Toni Latour's "Drag King Project" and Shane Golby's "Little Men," Harcourt House, May 17 - June 16, 2007

Lesser known than its flamboyant counterparts of the square-jawed Rita Hayworths and Judy Garlands, The Drag King is the female-based reincarnation of the ideal macho male (though many come off as pretty boys resembling the Elvis Presleys and James Deans.)
Toni Latour represents a series of Drag Kings, mostly in camp macho male roles, from construction workers to lumberjacks, posing against sterile white backgrounds. The subjects embody the male stance, legs spread apart, arms crossed and looking directly into the camera. The subjects are removed from any time or place, existing in and of itself and amongst only each other on the walls. Removed from any social or cultural context, the heroic imagery comes off as exoticised and timeless, closely resembling an advertisement of the male gender. These men, taken out of the world in which they are challenging and perhaps transcending, appear more than anything else, as specimens.

While Vancouver-based LaTour plays with the gender bender lines of one facet of lesbian identification, Alberta's own Shane Golby has less to offer for his representation of homosexuality and homophobia. Shouting his message across in pastel-washed rally headlines and Playgirl-esque stereotypes of the chiseled male nude, Golby's pieces doesn't leave much for the imagination or conversation. More a craft project or protest sign than an exhibition art piece, communication through art is hard-pressed when there's little room left for opposing opinions.

Make It Not Suck, Jasper Avenue 105-104 St.

The site of a future Sobey’s and oh so much more, a gang of twenty or so rabblerousers erected 16 insta-murals along the site scaffolding on Jasper Ave between 104 and 105th Street this Sunday morning. Some traces of your regular graffiti regulars already exist and it's guaranteed new graffiti will soon be added.
The project’s future remains undetermined as it’s difficult to say whether a) the developers/construction crew will handle it or b) the law enforcements will think art needs reinforcing, but Jasper Avenue currently makes it clear why and how DIY mentality still reigns in this town.











Photo credit: Amy Fung, 2007

Amalgam, University of Alberta BFA Grad Show 2007

There is nothing resembling an alloy or mixture of edge and otherness in the 2007 BFA group Grad show. Unfocused tangents of subject and media, self-reflexive nods of acknowledgment, and other forgettables graced the FAB Gallery walls showcasing the products of this past semester's labours. Memory came into play, predictably, but reminisces of childhood dreams and blurred memories coming from 20 year olds fail to bear much weight.
What does this show say about the group? The focus of what art could mean to them? Adam Waldon Blain's "NRMLS WLCM (22 December 2006)", a document of an early kHz night, says it all: a shoddy acrylic photo-representation of vacant stares of semi-stylish boys and girls frozen in motion, faces blank of emotion or thought, incompetence captured for a moment, unable to transfer the immediate thrill and fleeting joy, but still carries residues of contentment, a complacency in knowing that they are being seen by peers who are just as interested as being seen themselves, even if it is just based on style in void of substance.