doreyme

the winner of the 9th annual $25,000 rbc painting competition this year

arabella campbell's "Physical Facts Series #6". My lips are sealed. Zipped. I am so not saying a word about the jury's choice. rbc site

the centre for contemporary Canadian Art, The Canadian Art Database

okay now I'm starting to get riled up....
Funded by: Canadian Heritage. Canada Council for the Arts. Sheridan Institute of Technology. The Ontario Trillium Foundation. Canada's Digital Foundation. And I query the same 3 names. And I get "O". I mean really. Is there no accountability at all?

And I saw they have a cool "bibliographic database"

"A UNIQUE RESEARCH TOOL
Created in 1986, Artexte's bibliographic database com-
prises descriptions of more than 16,000 documents on contemporary art.

Artexte has developed several specific fields for its bibliographic database, which indicate: the names of all authors, the type of document, the exhibition dates and place, the name of the exhibition curator, etc."

So I checked it out...and looked up me, "Edith Dora Rey" Okay, not a household name, but I've got work in government art banks, I've had several government grants + government exhibitions replete with catalogues..not to mention, shows in Canada Council funded galleries. And what do I find? "No records found by latest query." Fair enough, it's not like I represented Canada in any Venice Biennial or anything. Like Barbara Steinman, who did represent Canada in a Venice Biennial. So I tried her name. Same deal... "No records found by latest query." I tried a friend of mine, who just had a mega show on the west coast, Robin Peck + has published all sorts of books, critiques, etc. etc. Same deal. So okay. That's all my brain can take for today. But I will continue this thread. Not that I'm a prairie Harper Valley redneck. I attended 2 of the finest art schools in Canada, West Coast + East Coast. I had profs, eg. Jeff Wall. But I believe in democracy + accountablitity. If you're getting 100,000 grand plus per year, plus summers "by appointment only" to host a "bibliographic database" of contemporary Canadian artists...? Deliver.

Okay, so here's Artexte

It's got a lovely website.
I may go down to the office to check it out, but I see it's by appointment only from June 26 to September 3rd. Okay. Here's what they say about themselves.

"Established in 1980 by art historian Francine Périnet and artists Angela Grauerholz and Anne Ramsden, Artexte Information Centre began as a bookstore specializing in Canadian and International contemporary art. The organization responded to an essential need in Quebec and Canada for up to date, accurate information on contemporary visual art.

In order to realize their objective of disseminating this information in 1981, the founders opened a documentation centre in Montreal. They then created Artextes Editions, which today comprises about 15 titles. Finally, they set up a national service for the distribution of exhibition catalogues and independent publications on contemporary art. In 1997 this service was transferred to a private business specializing in the distribution of this type of document, ABC: Art Books Canada.

In 1993, the bookstore moved into the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal. Two years later Artexte let go of its bookstore operations, which were passed on to Librairie Olivieri in September 1995, under a partnership agreement respecting the initial objectives of the Information Centre's mandate.

In May 1996, Artexte moved to a larger space at 460 Sainte-Catherine Street West, where it still is today. This move marked the beginning of a new era for the organization and its users, by positioning Artexte within the heart of a network frequented by artists and researchers of contemporary art. This relocation also corresponds with the reorientation of Artexte’s activities by its board of directors.

In the Fall of 2000, Artexte put its Bibliographic Database at the Internet user’s disposal, along with a first draft of the Public Art Database, which will document the whole of public art works in the province of Quebec. The Public Art database will eventually include all public art works in Canada as well, thus meeting Artexte’s mandate.

After twenty years of existence, Artexte has become a renowned artistic organization which, by the scope of its activities, responds with a high level of professionalism to the specific needs of the Montreal, Quebec and Canadian visual arts milieus."

Artist Run Galleries, Montreal 2005

These are artist run galleries funded, partially or fully (ha, ha, that's a joke) by the CC in Montreal.

Program - Assistance to Artist-Run Centres

Articule MONTRÉAL QC Laurier–Sainte-Marie 42,000

Centre d'art et de diffusion Clark MONTRÉAL QC Laurier–Sainte-Marie 24,000

Centre des arts actuels Skol MONTRÉAL QC Westmount–Ville-Marie 40,000

Dazibao, centre d'animation et d'exposition photo MONTRÉAL QC Laurier–Sainte-Marie 90,000

La Centrale/Galerie Powerhouse MONTRÉAL QC Outremont 58,000

Oboro MONTRÉAL QC Laurier–Sainte-Marie 63,000
Optica MONTRÉAL QC Westmount–Ville-Marie 92,000
Vox, centre de diffusion de la photographie MONTRÉAL QC Westmount–Ville-Marie 43,000

So far I'm seeing Artextes Editions - Artexte Information Centre MONTREAL QC Westmount–Ville-Mariehas got quite a wad in 2005 -- 115,000 PLUS from The Flying Squad Program another 7,495 + I'm curious about them so I'm going to check them out.