Lazy, hazy days of summer

by Genevieve Paiement

"It's about doing nothing, playing with ideas of leisure, resting, languor, indulgence, laziness, even of being bored or wasting time," says Sylvie Gilbert, curator of the multimedia, summertime mega-exhibit Oasis. Gilbert, along with co-curators François Dion and Nelson Henricks have masterminded a highly exuberant celebration of all things idle. Armed with a bevy of Canadian and international talent, the show includes video (some dating as far back as '81), painting, including Edmund Alleyn's large scale "Red Sunset," and even a lifesize, walk-in blowup Montreal apartment by Ana Rewakowicz.

There's also a "happy living area," Gilbert explains, where you can sit down on a couch and flip through a pile of pleasant lifestyle magazines. "It's a bit of a tongue-in-cheek take on the whole lifestyle magazine concept," she says. Or, for a friskier assay, you could stride into flamboyant Toronto duo Instant Coffee's "Urban Disco Trailer" where, inside a trailer, a record player and a pile of disco records lie waiting for you to get silly. In August, look out for performances by London's Lone Twin and Mexico City's Gala Eibenschutz, and the launching of a leisure-themed book by Lance Blomgren and Yvette Poorter. The big barbecue/vernissage/launch goes down this Sunday, June 17, 2-5 p.m. at the Liane and Danny Taran Gallery of the Saidye Bronfman Centre (5170 Côte-Ste-Catherine). Info: 739-2301.

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