Seriously? Comics and Comedy in Canadian Art 1970s to Now

January 25 – May 18, 2025

Opening reception: Friday, January 24, 2025, 6:00-8:00 PM

Comedy and cartoon are not words that readily come to mind when thinking of contemporary art in Canada. Since the 60s, taut conceptualism and postmodern critique are more characteristic associations, and took form experimentally whether  through new media, mail art or performance. This is the genre that brought artists from Vancouver to Halifax to international prominence.

Taking an alternate tack, Seriously? Comics and Comedy in Canadian Art 1970s to Now draws on numerous private collections, looking across the country and two generations of artists to develop a cross-sectional survey of work grounded in graphic (figural) narrative and its frequent companion, political satire. While artists such as Judy Chartrand, Maxwell Bates and Anna Banana offer sharp commentary on mainstream culture and identity politics, others, such as Shuvinai Ashoona, Victor Cicansky, and Maud Lewis delight in the rhythms of lives spent close to nature and their communities. Notably, the selection of artists, nearly 20 in all, disregards the usual separations that persist along regional lines and traditional versus experimental approaches. Instead, Seriously? reveals connections between the folksy Victoria school, Vancouver’s edgy Intermedia scene, Halifax conceptualism, Regina funk and First Nations artists' embrace of manga and comics.

Melissa E. Feldman is an American contemporary art curator and writer whose work focuses on novel curatorial approaches, the geo-cultural context of art, and identifying emergent artistic trends. Recent traveling exhibitions include Indie Folk: New Art and Sounds from the Pacific Northwest organized by the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, Pullman, WA (2022-25); Free Play, Independent Curators International (2013-17); and Another Minimalism: Art After California Light and Space, Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh (2015-16). A contributor to Art in America, Frieze, and Third Text among other international publications, Feldman has taught at the California College of Art, the San Francisco Art Institute, Cornish College of the Arts, and Goldsmith's College. She is credited with organizing the first monographic exhibitions for artists such as Karen Kilimnik, Martin Kippenberger, Beverly Semmes, and Hiroshi Sugimoto as a curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, in the 1990s.

Image: Gary Pearson, Rise and Fall (2014), Ink. Oil and rubberstamp or ink and rubberstamp on paper, 16 x 16” each; 64 x 80” overall, Collection of the artist