It’s massive: 130 artists, over 50 national pavilions and more than 40 collateral events across the city. It’s also largely irrelevant to the fate of Venice in a world of irresistible climate change. Venice is in peril, its future grim; sea levels are rising, flood barriers are inadequate, giant cruise ships and billionaire super yachts […]
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Art Threat: Peter Kennard: A very unofficial war artist
The Exhibiton — Peter Kennard: A Very Unofficial War Artist, Imperial War Museum, London The Film — Zygosis: John Heartfield and the Political Image by Gavin Hodge & Tim Morrison (1991) The images in this archival exhibition, Peter Kennard: A Very Unofficial War Artist, represent a radical perspective on the
Continue readingArt Threat: Condé and Beveridge depict two visions of our future
The following text was written to accompany the show “Scene Otherwise: recent work by Carole Condé and Karl Beveridge,” which ran from April 17 to May 12 at the Khyber Centre for the Arts, curated by the Anna Leonowens Gallery as part of the Halifax Mayworks Festival. We live in
Continue readingArt Threat: Art and photography tackle the conscience and chronology of war
A review of: Conflict – Time – Photography @ Tate Modern, London Conscience and Conflict: British Artists and the Spanish Civil War @ Pallant Gallery, Chichester Brute @ arthouse1, London We have just returned from Tate Modern and the exhibition Conflict-Time-Photography. On the cover of the exhibition catalogue is the photo
Continue readingArt Threat: Activist pasts, austere presents, queered futures: An interview with Emily Davidson
“Imagine a new relationship to every aspect of everything.” “Capitalism has fallen; Art must be redefined.” “You get to pick your gender when you come of age, but feel free to change your mind.” “Living together is still hard; Art makes it better.” These missives from the Inner City Artists’
Continue readingArt Threat: An open letter to George W. Bush, the artist
Dear Mr. Bush, I was heartened to learn of your recent exhibition of paintings at your own Presidential Library in Dallas. Some may have considered this a crude display of the vanity of power, but I happen to think such crudeness has its own aesthetic merit and honesty. It is
Continue readingArt Threat: Hugs With Arms will put affordable art on your walls
After seven years of putting political art on your computer screen, I’m now hoping to put some art on your walls. We started Art Threat in 2007 because we felt that artists creating socially-engaged work weren’t getting the attention they deserved. After 1200+ posts over the years (and many more
Continue readingArt Threat: Transform This: iconic Johnny Cash photo used to protest Saskatchewan university cuts
Things may soon be looking grim for many students and faculty at the University of Saskatchewan. The Saskatoon-based institution is looking to slash up to $25 million from its operating budget. In a restructuring process the administration has branded TransformUS, the UofS is currently determining “university priorities”, after which they
Continue readingArt Threat: Should artists be able to pay taxes with artwork?
As income tax filing deadlines approach across North America, many Mexican artists will be counting canvases instead of pay stubs. In Mexico, a country that has lost over $870 billion to tax evasion and money laundering, hundreds of artists aren’t required to pay a dime in tax. Instead, they pay
Continue readingArt Threat: Painting, Resisting, Giggling: An Interview with George Littlechild
I first stumbled upon George Littlechild’s art at the Comox Valley Art Gallery in my hometown of Courtenay, British Columbia. After reeling from the emotional turmoil and historical reopening, rapprochement and reordering rendered in his bold and colourful brush strokes and integration of collage through archives, I was delighted further
Continue readingArt Threat: Banksy video asks that we stand #WithSyria on third anniversary of conflict
This week marks the third anniversary of the crisis in Syria, and a new campaign involving Banksy asks that we stand in solidarity with Syrians. #WithSyria asks the public to place pressure on political leaders to “do everything they can to make this the last anniversary marked by bloodshed.” The
Continue readingArt Threat: Michelangelo’s David takes up arms in American gun ad
An American weapons manufacturer is the subject of outrage in Italy — but this international offensive lies strictly within the cultural realm. ArmaLite, an Illinois-based small arms engineering firm, has bestowed indignity upon Michelangelo’s David by using the classical sculpture as a prop in a rifle advertisement. The tacky advert
Continue readingArt Threat: Feminist Art editing marathon creates 100 new Wikipedia entries
Less than 13 percent of Wikipedia contributors are female, an uncomfortable imbalance that skews the content that is found on the tremendously popular resource. Last week nearly 600 volunteers around the planet stormed Wikipedia in a marathon effort to put a dent in this disparity by adding 100 new pages
Continue readingArt Threat: JFK After 50 Years: Berlin to Dallas, Cold War to Camelot
Those of us, of a certain age, or so the story goes, can remember exactly where we were and what we were doing on 23rd of November, 1963, when we first heard news of the death of President John F Kennedy. Some will have been in the concert hall in
Continue readingArt Threat: Can I Touch It?
North Carolina based artist Endia Deal explores the relationships of minority women within the corporate space. Her most recent project, “Can I touch it?”, is a photo series depicting white women in their 40s or older with traditionally black hairstyles. The final results show women with cornrows, flat twists, fingerwaves
Continue readingArt Threat: The Zombie Index explores the space between individuals and the collective
Artist George Pfau believes zombies are an irresistible cultural force. But while most of us limit our interest to binging on Walking Dead episodes, or perhaps taking part in a Zombie Walk, for Pfau the study of zombies makes up a huge part of his art practice. His most recent
Continue readingArt Threat: P.INK takes heathcare to an unexpected place: the tattoo parlour
As a man with no tattoos, Noel Franus is an unlikely candidate as the founder of P.INK: an organization that connects breast cancer survivors with tattoo ideas and artists. But as anyone with a family member who is also a breast cancer survivor can attest, the urge to do something
Continue readingArt Threat: 169 credit cards + $12.50 in change = Indebted States of America
Indebted States of America by Maine artist Eric Leppanen is created with 169 of his own credit cards, collected over the past 23 years, adorned with the 50 U.S. state quarters and framed in gold leaf. “It speaks to the marketing of ‘Big Banks’ to indebt Americans with bait and
Continue readingArt Threat: Joe Sacco depicts one dreadful day of The Great War
The latest book by comic artist Joe Sacco isn’t really a book at all. The Great War is a single 24-foot-long panoramic image that illustrates the first day of the battle of the Somme on July 1, 1916. And while the style is certainly Sacco, The Great War differs from
Continue readingArt Threat: Banksy in NYC: highlights from the first two weeks
New Yorkers have spent the past two weeks tripping over themselves as they attempt to locate new Banksy works as they pop up each morning. The British artist is currently halfway through a month-long residency “on the streets of New York,” and his daily creations, which include video and other
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