Art and Its Enemies

Hana Balaban-Pommier
Dinner for Poseidon
Exhibition at the
Living Arts Gallery
Mississauga
Sanguine
September 11 – October 28, 2018

1. Here is a recent email I sent and the resulting correspondence:

On Fri, Oct 26, 2018 at 6:29 AM reclaimbeauty@gmail.com wrote:

Dear Potters,

It is a real pleasure to view your work, which I have done at several exhibitions. Most recently, I went several times to your current Sanguine Exhibit at the Living Arts Centre.

But last weekend, October 20 and 21, I couldn't enter the gallery space because there were school programs under the the Living Arts Centre's children Art Lab program which filled the gallery with young children (perhaps as young as 5 years old and as old as 7) who were brought in by their art instructors to view your work, and also to sketch your pieces.

I was shocked to see such a large number of young children fill that small, long and narrow gallery space. And although they were supervised, there were one or two who were running around unobserved, and some even touching the works.

The damage they could have caused to the delicate clay pieces is unimaginable, especially as some were perched on blocks and were easy to knock over.

I made this observation officially to the gallery receptionist, but she is not at fault since she had to follow what these LAC staff members had decided to do. And she is simply an volunteer, and not a professional art gallery personnel.

Besides the damage that could have occurred, these children also came during gallery hours and prevented the public (people like me) from entering and viewing the works. Firstly, there was no room to do so, and secondly if there had been room, they were so loud as to prevent a quiet viewing that these pieces merit.

I have since returned to the gallery twice (on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week) and bought your lovely catalogue as a memento and also as a contribution towards your artists who have put up this show free of charge. I also hope to visit your studio in the near future to start collecting my Christmas gifts.

I am an artist myself working with textile design, and understand the how delicate, and even fragile, most artworks can be.

All the best, and looking forward to your future exhibitions,

Kidist Paulos Asrat
Artist/Writer/Designer

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On Saturday, October 27, 2018, 9:43:21 AM EDT, Andrea Poorter wrote:

Hello Kidist,

Thank you so much for visiting the Exhibition.
We're very excited about it an proud of our work.

Thank you also for bringing forward your concerns. I'm sure it's difficult for the LAC to find a balance for kids programs and gallery works. It's great that children are brought into the gallery to look and see what's going on but understanding the fragility of ceramics (or any artwork) also requires some education.

We are having our Fall Sale November 17 and 18 right beside our studio. It would be great to see you there. Please introduce yourself if you can make it. www.mississaugapotters.com/sales
It would be great to meet you.

Best,

Andrea

--
Andrea Poorter
President
Mississauga Potters' Guild

www.mississaugapotters.com

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On Sat, Oct 27, 2018 at 2:07 PM reclaimbeauty@gmail.com wrote:

Dear Andrea,

I hope I gave some useful insights.

The problem was threefold:

1. The very narrow and long setup of the LAC gallery makes it very difficult for such a large number of people to be present at the same time in the gallery, and especially if it children (there were at least twenty present when I was there).

2. The natural inability for children (and especially boys) to remain still for a long period of time makes it difficult to control their behaviour and to keep an eye all all of them all of the time, and especially in such a large group.

And this in turn made me nervous that I would witness a breakage or some harm done to the works. I couldn't enjoy my visit, and even later when returned to a quiet gallery, I was worried that there might be many other sessions in the gallery with such young children present.

3. And finally I had to reschedule my visit twice, and finally caught on that I should come during the week (and not the weekend) in order to view the show.

I am saying this because I have taught young children arts and crafts. There are many pedagogical tools to teach young children "live" art, which includes using prints of works by famous artists, or for a 3-D assignments, to bring in a pot from a garden shed or the kitchen cupboard. Again prints of ceramics and pottery can be viewed to compare and learn from famous artists.

If visiting a gallery is a the teacher's strong desire, then the visit should be very carefully planned. For example: only 5 children at at time at a place like LAC gallery, with the children that are waiting to do assignments in the much more child-friendly hallway.

For some reason, the teachers at the Art Lab couldn't use these pedagogical tools such as these (at least in this case), and they felt that bringing a large group of children into the gallery was not a problem.

Thanks for your reply. I wish you and your group all the best.

Kidist Paulos Asrat
Textile Artist/Cultural Writer

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord

Psalm 33

Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.
2 Praise the Lord with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.
3 Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise.
4 For the word of the Lord is right; and all his works are done in truth.
5 He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
6 By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
7 He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
9 For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.
10 The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.
11 The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.
13 The Lord looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men.
14 From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth.
15 He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works.
16 There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.
17 An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.
18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;
19 To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.
20 Our soul waiteth for the Lord: he is our help and our shield.
21 For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name.
22 Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.

