This week on the news front, I ran into nick from barn burner today, and he gave me the low down of what’s going on. The band has signed a deal to Metal Blade records, I asked him, having just released the album Bangers, which I have been meaning to do a review of  what they had planed, he stated that since the album was released only in Canada, plans are to re-release the Album state side and world wide with two new tracks. He says things for are rarely going well for the band and are currently looking for serious management and a booking agent. He also apologized for missing the show in New York, there where numerous set backs as papers that where to be sent to cross the board where missing, two other possible dates canceled, and the promise of gas being covered was longer being presented. So the boys stayed north and played with Canadian 80’s phenomenon Trooper (that’s just a joke).

 In other music news Priestess plays here tonight (Thursday) it has been yet to be determined whether I will go to the show tonight(I work part time at a bar it really ins’t that glamorous). So we will see if Al will let me go early and lend me twenty bucks. They have been banging it out on the road the past few weeks, a quick stop here then Quebec city I think and somewhere in there they will be filming a new video and then they head out west.

  I had the pleasure of seeing a real wicked show this week at the contemporary art gallery, two actually. The Major Gifts Collections and the cube show. Anselm Kiefer “Karfun Kelfee”1990 Large mixed media piece on canvas wall. This work comes 3d of the surface of the canvas  which has been textured with layers of canvass coated with plasters and the such, creating the base texture earthy colors there is the feeling of erosion , looks almost granted or a rock face could just as easily be a piece of forgotten steel left decaying. Affixed to this surface is are a bundle of wires and at toy plane as well as a plastered dress. These items also looked forgotten and decaying. “Die Frauen Der Antike “ many similar attributes as last canvas, again Items are a fixed to the canvas this time coming farther of the sufface other canvas. Affixed to this piece a rod shaped in the form of a close hanger which has cloths hang off it the , the cloths being treated the same as the objects in his last work treated with some sort of  plaster compound making the items looked aged or used. Also attached to the canvas are dead sun flower. Again the paintings surface is textured to look like rock or a rusted object. Other notable works in the permanent collect where Mary Pratt’s 1981 “Christmas Fire” which when seen at a viewing distance of about four feet looked as though it was a photo with rich vibrant colors of a fire orange and red embers glowing in a winter landscape. Very impressive as you can almost touch taste and smell the fire! And of course I loved the Paterson Ewan work entitled “Star, Traces Around Polaris” 1973 is classic Ewan, a celestial circle routered into darkly painted blue black ply wood, only accents of color are in the router marks., which are broken lines creating a circular pattern expanding from the center of the painting. At this point I realized I had mixed up the ending of one exhibition and the beginning as I found myself in the curated exhibition Cubes, Blocks and Other Spaces by Mark Lancot. This work was also from the permanent collection. Two pieces that caught my eye were “Home Wrecker” 2002 by Vancouver artist Alex Morrison in which he uses and empty house to use as a skate park. It touches me on so many levels loving art and skating and a little anarchy. The other video that caught my eye is of the kinetic sculpture by Peter Fischli and David Weiss. I love these guys and got turned on to them about ten years ago. The videos are part science project part art. This work is entitled “Deraluf Der Dinge” from 1987.

In other happenings curator Dawn Cain is said to be sabbatical, that’s an interesting note as either she is sucking up some culture and knowledge in some exotic part of the world or she is working on her joint effort, a documentary on the Lillian Malcove collection. The collection consists of medieval art collected by Lillian Malcove. The film is expected to be released with in the next two years.

 I also heard thought the grape vine that Montreal artist Richard Rossetto is in negotiation with an unspoken gallery for a solo next fall and will be releasing new ways in which investors can invest in his work shortly at rossettoink.com. He will also be taking part in The Art + Culture group show housing Art + Culture members Bettina Forget, Taien Ng-Chan, and Samantha Scafidi. I have seen some of the works going up and the show should be extremely exciting, the opening is this coming Saturday at the Visual Voice Gallery in the Belgo building.

Here is a great article I found by Reuters Journalist John McCrank about art as an investment.

http://in.reuters.com/article/fundsNews/idINN172609520091120

 And in closing on very sad note, the art world lost a great art lover and supporter this November. John Richard Norman (who’s Muslim name was Ishmael) passed away on November 10th at the Royal Victoria Hospital. It is a sad note as he was an art lover who at various times was involved in the arts scenes of New York, Toronto and Montreal. He could often be found at more art shows than most hipsters fifty years his younger. He was buried in a Muslim ceremony on a beautiful fall day and would have loved the ceremony, the weather and the peaceful surroundings in which he was placed. Bless you Ishmael and may there be some great art openings in heaven.