Calgarian, Jfry Craig is a promoter of art who recently KiCKed up his online non-traditional gallery. Craig currently has a roster of five local artists whose sample artworks are featured online alongside an array of one-night events where the works appear ‘live’. KiCK moves in wider circles by tapping into the entertainment industry. Gigs include local clubs, the 2009 Sled Island festival, and the RightToPlay charity event. KiCK also has an online store where you can purchase trendy art and swag. Laurel Smith eInterviews Jfry Craig to learn more about the direction of his gallery:
LS: Why KiCK?
JC: I wanted a short name that was easy to remember. I wanted it to
sound energetic and aggressive. A name I could make a bold brand from.
What prompted you to start an on-line gallery?
My belief is that I’ll have more success throwing shows all over
the world than sitting in a fixed location hoping the recession
goes away. An online gallery seemed a more natural fit with our
audience where KiCK can create campaigns for the artists that are more in tune with the tech crowd now emerging as significant
collectors. I still operate out of an office where I meet
collectors to show work and I have studio space for the artists to
work in. In that sense, we’re not that different than a fixed-
location agency or gallery. We’re just going to be more active in
promoting our artists abroad.
Who is your target audience?
I want dynamic aggressive artists and I think they’ll attract a
similar following. We’re focusing on emerging independent
collectors on the art side; there seems to be an appetite for
commissions. For the fans who might not be able to buy into the
art, we’re hoping that they enjoy the shows we throw and support
the artists by picking up a T or a bag, much like they would at a
festival or concert. We’d like everyone to feel like they can be
involved with the artists to some capacity.
Is KiCK an exclusive vanity gallery? How do you decide who gets to
show?
KiCK is absolutely not a vanity gallery. KiCK has a vested interest in each artist. We provide studio space, help artists apply for grants, and produce promotional material for them. Our primary goal is to allow artists to focus on their art first and foremost. We are featuring Canadian artists that I felt were under-represented
in galleries. I believe there are opportunities to increase the
market and prestige both domestically and abroad.
Is it a deliberate decision to have one illustrator, one
photographer, one painter in your group? Will you open the gallery
to other media?
I think it’s just coincidence; that’s what we had up when you went
to the site as we were still building out content. Because KiCK is so
new, many of the artists are still preparing their first series of
work. Most of the artists are painters, but there are a couple of
photographers and illustrators. I would like to represent new media
and installation artists in the future, but that’s more of a phase
2 thing.
Do you see yourselves as an art collective? Do you collaborate on
content and projects?
KiCK shares many of the ideas of a collective but I’m not sure if
It’d really qualify as one at this point. Right now it’s more like
an agency of like-minded clients, but there will definitely be
collaborative work coming down the pipe this summer. I admire many
of the things that groups like Lifetime Collective are doing and
would be pumped if we could follow in a similar path.
Can anyone submit and post on your gallery or do you have
submission criteria?
Anyone can submit to KiCK, but right now, there’s a set roster and
I’d be hesitant to include many more artists than I currently
have. We’re trying to be a positive part of the community by
promoting other shows and events, like Out Of Context 3 in June (as
part of Sled Island). So while there might not be an opportunity to
be represented by KiCK, we’ll definitely be trying to help out if
we can.
You are based out of Calgary. What are the benefits of a Calgary
location?
We have office and artist studio space in Calgary, but the idea is
to promote shows internationally, so our physical location isn’t
quite as important as a more traditional gallery. That said,
Calgary has a lot of people really trying to do their most for the
arts and it’s a really positive atmosphere. There is a lot of talent
and you can really see the push and pull of aesthetics at work
here. It’s a nice place to run a business.
What are the challenges for Calgary artists?
Not being sucked up by galleries and losing your sense of self.
Getting thoughtful critiques of your work. Finding suitable and
affordable studio space. Getting grant and government funding.
Gaining access to collectors, not just fans. I don’t think Calgary
is very different than many other scenes in that respect. Hopefully
KiCK can help with some of that.
How do you see your gallery contributing to the wider arts scene?
