Canadian Art, Eh?

Ugh. I really cannot in good conscience report happily and vacuously only about great, wonderful art (as you may have noticed), so here's my weekly groan. At the Venice Biennale, only one of the world's most prestigious modern art exhibitions, a Canadian entry representing our culture and art to the entire world is called Sweater Lodge, and you guessed it, it's a giant orange polar fleece hockey jersey with interior interactive installations. Problem is, it is so Canada-referential that the schtick (if you'll pardon the near pun) will be lost on European visitors, and, it's ugly. I mean really:If you're really interested in seeing how it looks when erected, go ahead and google it, but I just wanted to show you the scale of this embarrassment. From all accounts, visitors are not getting it (duh); we may as well have sent a wall installation of maple syrup bottles. The artists Robb and Pechet are to be commended for trying for Can Con, but this is the kind of idea that should be chucked out after the first team brainstorming. I'm not a huge fan of David Altmejd's sculptures, but his wacky stuff is at least representing Canada in the art realm in Venice; this makes me think of the Ontario Science Centre. *sigh*