Sour gallery grapes?

It’s a shame that Mark Lanctôt, in his letter in last week’s Mirror [“Gallery gaff”], takes the Best of Montreal vote so seriously that he has to be picky about what constitutes an “actual [art] gallery.” The last time I asked anyone, a gallery was a place that doesn’t charge for admission to view artworks that may or may not be for sale. Even simpler, the Oxford English Dictionary defines a gallery as, “An apartment or building devoted to the exhibition of works of art.” By any definition, arteVISTA is a gallery. Sorry if his commercial association isn’t happy with some people having a different way of running their galleries. It’s as though the Detroit motor industry criticized electric vehicles for not being “actual cars.”

Mr. Lanctôt runs an organization (the AGAC or Association des galeries d’art contemporain) that aims to protect the turf of its members by defining that turf and shooting down the competition that tries to set up business there. It’s already hard enough for visual artists to get their work seen and make some money from it in Montreal without Mr. Lanctôt’s efforts to discredit other exhibition spaces. The arteVISTA gallery has, in the eight months since its inception, shown the works of artists from both ends of the professional spectrum, from students just starting out, to well-known artists with successful careers behind them such as Gilles Boisvert. And we don’t take commission from the works they sell, unlike the 50 per cent charged by many so-called professional galleries.
Mr. Lanctôt insults not only the Mirror’s readers, whom he calls “badly misinformed,” but the newspaper itself for misinforming them. Come on! Who’s he kidding? The arteVISTA gallery is indeed a gallery—point final! Mr. Lanctôt is just pissed because the galleries he represents didn’t get voted for by the public in the BOM.

What’s really funny is that the arteVISTA gallery is in the same building as the AGAC: the Belgo on Ste-Catherine at Bleury. In fact, I think there’s a smell of sour grapes wafting down from the AGAC’s office on the fifth floor…

—John Dutton, co-director,
arteVISTA gallery

I’d like to respond to Mark Lanctôt’s letter from last week. First off, my mom always told me that if you don’t have something nice to say, best not to say anything. That being said I think that the Mirror does a good job of covering the local visual art scene. Second and more importantly, I would like to point out that Zeke’s Gallery is not a private space “rented out to artists.” It has a mandate of “First Solo Show.” I do my best to promote local art, although I have found that there are an awful lot of people out there who are very intimidated by Wall Art. Sometimes it is an uphill climb. There are currently over 100 galleries here in Montreal. Most of them show contemporary art, most of it rocks like nobody’s business, and I am extremely proud that my gallery got voted best in the city by the Mirror’s readers (although I still think y’all are crazy).

Given the nature of the BOM, yes, some folk are going to get confused (see the winner of Best Zine), but they tend to make their point rather forcefully. So as to avoid confusion in the future, might I suggest that in next year’s BOM there be categories for Best Artist-Run Centre, Best Parallel Gallery, Best Student-Run Gallery, Best Commercial Gallery, Best Photo Gallery, Best Sculpture Gallery, etc.

—Chris Zeke Hand, Zeke’s Gallery

Fair game?

In reference to the May 9 People column [“Dianetics for dummies”], the one thought that lingers in one’s mind about Scientology is what’s known as the “fair game” rule. Essentially, this rule states that if someone is to publicly denounce or speak poorly of Scientology, then any Scientologist may employ whatever means necessary to discredit them. Religious freedom is an important and beautiful right, but I find there to be wonderful irony in considering Mr. Schlereth’s “words of wisdom” (“If you engage in constructive actions, you will live a happier life”) with the “fair game” rule of the Church of Scientology. Be well.

—P. Dussault

Corrections

Last week’s Motion Picture Purgatory headline should have read: “Zero-Gravity Toy-Box Explosion.” Also, Energy Healer Paul John Elliot’s corrected e-mail address should have read pje@aei.ca. The Mirror regrets the errors.