24 — Wednesday, August 19, 1992 - North Shore News & Scrutinizing opposite ends of the creative spectrum Correspondences: Jack Shadbolt, at the Vancouver Art Gallery is innocently fetishistic. until Aug. 30. ‘Glow Little Glow-Worm Glimmer,’’ Johnny Payne With such playful enigmas for ti- at the Perel Gallery, 112 West Hastings, 2nd floor until Aug. 15. tles as Pillar of Quiet Turbulence, Waitful Sleep. A Pimplest Road CCASIONALLY IT is instructive to make seemingly Caution and Spirity in the Oil Spil- outlandish comparisons when delving into some of __ ly, these are works that the origi- the more questionable assumptions unconsciously _! surrealists would have em- braced with open arms — though perpetuated in the domain of art. Johnny Payne would no more After all, apparent opposites — : Paes: claim to be a surrealist than Jack generally provide the perfect foil : Shadbolt would. ~ for one another — especially In fact, the influence of no his- where value judgments are con- - torical art movement whatever is cerned, oo, . . _ in evidence here. Currently running in Vancouver hee True, all 50 of the pieces exhib- are two exhibits that in almost ; ited could be collectively snatched every respect occupy opposite . up at half the cost of any respec- ends of the creative spectrum. : : tably priced painting by Jack _ At the high-profile end is a major ‘Falcioni Shadbolt, but any one of them retrospective of works by Jack _ Ron Falciont . could easily give as much Shadbolt, an artist who at 83 has ARTREVIEW pleasure. .-- , rightfully become the grand-daddy = 1" - For the works celebrate, in the | of the art establishment in Canada; — face of life’s needless complexities, at the low-profile end is the solo of Peter Kiss, for example. the pre-eminence of child-like in- exhibit of Johnny Payne, an artist Brute-Primitive is probably the nocence and wonder. é : ne — : NEWS photo Bred who is too little known to be best term to describe this art. What’ ith: . : : ane regarded asa local enfant terrible. itis spontaneously raw; it is at’s more, they do so with an JOHNNY PAYNE’s self-taught work is difficult to categorize. He je. Correspondences: Jack Shad- self-consciously unsophisticated; it See Payne Page 25 institution-wary end his work has no discernible antecedents. bolt, curated by Patricia Ainslie for : . ; : _ : the Glenbow Museum in Calgary . : ” and running on the ground floor of the Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) until Aug. 30, is the first large-scale retrospective of the artist's work - since ihe Artof Painting exnidit curate y Scott Watson for the . - _ VAG in the fall of 1984. — Rs > The show traces the artist's de- The PRE (AY sliddie guitars velopment and influences from the “305 to the present but does so. os ¢ oa = a . from within the confines of a very 3 ra ; : . __from within the confines ofa very pf Booming basses . . «The basic assumption that dic- } Voy . tates this selection is that the in-- fluence of surrealism is “the << 10a rock & | and free shows like “World nderyingthead’ that inoms SSS ANA WOE rok stars eS . and directs the artist’s work — possibly a curatorial instance of ‘putting the cart before the horse. Ail 4 ; . ong . ay : : » This might explain why many in- but dont fret. baby tion Bowl. Gut the PNE is more teresting works — the posters ; ole : _ , a .designed for The Firebugs and The than great music. It's Bungee’. Ecstasy of Rita Joe, among other : ce. . ; Re things — are notable for their g arc you see . Jumping. Awesome rideson the - Fusion” at the Coca-Cola Exhib ~ ‘absence here. ; . Do, Those seeking a detailed ap- . : Roller Coaster. A smashing Demo-’. praisal of the exhibit are referred > - " . = . . : SEO ee ca SiaihE of Oo t io ’ e Gc , t za ticke t fo YT lition Derby. World-class cowboys . Suffice it to affirm here that the ' . i * : : implied influences on the mature . Shadbolt—Miro, post-cubist Picasso, Po, aos a Arshile Gorky and possibly pre- ; : And a spectacular WWF Wrestling .’ “abstract-expressionist Jackson ? . : an a . es Pollack — were not, in fact, sur- : ; ek. ° . . . ve realists but were, by and large like a . match between The Ultimate. _ Shadboit himself, the byproduct of arr : . ; surrealism just as surrealism was eee i ’ Warrior and the 390 pound itself the legacy of the disintegra- tion of European idealism an egocentricity early in the 20th : . . . century. y : : : . ; Whatever one feels about the a ‘ : _ guyor gal and head out for underlying assumptions of this ex- 5. : : . hibit, it will doubtless be as well : § maximum fun! attended by the general public as it will be generously reviewed by local critics. A circumstance it just- : : : ; ; ; ; leserves. . i "the same can hardly be sid of : <_ : , tion on these and other events, _ Glow Little Glow-Worm Glimmer, i : ne : F Johnny Payne's exhibition of —ot , : : please call 253-2344. paintings, mixed-media fabrica- : tions and sound experiments run- ning at the Perel Gallery on Hastings. The exhibition will no doubt be accorded a meagre attendance by a handful of art students, Pavne is a true eccentric, totally self-taught and joyfully institu- tion-wary. He is an artist of the Vancouver Ghetto whose work, untike that of Shadbolt, has no discernible antecedents. This is art that defies easy categorization. Payne denies being a true “naive,” although his works give evidence to support the contrary. His constructions instinctively avoid the facile technical sophistication impticit in the work in competition at the Pro Rodeo...’ Kamala! So grab your favourite - > For show times and informa-