KiCK plans to co-present art and music shows in cities across
Canada and to provide whatever support we can to others trying to
do the same. There’s a nice positive outlook among the young people
involved in the art scene in Canada and it’s nice to be able to
help foster that energy in any way we can.
How do you measure your success?
If I can achieve my goals, which are to show the KiCK roster of
artists internationally, I will feel a sense of pride and
accomplishment, but real quantifiable success is measured in sales,
commissions and buzz. If I can help take some of the burden off of
artists and help them focus on their work, I’m on the right path.
Tell us about the Montreal exchange program and what inspired this?
Do you have sponsors, funding for this project?
We will be having a month long show in Montreal, which takes place
during the Just for Laughs and Jazz Festivals. The launch will
feature a big party with DJs and live art. We’re happy to be
partnering with Eric Amber, owner of Theatre Ste. Catherine to
present the show. We are hoping to have a show in TO in the early
winter and then a show in Mexico next spring. Right now everything
is funded by KiCK (aka me) although we will be seeking some funding
and government assistance in the future to help the artists attend
their shows and to set up installations.
- L.S. Calgary
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Review: Attila Richard Lukacs and Michael Morris, Polaroid overload*
Since their first meeting more than 20 years ago during the landmark “Young Romantics” exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery, Michael Morris and Attila Richard Lukacs have formed a bond that bridges the realms of mentorship and collaboration. Developing this bond after Lukacs moved to Berlin in 1986, Morris became a major influence in shaping Lukacs’ aesthetic through informal museum trips educating the young painter on the masters. Taking special note of Caravaggio’s rendering of light and the body’s capacity to hold tension, Lukacs would mature to inform his paintings by affecting the sexualized subject within situations of contemporary political strife.
Known for his large-scale paintings of marginalized masculinity from soldiers to skinheads, Lukacs elaborately staged countless Polaroid photographs as studio studies of the human form. On display along with five paintings spanning Lukacs’ career, “POLAROIDS” at the Art Gallery of Alberta features more than 3,000 photographs taken largely between 1986 and 1996.
With the demise of Polaroid film production, there is a tint of nostalgia to the medium itself that is present in this show. As documents and studies taken almost entirely from Lukacs’ time in Berlin, the photographs reveal that the specific emulsion of Polaroid film has greatly informed the use of light in Lukacs’ paintings. The artist meticulously staged each studio scene, and the combination of light on Polaroid and Lukacs’ classical compositions imbue each photograph with an iconoclastic portrait of the male body.
Seeing the photographic study alongside its representation in the finished painting, we are given a glimpse into Lukacs’ production process—which on its own does not merit an entire retrospective. Each Polaroid photograph is individually stunning, made all the more precious with faded fingerprints in a variety of colours smudged along each border. But collected as an entity of over 250 grids featuring thousands of photographs, “POLAROIDS” is simply bewildering.
Barely holding together as a coherent assemblage, the exhibit’s underlying subtext calls into question the role of the contemporary curator. Morris, who remains best known alongside Vincent Trasov as a co-founder of the Image Bank, later renamed the Morris/Trasov Archive, took up the precarious task of sorting through Lukacs’ collection of photographs and assembling a portion into 3-by-4 grids. Forming loose narratives of events, Morris organizes each grid by model and session rather than by mixing up different studio sessions. Thematic threads linking and progressing across 20 years of studio sessions are no longer apparent in this format. Rather, focusing on the time elapsed between photographs, Morris shifts our attention to each studio session as a performance, rather than to the consistent play on power relations through direction and composition. Recording languid poses, as well as positions of vulnerability and resistance, the photographs across the wall overwhelm with their multitude of focal points. But boiled down to grids, the eye and mind are inevitably led nowhere.
Gridded into a format more suitable for book publication, the gallery experience is impenetrably dense. A book is in the works with full-size reproductions of Morris’ Polaroid arrangements, but if the book format was all along the best venue to showcase and contextualize Lukacs’ studio process, the physical exhibit exists as nothing more than an exercise in design layout.