Matisse in Black: THIS IS CULTURAL APPROPRIATION!!!

Untitled
Nina Chanel Abney

Matisse is one of my favorite artists. I will recognize a Matisse anywhere, and also anyone who is "influenced" by him.

I found the above collage at This is Worldtown's instagram page where they're calling for art submissions:

thisisworldtown CALL FOR CONTRIBUTORS

We are now accepting visual and written works by women of colour artists and storytellers on the theme Invisible Love.
Invisible Love :: Your mother never said it. Your first crush was the girl you couldn't tell. The love of your life you couldn't share with the world. The feeling of being desired but never wholly loved. The ways in which our chosen family cares for us. The way the love we desire is about undoing the patriarchy. The way we feel seen but not always loved. The way we feel love that isn't always seen.

And the artist is a black American woman (couldn't they find a black Canadian woman?):

Her first solo exhibition in a museum, Nina Chanel Abney: Royal Flush, opened at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina in February 2017. Curated by Marshall N. Price, the exhibition included about 30 of her paintings, watercolors, and collages and spans 10 years of her work. The works contain a wide range of art historical references, including medieval icons, Northern Renaissance still lifes, and artists such as Henri Matisse and John Wesley. They illustrate narcissism, celebrity culture, the objectification of women, issues of race, and police brutality. [source]

Imagine using a Matisse collage to "illustrate narcissism, celebrity culture, the objectification of women, issues of race, and police brutality."

It is a clever re-creation. I suppose that the palm leaf over the black face's lips indicates "silencing." And the "xs" are "negation," but coupled wth the "os" and the hearts mean "love." There is also a bird in there - a dove? And a circle on the top left corner of the face which looks 3-D and could be a globe. And the triangles? Pointing direction upwards, a secularized reference to heaven? Or the supremacy of the (black) female (the big triangle "holds" the face); the Black Goddess? But then there's the red, clown's nose describing: "The way we feel seen but not always loved"?

But why Matisse? Again, couldn't Nina Chanel Abney find a black (American) woman artist to re-create her "message" filled collage?

THIS IS CULTURAL APPROPRIATION!!!

Mississauga City Hall Clock Tower: Fall Time

Mississauga City Hall Clock Tower: Fall Time
[Photo By: KPA]

The Broken Promise of Fields

There was a time when fields were a good thing, a place where nature was allowed to bloom in all its glory.

I took these images of the M-City developments now in full progress along Webb Drive, in Mississauga. These empty fields held some promise at one time, of flowers and grass and even trees. Now they are deserted lots, which make them good candidates for development.

Now, the only promise we can expect from them is some apocalyptic design of strange narrow high rises which look like they will topple down at a mere hint of a breeze.




















Webb Drive Development Strip
Mississauga
[Photos By: KPA]

Incremental Changes

Incremental Changes
[Photo By: KPA]

Imagine Living in a Country...

Kevin Michael Grace 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇮🇪 ⚜ 🇳🇴
‏
@KMGVictoria

Imagine living in a country wherein everything you had been raised to believe became its opposite. And then you were threatened to remain silent, otherwise you would be punished, socially, civilly & if need be criminally. Now you understand Canada
1:30 AM - 23 Oct 2018

Psalm 145

[Photo By: KPA]
Entrance to the Jubilee Garden
Mississauga

Psalm 145

1 I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.
2 Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.
3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.
4 One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.
5 I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.
6 And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness.
7 They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.
8 The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.
9 The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.
10 All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord; and thy saints shall bless thee.
11 They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power;
12 To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom.
13 Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.
14 The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down.
15 The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season.
16 Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.
18 The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.
19 He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.
20 The Lord preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.
21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.

"Thy Wondrous Works"

[Photo By: KPA]
Entrance to the Jubilee Garden
Mississauga

Psalms 145:5

I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.

Green For Red

Green For Red
[Photo By: KPA]

Fall's Fruit

Fall's Fruit
Farmer's Market (Back View)
[Photo By: KPA]

Fall Grass

Grass
[Photo By: KPA]

C-Cafe Circles

C-Cafe Circles
[Photo By: KPA]

Coffee at the Mississauga Civic Centre's C-Cafe with a different view of the giant circles.

Fall Shimmer

Fall Shimmer
[Photo By: KPA]

Raindrop

Raindrop
[Photo By: KPA]