I know I often lament that Vancouver is hardly the cultural mecca that London, Paris or New York is, but there was one exhibition that I had been excitedly waiting for these past few months. That is Object(ing): The Art/Design of Tobias Wong at the Museum of Vancouver. The fact that Vancouver is the first city ever to present a solo exhibition of local boy turned internationally acclaimed (para)conceptual artist, impressed the pants off me.
Starck lamp chair.
Wong’s controversial works had a very subversive and cheeky element to them, shining a light on society’s obsession with consumer consumption. He took commonly known and branded objects and had a way of re-purposing them to make it, I think, even more interesting than the originals.
As I neglected to bring my camera and instead had to rely on my iPhone for pics, here’s a collage of some of the art pieces that were on display at the museum:
L: Murdered skull pendant, coke spoon #1 & #2, gold pills, playboy swizzle sticks
C: Killer ring, pipe screen
R: NYC story matchbook
I’m picky about my contemporary art. I tend to like classical over modern art. I’ll pick the Met over the M0MA anyday. Or British Museum over the Tate Modern.
And it’s even rarer that I dig on a lot of pieces from the same artist. But for some reason, provocateur Tobias Wong’s work resonated with me. And I was as shocked as the rest of his fans, that at the age of 35, he took his own life in 2010. I mean, to think what else he would’ve come up with… it’s such a loss.
Wong’s neon sign which was hung in the window of his East Village apartment.
However, I am super thrilled that Vancouver stepped up its game with this inspiring exhibition, a well deserved tribute and a must-see for any art lovers.
But that was not the only reason why I was at the Museum of Vancouver.
It was the closing weekend for Art Deco Chic, which is one of my favourite eras in fashion. I love the jazz age beaded flapper look, as well as the cross-cut bias silk dresses of the 30s. Another era I adore even more is Christian Cior’s new look of the 50s and the mod/beatnik look of the 60s.
Art Deco Chic curated by fashion historian Ivan Sayers.
And finally, there was Museum of Vancouver’s permanent exhibition, Neon Vancouver Ugly Vancouver. Sure, it’s all bright lights, big city, but I am not a fan of neon. Much less of room full of neon signs. The glare. The buzz. Worse than being in a padded room. At least for me.
As Gizmo would exclaim, “Bright lights! Bright lights!”
Well, 2 out of 3 exhibits is not terrible. You have the good, which was the Art Deco. The bad, as in ‘Enfant terrible’ bad (but still the good) which was the Tobias Wong exhibit. and the ugly, screaming neon which I’m sure is a migraine sufferer’s worst nightmare.
But I have to give it props to Museum of Vancouver and hope that they continue to curate some interesting and thought-provoking shows. Maybe then, that will shut me up.
View more photos of the Object(ing): The Art/Design of Tobias Wong exhibition on my Flickr album.
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