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Way To Go, AGO

By Shari Kasman

2006_10_20opie.jpgThe AGO’s Henry Moore Sculpture Centre has the largest public collection of Henry Moore pieces in the world. Although Large Two Forms, the Henry Moore sculpture that was at the corner of Dundas and McCaul, has been temporarily removed due to the AGO Transformation, the Henry Moore Sculpture Centre remains intact throughout the construction. Unfortunately, the room with the Moore pieces has undergone its own transformation as part of Wallworks, which features artists’ work on the surface of walls throughout the gallery.
British artist, Julian Opie, has created 17 giant, pole-dancing women on the walls surrounding the Henry Moore pieces. While Opie’s This is Shahnoza is meant to be “suggestive of renaissance and baroque statuary”, the ladies on the walls actually depict your local strip club. They are disgustingly juxtopsed against Moore’s sculptures, most of which are reclining nudes, to draw similarities between the women captured in still poses. They are truly a hideous and unnecessary distraction from the Moore pieces and the AGO is in love with the disaster.
The AGO has based its advertising on the “Ewwwwww! Gross! Ahhhh! I just sawed my torso in half! You wanna see?” model, as their flyers flaunt commnets comments such as “This artist (Moore) deserves something other than cartoon striptease dancers for a background. This background should be moved to the closest bar.” The controversial subject matter has created a bit of discussion but has it drawn more visitors due to curiosity? Probably not. The AGO selling itself based on its own downfalls in completely pathetic.
In other AGO news, the Andy Warhol / Supernova: Stars, Deaths and Disasters, 1962-1964 exhibit closes on Sunday. Visit the AGO to see the Warhol works in chatter-free rooms while David Cronenberg narrates via machine glued to your ear, today until 9pm and tomorrow until midnight. $18 for adults (yikes!) and $15 for students.

Comments

  • http://www.ohmpage.ca Rajio

    best description of the AGO’s marketing campaign ever.

  • http://www.mathewkumar.com mathew

    I could not disagree with you more about Julian Opie’s work; I think it’s an interesting, and yes, challenging juxtaposition of works. I think it’s perfectly possible to dislike it, but there’s nothing outrageous about it, unless you’re particulary shocked by mild imagery of strippers; imagery that’s frankly no more sexualised than Moore’s sculptures.

  • Gary C

    More Moore news in this ol’ Torontoist post:
    http://www.torontoist.com/archives/2006/09/moore_relocates.php

  • rek

    Won’t somebody think of the children?

  • shari k.

    i don’t find the sexualized images of opie’s work to be outrageous because they’re sexualized images BUT i don’t find his work to be at all interesting AND i especially didn’t like them in the Moore room AND that’s what i thought was especially terrible.
    Gary: oops….i didn’t make the link!

  • http://www.mathewkumar.com mathew

    Eh?
    Well, anyway, I like them. I think they would be easy enough to ignore, but everyone’s different, I suppose.

  • Colin

    Why do I get this vibe that the Opie art’s there more for controversy than its merits as art? Gosh, how adolescent. What’s next? Colour-coded projectile vomiting? Or maybe blood’s the answer!
    It’s ironic that J.B. has been banned from the premises, given the AGO’s “controversy sells” attitude. He could give them all the controversy they could handle. Some of it would even be fun.
    Opie’s work is disturbing only in that the figures are essentially headless; instead of a head they all have mere featureless placeholders. I’m sure that’s got some connection with Baroque art that I’m too dense to see.

  • http://teamakers.blogspot.com Ouimet

    I haven’t been to the Moore room to see these, but the pictures of it made me laugh.
    Maybe that was the point?

  • zach

    Henry Moore’s art is a depiction of the nude abstracted female form in various suggestive positions displayed larger than life. So is Opie’s. The difference? Moore’s are hefty stone sculptures which take some consideration to understand, and Opie’s are essentially line drawings which are perfectly accessible to almost anyone. Perhaps because it takes time to look at Moore’s work and figure out what it is, you’ve had to spend time thinking about what it means. Opie’s is instantly comprehensible, so a viewer can decide they hate it sooner, without bothering consider why it was created at all.