AGW shows life in a northern town
By Josh Kolm
Lance Writer
March 4, 2009
 As the southern-most city in Canada, Windsor is physically removed but nationally connected to northern Aboriginal culture. Patrick Mahon’s “Cold Storage” exhibit and the “Burning Cold” collection deal directly with that dichotomy. Two of the first displays from the Art Gallery of Windsor in 2009, they are still available for viewing and offer an honest portrait of a part of our country that can be so hard to grasp.
Mahon’s “Cold Storage” begins with a traditional display of his work, simplistic acrylic and ink pieces hung in the halls of the AGW’s second floor. But then you turn the corner. The title piece of the exhibit, a 10-foot-high, 8’ x 8’, giant Styrofoam cooler, containing coloured glass bones on an illuminated table sits in the corner of the room.
The essence of the exhibit is the intrusion of modern life upon the northern landscape. White, be it in the background of the paintings or the subtly carved Styrofoam, is constantly imposed upon by garbage, machinery, and electric displays.
Where “Cold Storage” is about the material and natural landscape, “Burning Cold” takes a social perspective in examining northern culture. Featuring work from artists “from both above and below the sixtieth parallel,” the sculptures, drawings and photos take the imposition of Mahon’s exhibit and apply it directly to the individuals experiencing it.
Two film presentations, continuously running amongst the paintings, highlight why a direct confrontation with the issues is not always the most effective way of expressing them.
One, Rapide et dangereux, is a delightful mini-documentary by concept artists BGL on the public reaction to their modified motorcycle-bobsled as it surprises, delights and confuses pedestrians on a trip through Quebec City.
The other, Songs of Praise for the Heart Beyond Cure, is a mixed-media video by the acclaimed Emily Vey Duke and Cooper Battersby. It is uncompromising in its representation of the hard issues, but in a way that is distancing, and crosses over into exposition.
The best pieces are those that show reality. Not in an obvious or abrupt way, like Songs of Praise does, but in an honest way.
Pencil crayon illustrations by Annie Pootoogook are frank representations of moments in family life, be it heartbreaking or heart warming. Lithographs by Shuvinai Ashoona, even though filled with imaginary figures and eerie situations, show an important piece of the culture they come from.
Both collections have been running since the middle of January, and their opening receptions have long past, but by no means does that take away from the experience. The seclusion of the empty gallery provided an immersion that was nothing short of spectacular. You get filled with a sense of awe standing in front of the more elaborate set-ups, be it the giant Styrofoam shack or Doug Smarch Jr.’s fantastic “Fog Light” installation.
With a few exceptions, both exhibits are successful in their goals. The pieces are able to be frank without being imposing, even though imposition tends to be a running theme. The art is grounded in a firm reality even though that reality is changing.
The “Cold Storage” exhibit runs until March 22 and “Burning Cold” until March 29 at the Art Gallery of Windsor.
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