Category: Article

April 8, 1987 Article, Writing

“LABOUR WORKING WITH ART” IN FUSE MAGAZINE

Fuse, Volume 34, Number 3; Summer 2011 (Originally published in 1987).

"The first critique of cultural policy that tends to emerge, then, is a class analysis expressed in terms of the twin issues of accessibility and portrayal (or the right of working people to see themselves reflected and respected in the media)."

I wrote this piece to document the extensive work being done by a handful of activist visual artists who were busy making connections and common cause with unions, in many instances working with groups like the Steelworkers on cultural projects. They often were active organizing artists in their own communities, too. Some of them, notably Carole Condé and Karl Beveridge, and Mike Constable, are still around and much in evidence. Last year, editor Gina Badger put together an issue of Fuse, titled Performing Politics for 35 Years republishing a number of articles from the archives. Writers include Deborah Root (1996), bell hooks — interview by Ayanna Black (1990), Rachel Gorman (2007) and Greg Staats (2001). A great issue!

Read Labour Working With Art in PDF.

March 10, 1987 Article, Writing

“NOTES FROM THE LANGUAGE OF EMOTION, A CONVERSATION WITH JOYCE WIELAND”

In Canadian Art, Spring 1987.

"JW: In New York there was a strong male Establishment and once you got in the door it was like joining the biggest bank in the world. You were bankable; you were the item. I recognized how easy it would have been to go along with the aesthetic and even remember a woman asking me, "Why don't you paint like them and then maybe you would get a gallery?" But where would I have been as a woman?"

Susan Crean interviewed Canadian artist Joyce Wieland for Canadian Art.

January 10, 1984 Anthology, Article, Events, Writing

“THE THIRTY PERCENT SOLUTION: SEXISM IN FINE ART” IN THIS MAGAZINE

In This Magazine, January 1984.

"In 1978 Ottawa artist Jane Martin was the first to brave the opprobrium of the art world by tallying up figures on the number of Canadian Council grants awarded to women in the visual arts, comparing that to the number of women present on the juries. What was truly startling about Martin's findings was the underrepresentation of women."

Susan Crean's "The Thirty Percent Solution: Sexism in Fine Art," was reprinted in Canadian Women's Issues: Volume I: Strong Voices. By Ruth Roach Pierson, Marjorie Griffin Cohen, Paula Bourne, Philinda Masters. Lorimer: (Jan. 1 1993).

April 11, 1979 Article, Writing

“D’UNE COLONIE À L’AUTRE,” IN SOCIOLOGIE ET SOCIÉTÉS

In Sociologie et sociétés, Critique sociale et création culturelle, Volume 11, Number 1,  Les Presses de l'Université de Montréal, avril 1979.

Article abstract:

Despite the pessimism which emerges from her survey of Canadian culture, the author sees clear signs of a renewal and a burst of creativity among Canadian artists and intellectuals who contribute in this way to the strengthening of Canadian society and culture in the face of the dangers of Americanization. "Canadian nationalists who look favourably on the strengthening of Quebec nationalism hope that these national movements will evolve to the mutual advantage of both societies."

Résumé:

Malgré le pessimisme qui se dégage de son tour d'horizon de la culture canadienne, l'auteur voit des signes certains d'un renouveau et d'un sursaut de créativité chez les artistes et les intellectuels canadiens qui contribuent ainsi à l'affermissement d'un projet canadien de société et de culture, face aux dangers de l'américanisation. « Les nationalistes canadiens qui observent d'un bon œil le renforcement du nationalisme québécois espèrent que ces mouvements nationaux évolueront à l'avantage mutuel des deux sociétés. »

You can read "D’une colonie à l’autre (from Colony to Colony)" online here.

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