Funny Business
May 14 to June 4, 2010
Richard Ibghy & Marilou Lemmens
Tonel
Paul Kajander
Dina Del Bucchia.
Guest curated by Old Friends.
Funny Business takes the comedic as a starting point for bringing together artworks that are alternately anxiety-ridden and humourous, or perhaps both. The exhibition features Vancouver-based artists and performers whose work conveys a lightness of tone and a capacity for satire while maintaining a rigorous or thoughtful nature in their practices. Among the ideas that will be considered is the notion of stand-up comedy as an experience frequently mediated by props or forms of armour that alleviate the tension and self-consciousness that often accompanies such performances. Funny Business also investigates the reception of performative works of art, and how the gallery space functions as a platform for more ephemeral modes of artistic engagement – both at the exhibition’s opening reception and for its duration. Specifically, the exhibition will address the absence and presence of an audience as an integral component to the comedic process.
Old Friends is a Vancouver-based curatorial collective formed in 2009 by Raymond Boisjoly, Laura Matwichuk, Kim Nguyen, and Ryan Peter.