28 -

Wednesday, January 20, 1993 - North Shore News

Distinctions lose all meaning

From page 20

rated animation, Pink Komkom-
mer. ;

The foregoing anecdote with its
attendant plug is proffered in lieu
of an introduction to the real point

_~ of this irreverent excursion into
the realm of pop culture, namely,
the thorny issue of “validity” i
the definition and: ey, dation of
art. *

“. ‘Partinent to the conclusions the
reader will be left to draw for
himself are a number of. timely
events which have ushered i in the:
new year.

-Witness the cultural event that -
kicked off A.D. 1993 at the ‘Queen
E Theatre Jan. 1: Bugs Bunny on
Broadway, an extravaganza featur:
ing remastered vintage Chuck
Jones and Warner Brothers car-
“toons projected on a large screen
to the orchestral accompaniment

. ofthe Vancouver Symphony Or-

“ chestra.
Whether this arguably

auspicious event is calculated to
reduce the Hoity Toitey to the Hoi
Poloi or elevate the latter to the
‘status of the former, is not im-
"mediately certain but it appears to °
* have initiated an interesting pat-:
tern with respect to the cultural.
menu, currently being offered for
“consumption in Vancouver, . ©.

_ “Happening” one week Jater

“on Jan, 8; a cultiral event of =

vanother order was unleashed on

_ the public at that iriner-city bastion
of post-punk pop sensibility, the
Smash Gallery of Madern Art on
_ Cordova Street.’ Té commemorate
the 58th birthday of Elvis ‘The
. King’. Presley, the Museo Interna-
“, cionale de Neu Art under the di-
rection of Ed Varney and Ken °:
Demerling invited artists from .
around the world to‘contribute

* designs for the Canadada 95 Issue
of its Elvis Commemorative:. '

: Cinderella Artis ampsheet.

“to Frist 161 95/33, 75) to Oriental
$2.50/$4.25) and Greek (82.29)

-Entrees include Chicken Curry

Stew ($4. 95); Lasagne’ (vegetarian, :..,

$3.95; meat; $4.25), Tamale Pie
4$3.95), Enchilada (34. 95), Quiche
"($3.95).° © :
:. Elsewhere are breads: (Baguettes,
$1.20; Sourdough, $1.55; *
Wholewheat,: $1.80; Danish Raisin .
_Rye, $2.25; German Sourdough -
-Rye, $2.25; French, $1.55; and 7--.
» grain, $1.80); soups (daily specials) °°
cand z a multitude of desserts and:

. "For a limited tiie a g |
e Ne? t

uf Not valid with san

Scotherotfern  f; Fey :
© Limit one coupon per couple yi

and 3 coupons er par

Gast Validation .

4&4 Inherent in
Mandad’s wide-eyed
alien household
appliances is a joyful
innocence ... 99

Cinderella is a postage stamp
‘ look-alike).

Among the artists present who
had contributed artistamp “por-
traits’! of The King, as featured in’
this brief exhibit, were Ed Varney,
Anna Banana, Lunar Suede, Man-
dad, Jim Felter and august

‘toonsmith Colin Upton, to men-
tion only a few. a

Fittingly enough in the upstairs f
gallery an assortment of canvases i
— with-and without neon! — by !
ex-graffiti artist. 12 Midnite, pro-”
vided incontestable testimony
substantiating the artist/gallery
owner's obvious penchant for pop »
culture’ as perpetrated by rank and

“file of the American comic book
“industry.

And last but not least i in this,
whirling dervish survey of cultural.

“events treading hard on the infant:

heels of.’93, Andy Syivester's

“ultra-contemporary Equinox

Gallery on Granville Street is kick-.
ing off its: own new year with Pop
Art Plus, a group show enlisting
the contributions of such big guns
as Andy Warhol, Robert:
Rauschenberg and Roy Lichtens-

‘tein in its exploration of the new
Realism phenomenon of the late »

“50s that by the early ‘60s was

“universally known as Pop Art.

Interspersed among the works of
the American founders of the

movement — and ignoring the

baked goods (apple Dumplings,

© $2, 95; Cinnamon Knots;.$1.50;

. Cheesecakes, $2.95/$3.50; pud-
dings, $2.25: tarts, $1.50/$3.25, °
Pies and Flans, $2. 95; and many
more)...” my

Cappuccinos come in single or.
double portions {around $2 to $3),
-and all items can be eaten on the.
premises or packaged to go.

While! Bread Gardens are tradi-’
‘tionally open 24 hours per day,
?the Park Royal outlet is open from -
6 a.m, to'2 a.m. in compliance
with West Vancouver District .. — ;
bylaw regulations that promote an
vearly-to-bed- “early-to tise lifestyle.

Join us Sunda thru
® ay!” "Thursday for this
4 te faulous offer

important role of the British, who
some contend created it —- are the
neo-pop extrapolations of such
contemporary Canadian artists as

Gathie Falk and recently deceased -

Greg Curnoe among other lesser
lights.

For the most part there is
nothing particularly innovative or
exciting in this commercially
oriented show.

Of special interest, however, is
the work of Mandad, an artist
whose creations like their author
are reputed to be refugees from a
Fleisher Brothers’ alternate reality.
inherent in Mandad's wide-eyed
alien household appliances is a
joyful.innocence and insuppressi-
ble mirth thai the surrounding
works, however distinguished, are
clearly hard put to compete with:::

If we put ourselves at an intel-

‘. lectual remove, what are we to

make of the events described
above? What does it all portend!
Boundless creative energy erupts
all around us. ~

“But is it art!?”’

In fact, is it still possible to
establish reliable criteria by which
to make distinctions that validate a

comprehensive or, for that matter,
evena stable definition of art?

What we have witnessed in the

-first two weeks of the new. year is
nothing less than a victorious ©

assault by the forces of pop culture:
not on the art world per se, but on-
our antiquated notions of what”

’ constitutes art.

With the advent of Pop Art over
three decades ago, the distinctions _
between “fine’’ art-and that pro-",
duced by pop culture have’. ©
become so eroded as to have lost

_all meaning.

So welcome to the Wonderful

World of Artifice at the end of the

second millennium when art can.

no longer be defined in.terms of

what it is but only in terms of what”
it's not! bed :

And even though the n new ~
.Garden’s more limited late-night .

hours of operation mean that you 3

won't be able to find out who ::
might be up drinking coffee and «

devouring Cinnamon Knots at 4: 30 :

a.m: in West Vancouver, they 4 willl,

still provide theatre-goers with a -

Good apres- show late-night dining
estination on the North Shore.:

Bread Gardens cultivate a crop."
that is nutritional for body and ;

soul.

- The Park Royal version n should .
provide a bumper harvest for.
North Shore diners.

Present this ad to your server.
‘STEP 2:.
Choose ANY TWO entrees up to’
a value of $12.99 each. °
STEP 3:
Enjoy your meal...and —
save up to $10.99... +
: ( PS, Choose twy enurees greater
s than $12.99 each and still receive
the maximum discount of $10.99)
Not valid Fridays & Saturdays. .
Expires February 11, '93
RESERVATIONS ACCEPTED OR
oo". JUST DROP BY. |
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‘ELNA .
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JANOME =
OMEGA: ..

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