12 x 8 Foot INK DRAWING
will be included in upcoming exhibition
Urban Space 401 Richmond Nov 1/2010
To quote one of the great(est?) philosopher’s of recent times, “ GREAT GOOGILY MOOGILY!” I just started to relax following a long season of exhibitions and was preparing for a solid month of grants writing when out of nowhere I’ve got another show. Since February 2010 I have done 8 exhibitions including outdoor festival performances, comic book conventions and a simultaneous street performance and video installation at two locations during Toronto’s Nuit Blanche festival. That schedule worked out to be almost one show every month, all of which were convention style, meaning I had to transport all of my work, set up a portable gallery and tend the booth for two- four days. The Buskerfest was particularly exerting as it lasted for four 16 hour days in a row. Now that the busy season has past I was looking forward to some reclusive studio time and was glad to have the street gear in storage for the winter. Though as it turns out, not for very long.
At this time of the year the aspiring artist is generally chained to his/her computer conjuring proposals and budgets for the upcoming grant deadlines. My first submission is due on the 9th of Nov. followed by a few more applications due at the beginning of Dec. There for I had set in my mind to focus exclusively on these essays and forms over the next few days. The time so far has been divided between a lot of brainstorming, (though I know exactly what I intend to develop artistically at this stage it is more important that I cater the phraseology of said project to best suit each of my requests for funding and the councils reviewing those requests) and some preparatory paper work. I’ve had to make no small amount of inquires in order to ensure I create a proper budget and resume. I am still trying to get some answers out of the Toronto Arts Council, which is basically the only thing holding back the process right now. Tomorrow I’ll start the writings, likely between 6-9 pages worth depending on how much the conceptual approach differs from grant to grant. For example an animation might be more appealing to one council as a narrative film for festivals while another would prefer that same project to be called a media installation and shown in a gallery. Nuclear or Nuculear is still nothing but trouble.
As my obviously fragmented and slatternly expressions in the above block of text might suggest, the grants writing process is rather consuming and requires both extensive amounts of time and concentration. So just as I’ve initiated the rewiring of daily mental faculties and physical tendencies from creative production and performance towards academic and bureaucratic nightmares, I get an invitation to do a show, this coming Monday. While this has thrown me for a bit of a loop and surprise, especially considering the inexplicably short notice, the experience has proven improbably timely despite might current workload. Although I have to dig back into my storage unit and prepare another instant exhibition, this one will be in a public gallery space and this sudden connection has actually assisted me in the granting process.
One of the pending bureaucratic nightmares involved in the grant submissions is the inclusion of an authorized note of exhibition. The Councils expect the artist to have a gallery or space booked for the completion of the proposed project ( which ironically can not exist yet according to most grant regulations). This letter of confirmation has always been a struggle for me because I am a completely independent force with no gallery or representative to vouch for me and almost all of my shows are juried/ booked in the early spring. This means that there is no way for me to know if I’ll be accepted or to obtain the necessary letters until late spring when the results of the applications are released. Amazingly enough my meeting today about the upcoming show also resulted in a booking for next fall and subsequently the important letter of confirmation that I so desperately required.
Not unlike the unusually circumstantial obtainment of an exhibition space at a time when such an acquisition was vital, so to was the oddity of how the situation came about. A few months back I left a giant shared office studio located at Richmond and Spadina, just beside 401 Richmond (a giant Art Complex here in Toronto) in order to focus my studies on animation. Since I’d no plans of producing any original artworks this year ( and quite possibly ever again) in favour of small computer based cartoons and comic strips, I had no use for the grand studio and retreated to a home set up using the money that would have paid for the rental space to upgrade my animators electronics. I had some concerns about the relinquishing the commercial space but it has been one of the best moves I ever made.
Shortly after leaving the studio I received a call from Urban Space, a major gallery located in the 401 Richmond Street complex. The gallery asked me if I could do a live performance at the main entrance of 401during this past October’s Nuit Blanche festival. Due to logistical reasons (I RALLY WANTED TO WORK QUEEN STREET) I offered them my animations to project on the exterior of the building instead and the installation turned into a great success. So almost instantly upon my exodus from the shared studio which overlooked the professional building, I had moved into a bigger institution. Mind you that move was primarily symbolic as it was really just my projections that were being featured for a single night, but that night looks better on my resume (and in person) than 5 years of dealing with passively aggressive Machiavellians posing as young artists and studio mates.
The Nuit Blanche projections ran simultaneous with a live painting performance I did independently under a tent gallery on Queen Street West. These two events marked the end of my exhibition season and resulted in the slight moment of relaxation I mentioned at the beginning of this entry. Coincidently my symbolic entry into the 401 Richmond Street Building lasted for about as long as my rest period as I received yet another invitation by the Urban Space gallery, only this time it was to book two exhibits inside the gallery and (GASP) get paid for it. Earlier this afternoon I went down to gallery to see the space and confirm the exhibitions. I’ll be hanging some work in a group show this weekend and will have the entire space to myself in the fall. Pretty cool.
I think I may wait until tomorrow to discuss the group show, it only has three artist including me, and is going to awesome as well as an honour. I will however give a little credit were it is due and close this off explaining how these absurdist developments came about so suddenly. I got an email yesterday from a long time patron/collector Max Allen and though I’d no idea where or what the show was going to be I know Max’s style and was certain the exhibit would be intelligent, provoking and important regardless of any commercial viabilities and my tight schedule these days. It turns out that Max, already the founder and curator of the Textile Museum of Canada, radio producer and long time art collector just became a managing curator for the Urban Space Gallery at 401 Richmond. As one of his first duties in the new position, Max procured a showing of art about cities, in particular a comparison of physical and financial provocations regarding New Orleans, Detroit and Toronto and just like that my symbolic entry into one of Toronto’s most respected Art’s building transformed from a symbolic one to fully developed physical working relationship.
In delusion, er conclusion, I touched on a number of small topics here that require further explanation but have pretty much covered the basic sequence of events which occurred between Oct 2- 26 which have resulted in my first gallery showing in over two years and more importantly I am rambling out many, many words these days just to flex my essay-writing muscles which are going to be put to the test during the next few weeks. more at http://www.heyapathy.com/
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