*First published in Canadian Art online
- A.F. Edmonton
Known for his large-scale paintings of marginalized masculinity from soldiers to skinheads, Lukacs elaborately staged countless Polaroid photographs as studio studies of the human form. On display along with five paintings spanning Lukacs’ career, “POLAROIDS” at the Art Gallery of Alberta features more than 3,000 photographs taken largely between 1986 and 1996.
With the demise of Polaroid film production, there is a tint of nostalgia to the medium itself that is present in this show. As documents and studies taken almost entirely from Lukacs’ time in Berlin, the photographs reveal that the specific emulsion of Polaroid film has greatly informed the use of light in Lukacs’ paintings. The artist meticulously staged each studio scene, and the combination of light on Polaroid and Lukacs’ classical compositions imbue each photograph with an iconoclastic portrait of the male body.
Seeing the photographic study alongside its representation in the finished painting, we are given a glimpse into Lukacs’ production process—which on its own does not merit an entire retrospective. Each Polaroid photograph is individually stunning, made all the more precious with faded fingerprints in a variety of colours smudged along each border. But collected as an entity of over 250 grids featuring thousands of photographs, “POLAROIDS” is simply bewildering.
Barely holding together as a coherent assemblage, the exhibit’s underlying subtext calls into question the role of the contemporary curator. Morris, who remains best known alongside Vincent Trasov as a co-founder of the Image Bank, later renamed the Morris/Trasov Archive, took up the precarious task of sorting through Lukacs’ collection of photographs and assembling a portion into 3-by-4 grids. Forming loose narratives of events, Morris organizes each grid by model and session rather than by mixing up different studio sessions. Thematic threads linking and progressing across 20 years of studio sessions are no longer apparent in this format. Rather, focusing on the time elapsed between photographs, Morris shifts our attention to each studio session as a performance, rather than to the consistent play on power relations through direction and composition. Recording languid poses, as well as positions of vulnerability and resistance, the photographs across the wall overwhelm with their multitude of focal points. But boiled down to grids, the eye and mind are inevitably led nowhere.
Gridded into a format more suitable for book publication, the gallery experience is impenetrably dense. A book is in the works with full-size reproductions of Morris’ Polaroid arrangements, but if the book format was all along the best venue to showcase and contextualize Lukacs’ studio process, the physical exhibit exists as nothing more than an exercise in design layout.
*First published in Canadian Art online
- A.F. Edmonton
The Office Show, May 21-25, 2009, REVIEWED by Pam Baergen
“Office art” has never particularly excited me, especially when art exists in an office solely to mask the sterility and conformity of the space. No one goes to an office to check out its art. But what if the office space is the art?
The Office Show re-presents office space to the public through mixed media installation and performance in a way that is current, poignant, and refreshingly unique. Curated by Tiffany Shaw-Collinge and installed on the main floor of an office building on 10341-124 St., The Office Show is a conscious continuation of the notion of “public art” that The Apartment Show introduced in March of '07. I find myself drawn to art that comments on aspects of the everyday, so naturally I found the subject of this exhibition fascinating, but it was the space itself that really brought the artists' ideas about this subject to life. Being set in an office eliminated the need to translate space, or “pretend,” that is necessary when experiencing many gallery installations. Interacting with cubicles in an office rather than a gallery constructed to feel like an office greatly deepened The Office Show's impact on me.
Image credit: Detail from Amie Rangel, 2009
Within the confines of the office space, artists from Edmonton and beyond were allotted their own cubicle (or cubicle-sized section) to work with, mimicing the space allotted to an actual office worker. Shaw-Collinge's curatorial statement explains: “Although cubicles are partitioned, they are not completely separate from each other. By placing 15 artists together within cubicles, their ideas, like those of office workers, will inevitably permeate into each other.” From Tim Rechner and Craig Talbot's string web of spontaneous drawings and collages to Kenneth Doren's ominous and reflective audio installation, the works presented are radically different, yet their ideas do permeate and play off of each other in challenging, intriguing ways.
