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Satan drives a muscle car John Scott transforms the appeal of skulls, muscle cars and warplanes by KEITH MARCHAND
Noted for his investigation of the dark underbelly of late 20th-century life, Scott's latest exhibit Engines of Anxiety examines power, violence and their relationship to technology. Using images that borrow freely from popular, macho culture--skulls, muscle cars, weapons, warplanes--his work is characterized by a grit and urgency that is rife with symbolism, yet easy to decipher. His intentions are well articulated with two closely linked pieces. The first occupies the entire north wall of the Gallery of the Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts: the enormous and menacing piece is titled "Black Sun." It is a large scale model of a Stealth bomber, seamlessly covered with pages from the Book of Revelation (St. John the Divine's handy, how-to guide to recognize The Beast when he rolls into your hometown), splattered in red and colliding with a rough painting of a cityscape on the gallery wall. The other work is on display at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and has become the artist's best known (it is on loan from the National Gallery in Ottawa). "Trans-Am Apocalypse No. 2" is indeed just what the title suggests: the muscle car from Hell that the Four Horsemen would cruise in should they carry out their mission today. On every surface (black, of course), Scott has scratched all 22 chapters of the Book of Revelation. The car's license plate reads "Ex-Nihil 666" and fuzzy dice hang from the rear-view mirror in reference to Einstein's quote, "God does not play dice." Also of note is a large, bold piece called "100 Workers." One hundred black and white enamelled silk screens depicting human skulls, white roses and outstretched palms are labelled with the names, dates, places and causes of death of 100 people through industrial accidents over the past 100 years. The images in this mute testimonial blend into themselves, losing their individual distinction. Their deaths lost in the enormous industrial machine. Engines of Anxiety is at the Gallery of the Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts and Trans-Am Apocalypse No. 2 is the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Both run concurrently from May 8-June 22 |
While for most of us the month of May brings to mind newly opened daffodils and fluffy birdies munching on worms, Toronto-based artist John Scott puts a somewhat more sinister spin on things.