from the guerrilla world ofstreet graffiti, three ottawa ... · from the guerrilla world ofstreet...
TRANSCRIPT
Pat Thompson (a.lt.a. Evo!{e), left, and Juan Carlos Noria (a.lt.a. Dixon), well known in Ottawa's underground graffiti a!r~ scene,are off to show their work in London and Paris, thanks to the efforts of Hull art dealer and curator Guy Berube. Another,Ottawa artist known as Rurick (a.!(.a. Aleximder Padols!(y) is also included in the exhibitions.
From the guerrillaworld ofstreetgraffiti, three
Ottawa artists aregoing on to sho'v
theirwork inEurope~ writesPaul Gessell.
It was a century ago well, back in the 1980s,anyway - when KeithHaring mesmerized theart world with his graffi
ti in the New York City subway. The scribblings of an angry young man suddenly became the flavour of the monthand, today, Haring's guerrillaoutbursts of creativity tourthe world like so many Rembrandts and Picassos.
This is all to say that highbrow graffiti art is not new.But good graffiti art, highbrow or otherwise, is still revolutionary. It must, by definition, rattle the status quo.
But there is also an inherenttragedy in graffiti art. The better the artist, the more likelyhe or she is to start applyingpaint to canvas, rather than tosidewalks and fences. Theartist starts becoming part ofthe world once protested and,inevitably, ends up like Haring, the subject of scholarlyessays and exhibitions in chichi galleries.
Three Ottawa artists withroots in the world of graffitihave embarked on such a path.Pat Thompson (a.k.a. Evoke),Juan Carlos Noria (a.k.a.Dixon) and a very elusive manbest known as Rurick (a.k.a.Alexander Padolsky) are familiar figures in Ottawa's underground graffiti art scene.For better or for \\'orse. theyare moving up in the art \\'Orld.
Thompson, for example,had a very successful solo
.- snow atliftguise, ag1.IisylitLle Bank Street gallery, last summer. And now the works of allthree are off to London andParis, thanks to the entrepreneurial skills of independentHull art dealer and curator
- Guy Berube, whose large per- .sonal collection of contemporary, cutting edge art is farmore intoxicating than anyexhibition to be found in anypublic or commercial galleryin this region.
Berube has a great eye. Andhis eye currently rests on thisOttawa threesome, who openan exhibition of about 20
works Feb. 20 in the Londonrestaurant and gallery, TheVictoria, and then move April7 to the Paris restaurant, AuP'tit Bouchon.
OK, so it's not the Louvre orthe Tate. But it is a begilming.
And it's also an inspiration toother young artists who have,so far, confined themselves tosneal< aerosol attacks on public buildings.
Thompson and Noria wererecently interviewed atBerube's home, where they
displayed some of their London-bound works. Rurickcould not be found that day, anot uncommon phenomenon,his friends claimed.
Noria appropriates very political images from newspapers and magazines -injured
Palestinian youths, post-911scenes - to reveal his discomfort with the way theworld works. Thompson'sstyle is more reminiscent oftraditional graffiti murals:Watch him deconstruct life inKanata. Rurick is, well, Rurick,
\
all loud, messy juxtapositionsofviolence, sex and power.
Despite their clandestineartistic origins, the three seemfrightfully average whenasked to name their heroes.
See ARTISTS> on page B4
Artists: Forbidden artContinued from page BI
They cite names like thelate Beatle, George Harrison,environmentalist DavidSuzuki and the late Ottawaartist Mark Marsters. Not exactly lords of the underground. Thompson describestrue graffiti art as "paintingunder pressure." It is, ofcourse, done on the sly, withone eye on a borrowed walland another looking for unfriendly cops. Despite thisart-by-stealth, Thompson'soutdoor art causes are downright homey: A need formore parks and maybe a basketball court.
The paintings on canvas
Thompson and friends nowcreate are not done on therun so they are deemed to begraffiti-inspired and not truegraffiti art. But the air ofspontaneity, anger and protest remain. There is still thesense this is forbidden art.
The artists' graffiti rootsare definitely showing. Butfor how much longer?
Haring's fame and respectability eventually ledhim to become a parody ofhimself. A revolutionary became a counter-revolutionary. True graffiti is, after all,scribblings on a subway wall.Sometimes, those scribblings are most profoundwhen left on that wall.