See Douglas Coupland’s futuristic pop art at MOCCA and the ROM
Douglas Coupland’s art dwells on the same subjects as his novels: urbanism, technology and a culture accelerating toward uncertain ends. He distills loaded ideas into supercharged symbols, like the colossal toy soldiers at Fleet and Bathurst commemorating the War of 1812, and an orca sculpture in the Vancouver Harbour that resembles a pixelated JPEG. His work over the past two decades has been poppy and prescient, forecasting Internet ubiquity and commodification. Yet despite his skepticism, Coupland is a diehard utopian, energized by the knowledge, innovation and communication that technology affords us.
The new exhibit Everywhere Is Anywhere Is Anything Is Everything is the first major retrospective of Coupland’s visual art, divided into themes like “Pop Explosion,” “21st-Century Condition” and “Growing Up Utopian.” The ROM and the MOCCA have transformed into helter-skelter funhouses, filled with Coupland’s candy-coloured painted panels, towering Lego cities and an installation he calls “The Brain”: a room of 5,000 toys and trinkets he’s collected over 20 years from Craigslist and garage sales. The show swamps your brain with pop culture references, optical illusions and politicized polemics. His message? For all the fear and frenzy, there’s still plenty to be hopeful about.
Jan. 31–Apr. 26. Royal Ontario Museum (100 Queen’s Park) and MOCCA (952 Queen St. W.), couplandto.ca.
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- Coupland transformed the Microsoft colour palette and TrueType interface font into the graphic, pop art–inflected painting <strong>“Better Living Through Windows.”</strong>
- (Image: Trevor Mills)
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- <strong>“I Wait and I Wait for God to Appear”</strong> is an acrylic painting that doubles as a Quick Response barcode: scan the painting on your phone, and the title will show up onscreen.
- (Image: courtesy of Vancouver Art Gallery)
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- <strong>“Drone Attack,” </strong> inspired by the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the look of smartphone technology, is an ink-jet print adorned with white googly eyes.
- (Image: Trevor Mills)
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- For <strong>“Brilliant Information Overload Pop Head,”</strong> Coupland streaked paint over a photo of a teenage boy.
- (Image: Rachel Topham)
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- Coupland built <strong>“Towers,”</strong> a collection of 50 six-foot-tall edifices, from hundreds of Lego pieces.
- (Image: courtesy of Vancouver Art Gallery)
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- Each piece in Coupland’s <strong>Slogans</strong> series is hand-painted on plywood and inspired by social media.
- (Image: courtesy of Vancouver Art Gallery)
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![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/culture/douglas-coupland-tomorrowland/&title=See Douglas Coupland’s futuristic pop art at MOCCA and the ROM&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/douglas-coupland-04-1022x1200.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_305849" align="alignnone" width="656"] (Image: Rachel Topham)[/caption]
Douglas Coupland’s art dwells on the same subjects as his novels: urbanism, technology and a culture accelerating toward uncertain ends. He distills loaded ideas into supercharged symbols, like the colossal toy soldiers at Fleet and Bathurst commemorating the War of 1812, and an orca sculpture in the Vancouver Harbour that resembles a pixelated JPEG. His work over the past two decades has been poppy and prescient, forecasting Internet ubiquity and commodification. Yet despite his skepticism, Coupland is a diehard utopian, energized by the knowledge, innovation and communication that technology affords us.
The new exhibit Everywhere Is Anywhere Is Anything Is Everything is the first major retrospective of Coupland’s visual art, divided into themes like “Pop Explosion,” “21st-Century Condition” and “Growing Up Utopian.” The ROM and the MOCCA have transformed into helter-skelter funhouses, filled with Coupland’s candy-coloured painted panels, towering Lego cities and an installation he calls “The Brain”: a room of 5,000 toys and trinkets he’s collected over 20 years from Craigslist and garage sales. The show swamps your brain with pop culture references, optical illusions and politicized polemics. His message? For all the fear and frenzy, there’s still plenty to be hopeful about.
Jan. 31–Apr. 26. Royal Ontario Museum (100 Queen's Park) and MOCCA (952 Queen St. W.), couplandto.ca.
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