Art heat

>> Tortured clowns, ’70s Montreal
architecture and the world’s longest comic

FEMALE PERSPECTIVES: Eric Simon

by CHRISTINE REDFERN

Whether you’re a local or just flew into town from your yacht in the Mediterranean, the good news is some of the world’s best art is here in Montreal right now. If you haven’t experienced it already, don’t miss Crack the Sky, the 5th edition of La Biennale de Montréal, which runs until July 8. At the main space (the Bourget school, 1230 de la Montagne), be sure to spend some time with Ryan Sluggett’s animations, 2boys.tv’s video, which is projected onto an old suitcase, and the drawings of both Susan Turcot and Annie Pootoogook. At the building’s entrance, you will see a Distroboto (aka an old cigarette vending machine) containing Montreal: Comic City maps. No matter how well you know this town, you will want to get this series of maps, made by eight of the best from Montreal’s comic scene, including Richard Beaulieu (R. Suicide), Hélène Brosseau, Andy Brown and Joe Ollmann.

DAVID ALTMEJD’S BONY LOVERS: At La Biennale de Montréal

TOON IN

I finally made it to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts exhibit, Once Upon a Time Walt Disney, and must confess that I was blown away by the talent on display. Somehow, growing up with the Sunday night Disney “family movies” made me blind to the artists that worked in the Disney studios during the first half of the 20th century. This exhibition showcases their drawings, paintings, animations and vivid imaginations, alongside other works by artists who inspired them. Did you know Walt Disney and Salvador Dali collaborated? See the surreal drawings before this exhibition ends on June 24.

The Musée d’art contemporain has also served up a visual delicacy—15 of Bruce Nauman’s neon sculptures produced between 1965 and 1985 are now on display. There is also a series of his videos and films, including his 1987 work Clown Torture. Museum director Marc Mayer claims this is one of his top five favourite works of contemporary art in the world. See if you agree or not. The exhibition ends on September 3. Note that throughout the summer, if you go on a Friday night from 6–9 p.m., the museum will also have live music, bar service and guided tours of the exhibitions.

Phyllis Lambert turned 80 this year, and we all are the recipients of the resulting bounty of special events surrounding this momentous occasion. Tomorrow, June 8, from 10 a.m.–noon, hear world famous architects Rem Koolhaas and Peter Eisenman in discussion with Lambert on topics they feel are of urgent importance to contemporary architecture. Free, outside under the big tent behind the Canadian Centre for Architecture (1920 Baile).

A great exhibition that documents the architecture of Montreal during the ’70s is Walking Into the Vanishing Point: The Conceptual Works of Bill Vazan at VOX (1211 St-Laurent). It also highlights the thriving scene that existed here around Véhicule Press—when Vazan, Suzy Lake, Tom Dean and Michael Ondaatje were youngsters strutting their stuff—until June 23.

COOL DOWN

On a cooler note, the McCord museum is hosting the First People’s Festival, which starts Friday, June 15, at 2 p.m., with The Return of the Qimutsiit, a documentary about the great Ivakkak dogsled race directed by Bobby May Jr. Or—continuing with the cold front—watch painted ice melt onto canvas at the opening of Sonia Paradis’s exhibition Control’s Thaw, tonight, 5–8 p.m., at l’Artothèque de Montréal (5720 St-André). And a message to all you Grand Prix fans out there, get your Lamborghini (or rust-bucket) to la Centrale (4296 St-Laurent) for sexy Dayna McLeod’s Car Wash performance Saturday, June 9, starting at 2 p.m.

The Nuit Blanche sur Tableau Noir also kicks off tonight, June 7. From 10 p.m. until sunrise, 46 artists will create the world’s longest comic along Mont-Royal Ave. And if you really want to see what’s happening in the underground comix scene in Montreal, get yourself to the Quai des Brumes (4481 St-Denis) on Sunday, June 10, doors open at 7:30 p.m. Drawings, animation, music and general anarchy will herald the opening of an exhibition of work by over 25 artists, such as Valium, Rick Trembles, Caro Caron and Rupert Bottenberg. The exhibit runs until July 1.

TAKE A FIELD TRIP

Lastly, three out-of-town shows that are worth a summer road trip: Carsten Höller at Espace Shawinigan, Eric Simon at the Musée d’art de Joliette and Dé-con-structions featuring Quebecers Michel de Broin, Karilee Fuglem, Annie Thibault, Jean-Pierre Gauthier and Tricia Middleton at the National Gallery of Canada.