Out of all of the installations featured in this exhibition I found the more heavily interactive works to be the most intriguing- maybe because I am a tactile person, or maybe because being in an office makes me feel like I should be “doing something.” Regardless, two works in particular resonated with me. The first was Lindsay MacDonald's “It's not in my Outlook;” an average-looking workspace with a desk, chair, and computer. Exploring the work involved selecting different tasks from a Microsoft Outlook calendar that brought up different videos displaying all but “office appropriate” tasks. The second work was by Amie Rangel, which involved peering through surveillance windows into an organized, generic, model-sized office space. Being set in the same office building not only allowed the ideas of these two works to permeate eachother (as well as the rest of the works), but it also blurred the line between reality and the artist-created environment.
Invading a public space gives the installation art featured in The Office Show a way to successfully connect with and expand upon people's experiences of a common reality. Offices; apartments; I have even seen pictures of an exhibition in a Calgary motel room-- these spaces are redefining “public art,” and I look forward with anticipation to see which spaces prairie artists will be taking over next.
Artists:
Blair Brennan, Kenneth Doren, Robert Harpin, David Janzen, Jon Lawson, Lindsay MacDonald, Royden Mills, Gerry Morita, aAron munson, Christopher Payne, Jan Peacock, Amie Rangel, Tim Rechner, Patrick J. Reed and Craig Talbot
- P.B. Edmonton
The Office Show re-presents office space to the public through mixed media installation and performance in a way that is current, poignant, and refreshingly unique. Curated by Tiffany Shaw-Collinge and installed on the main floor of an office building on 10341-124 St., The Office Show is a conscious continuation of the notion of “public art” that The Apartment Show introduced in March of '07. I find myself drawn to art that comments on aspects of the everyday, so naturally I found the subject of this exhibition fascinating, but it was the space itself that really brought the artists' ideas about this subject to life. Being set in an office eliminated the need to translate space, or “pretend,” that is necessary when experiencing many gallery installations. Interacting with cubicles in an office rather than a gallery constructed to feel like an office greatly deepened The Office Show's impact on me.
Image credit: Detail from Amie Rangel, 2009
Within the confines of the office space, artists from Edmonton and beyond were allotted their own cubicle (or cubicle-sized section) to work with, mimicing the space allotted to an actual office worker. Shaw-Collinge's curatorial statement explains: “Although cubicles are partitioned, they are not completely separate from each other. By placing 15 artists together within cubicles, their ideas, like those of office workers, will inevitably permeate into each other.” From Tim Rechner and Craig Talbot's string web of spontaneous drawings and collages to Kenneth Doren's ominous and reflective audio installation, the works presented are radically different, yet their ideas do permeate and play off of each other in challenging, intriguing ways.
Out of all of the installations featured in this exhibition I found the more heavily interactive works to be the most intriguing- maybe because I am a tactile person, or maybe because being in an office makes me feel like I should be “doing something.” Regardless, two works in particular resonated with me. The first was Lindsay MacDonald's “It's not in my Outlook;” an average-looking workspace with a desk, chair, and computer. Exploring the work involved selecting different tasks from a Microsoft Outlook calendar that brought up different videos displaying all but “office appropriate” tasks. The second work was by Amie Rangel, which involved peering through surveillance windows into an organized, generic, model-sized office space. Being set in the same office building not only allowed the ideas of these two works to permeate eachother (as well as the rest of the works), but it also blurred the line between reality and the artist-created environment.
Invading a public space gives the installation art featured in The Office Show a way to successfully connect with and expand upon people's experiences of a common reality. Offices; apartments; I have even seen pictures of an exhibition in a Calgary motel room-- these spaces are redefining “public art,” and I look forward with anticipation to see which spaces prairie artists will be taking over next.
Artists:
Blair Brennan, Kenneth Doren, Robert Harpin, David Janzen, Jon Lawson, Lindsay MacDonald, Royden Mills, Gerry Morita, aAron munson, Christopher Payne, Jan Peacock, Amie Rangel, Tim Rechner, Patrick J. Reed and Craig Talbot
- P.B. Edmonton
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