Dreamland by David Ostrem at Gallery 56, 56 Pawell St., Oct. 14-Nov. 2. Tues-Sun: 11-7. RTISTS ARE not always articulate crit- ics of their own work. Specialists in the skills of picto- rial language, they tend to tocus all creative energy on the develap- ment of this activity at the expense of verbal expertise with esthetic subleties.. They are frequently more effec- tive at “doing’’ art than talking about it. Former American draft- dodger and long-time Vancouver resident, David Ostrem, is one of a growing nurnber of exceptions to this rule. Not only is he an acute observer of the strengths of his own art, but a sound judge of its weaknesses. Having turned from silk-screen printing to painting only in the last six years, the 46-year: old Ostrem is vividly aware of the tentative and hesitant qualities of his painting. “I'm not very dexterious with a brush,” he Says, “1'm trying to loosen up.’ in spite of this, the present ex- hibition is a fresh, candid, witty, intellectualiy sophisticated, and politically laced comment on the process of making art in a world - that is not particularly hospitable to such activity. The images are hard-edged cari- catures, satirica!ly reminiscent of both comic-book pictures and the camp illustrated ads of the ‘50s and '60s. His brilliant Crayola color- scheme is eminently suited to the ironic esthetic task Ostrem sets for himself: to create a pictorial i X & - Wednesday, October 23, 1991 - North Shore News Hard-edged satire David Ostrem’s Dreamland offers an esthetic salad of pop imagery Archie Graham . ART REVIEW “salad,”’ as he calls it, while “yelling art in somebody’s face.”” Most of the pieces on view at Gallery 56 conform more or less to the same general pattern: a male figure painting in a claustrophobic room punctured by a window that looks out on to a photo-realistic city-street scene. The room is furnished with a bookshelf complete with titles that can be easily read, a TV screen . local newspaper with iden- . able headlines on hot topical issues like the Gulf War, a recog- nizable painting by a famous master hanging on the wall, and an array of mundane objects like beer-cans and soap-detergent boxes. Ostrem’‘s work recalls to mind the pop-art of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. Unlike his celebrated New York predecessors, the Vancouver painter does not exult in the master-media. Whereas Warhol and Lichten- stein elevated the images of the mass-media to the level of ‘‘fine’”’ art to be admired for its own sake, Ostrem seems to do the opposite, to relegate the “high” art of painting to the level of the com- Eg GRD a ey Fa) ic-book or advertising image in order to draw attention to its limitations. The apparent naivety of Ostrem’s work is deceptive, because it disguises the intelligent discrimination of a serious human quandary: how to make sense of a world that operates like a cartoon in which the most bizarre events can occur. Qstrem has no presumptions about the artist’s capacity to resolve this quandary. On the contrary, he seems to delight in highlighting the fuzziness of some of the distinctions the artist himself brings to bear on the problem, distinctions between fantasy and reality, inner and outer, refined taste and vulgarity, tragedy and comedy. As the title of one of his paint- ings puts it: ‘A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Lies.”’ NEWS photo Miko Wakatield DAVID OSTREM’S images are hard-edged: ‘caricatures, satirically reminiscent of both comic-book pictures and the camp illustrated ads of the ’50s and '60s. aN i Ss ANTIQUE ¢ INVENTORY CLEARANCE YOU CHOOSE THE ITEM save 25% OFF ALL REGULAR PRICES MANY EXTRA SPECIALS up To 50% oFF ALL REGULAR PRICES Open Sundays SALE ENDS NOV. 6/1991 ‘aaa, Guild House Antiques 4731 MARINE DRIVE fUnbieside By- The-Sva West Van ouver 926-6272 50% OFF Selected blouse styles. Reg. 34.97 Sale 17.45 al 50% OFF Satin jaquard day wear camisoles, half siips and teddies. all Phantom Silks and Secret panty hose. 50% OFF Men’s and ladies’ polar fleece tops. Reg. 39.97 Sale 19.95 iv 50% OFF Our regular prices of oy SUPERBUY- One day only, Saturday, Oct. 26, 50% OFF entire selection of family athletic footwear. RS. it’s 55 PLUS Day Thursday, October 24th. Tal 50% OFF Selected boys fleece sets. 4- 6X Reg 25.97 Sale 12.95 S,M,L Reg. 29.97 Sale 14.95 io 50% OFF Discontinued towels. Selection may vary by store.