16 CANADIAN A RT • SPRING 2016SPRING IS A TRANSITIONAL SEASON, and we present our Spring 2016 issue in the midst of internal transition,
with the bulk of features commissioned by editor emeritus Richard Rhodes, and the rest by a newly restructured
editorial staff, including incoming editor-in-chief David Balzer. This issue also bears a transitional theme—artists
and cities—with a cover by Berlin-based artist Larissa Fassler that cheekily illustrates how creative and commercial
flux can vitally, and unsettlingly, co-exist. Artists mark contemporary cities as much as they are marked by them,
falling prey to gentrification while spurring it on. In this issue, writer Diana Sherlock’s feature on the flâneur-like
practice of Fassler is complemented by other tales of migration: Michael Turner’s lively piece on Vancouver artists
moving east to the Okanagan Valley; Murray Whyte’s profile of Chantal Pontbriand, new CEO of the developing
Museum of Contemporary Art, Toronto-Canada; and Ann Ireland’s portrait of Jamelie Hassan and Ron Benner,
whose international peregrinations are informed by an active home base in London, Ontario. We are proud to have
Marcel Dzama provide this issue’s centrepiece, an artist project showing photos and sketches from his collaboration
with the New York City Ballet—a gleaming example of how the urban so often provides art’s truest home.THIS ISSUE
CONTRIBUTORS
On page 78, Diana Sherlock takes an in-depth look at the practice of Berlin-
based artist Larissa Fassler.Turn to page 90 to read Michael Turner’s tour of Rancho Rasdoul in British
Columbia’s Okanagan Valley.MARCEL DZAMA was born in Winnipeg and now lives and works in New York,
where he is represented by David Zwirner. The artist has exhibited widely in
solo and group presentations across Canada, the United States, Central America
and Europe, and his work is held in eminent museum collections worldwide. A
comprehensive monograph of the artist’s work, Marcel Dzama: Sower of Discord,
was published by Abrams in 2013. Recently, Dzama was part of a two-person
exhibition with Raymond Pettibon at David Zwirner, New York, and created
costumes and stage design for the New York City Ballet’s The Most Incredible
Thing, a performance based on a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen.
What’s the unofficial mascot of your home city?
It’s either a snowman or a mosquito.ROBERT DAVIDSON, a Northwest Coast artist of Haida descent, is a master
carver of totem poles and masks and works in a variety of other media as
a printmaker, painter and jeweller. His work is found in a number of important
collections, including the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, the Vancouver
Art Gallery, the Canadian Museum of Civilization, the Southwest Museum
in Los Angeles and the Artists for Kids Gallery in North Vancouver. In 1995
he received the National Aboriginal Achievement Award, and he holds honorary
degrees from the University of Victoria, Simon Fraser University in Burnaby,
the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and the Emily Carr Institute
of Art and Design in Vancouver. He has received the Order of British Columbia
and in 1996 was awarded the prestigious Order of Canada.
What’s the unofficial mascot of your home city?
The Southeast Wind. In our stories, he has 10 brothers, 10 different forces of wind.DIANA SHERLOCK is an independent curator, writer and educator whose
curatorial projects create opportunities for contemporary artists to produce new
work in response to specific collections, contexts, histories and cultures ofdisplay. She has produced projects and published in catalogues and magazines
across Canada and in the US, Germany and France. Sherlock teaches in the
School of Critical and Creative Studies at the Alberta College of Art and Design.
What’s the unofficial mascot of your home city?
One of Calgary’s might be Jaume Plensa’s Wonderland sculpture (often referred
to as the big head) outside Norman Foster’s Bow Building.PEARL VAN GEEST is an artist, art educator and writer who lives in Guelph,
Ontario. She has exhibited her artwork extensively since graduating from
OCAD University in 1996 and recently completed her MFA from the University
of Windsor. She won the 2015 Canadian Art Foundation Writing Prize.
What’s the unofficial mascot of your home city?
Often thematically dressed by students and various residents of the city, Guelph’s
unofficial mascot, Canadiana/Begging Bear, stands with an outstretched
paw, inviting interaction and compassion while marking the transition from
the university north toward Guelph’s downtown core.KIMBERLY PHILLIPS is a writer, curator and educator, as well as director/curator
of Access Gallery, an artist-run centre in Vancouver. She holds a doctorate
in art history from the University of British Columbia, was head of interpretation
at the Vancouver Art Gallery from 2009 to 2013, and curatorial resident
at 221A in 2012–13. Phillips regularly teaches courses on the history of visual
culture and curatorial practice at both the Emily Carr University of Art and
Design and at UBC, and currently leads ECUAD’s Low Residence MAA program.
She has authored, edited and contributed to numerous exhibition catalogues,
bookworks and critical anthologies.
What’s the unofficial mascot of your home city?
The raindrop, of course.Contributors spr16_14TS.indd 16 02/11/16 4:28 PM