of such items, she noted, include descriptions such as "scotch tape is a bit yellowed." Construction Compulsion is evident, too, in the elegant railway piece made entirely of wood, right down to the carved wood nuts and bolts, by Mur ray Favro, a Toronto-based artist. (At first glance, you half expect to see Alec Colville's black stallion come racing towards you.) Favro has built the tracks to narrow into a per spective distance, just as an artist would do in a painting. Accompanying the floor construction are his gracefully executed drawings of different parts of the tracks' connections. They remind us of the enchantment that drawing always has and always will have for an art-lover. Darci Mallon's oversized depiction of a spike, Observing Second Point, is eerily apropos to the railway piece nearby. However dark and menacing the gigantic spike and its shadows are on the back lit mylar panels, there is a very feminine feeling to the work. The spike appears to be encased in a black lace stocking with a frilly top, thanks to black paint that has been applied in hundreds of overlapping thumbprints creating a lacy appear ance. Then there is Tania Kitchell's cozy Body Gear, which was purchased from her show last year. She reflects on our snowy Canadian heritage by includ ing colourful balaclavas, mittens and other cold weather accessories she so beautifully fashioned and crafted. This artist was fascinated with the m echanics of keeping warm.The colours are bright, the pieces warm and witty, and the wool exudes comfort. West coast artist Gathie Falk's recent piece (1 9 9 9 ) Standard Shoes - The Column, is a ton of fun and not displayed before at this location. At first glance just a stack o f 12 plain white shoe boxes. But lying on top is a pair of white gloves. Put them on and be enthralled as you go through the contents of each one. Despite their authentic appearance, handle these shoes carefully. They are sculpted realistical ly, complete with straps and buckles, of papier mache, and painted and lacquered in brilliant fruit candy colours o f strawberry, lime, lemon, and melon. They are nostalgically terrific and worth spending time to carefully open and close each box. Each pair has a personality. There are flat, nononsense brogues, as well as impossibly highheeled flirty pink sandals, sturdy lime walking san dals and lady-like banana-coloured closed-in "pumps". All exquisitely created. And definitely a footnote in the study of women's history. As for Gairloch Gardens, the architecture of the grand old house and its surrounding gardens have been playing increasingly larger roles in its exhibi tions. In fact, in many cases it has become a major component of an installation, just as a theatre set imparts a sense of time and place. Increasingly, more of the participating artists seem compelled to (See `Gairloch' on page C5) Peter C. McCusker · Oakville Beaver Above, Teresa Casas, right, and Shannon Anderson, guest curator of the Construction Compulsion exhibition, discuss one of the exhibit's pieces in the Centennial Square gallery. Barrie Erskine · Oakville Beaver Robin Wilson, animateur, left, examines Tatsou Miyajima's num ber 8s on glass, Changing Landscape with Changing Self, (1994-1996) at Oakville Galleries' Gairloch location. Sheridan --, . a Start January 12* in Mississauga, Brampton andOakville. Let Yourself Grow! Register Now for Winter/Spring Continuing Education and Corporate Training Courses/Workshops. Business Com puting and Information Management Technology Arts and Design Languages Health Sciences Community and Liberal Studies Leisure Pursuits Sheridan C o n tin u in g E d u catio n a n d C orporate Training W IN TER A N D SPR IN G 2 0 0 2 OAKYJI Associations and Institutes Distance Learning REGISTER N O W FOR WINTER/SPRING PART-TIME COURSES www.sheridanc.on.ca Pick up a Calendar at the campus nearest you, at any Halton/Peel Public Library, email: sheridan@minacs.com, call: 416-480-1320 or visit: www.sheridanc.on.ca Trafalgar Road Campus, 1430 Trafalgar Rd,, Oakville Davis Campus, McLaughlin Rd./Steeles, Brampton 100 BRONTE RD. UNIT #3, OAKVILLE 905-847-1512 www.goodnightgoodmorning.com 905 842-8800 (Oakville/Mississauga/Toronto) - 905 456-1191 (Brampton/Mississauga) - *M any w eekend courses start January 12. W eekday courses start the w eek o f January 14.