Is Shary Boyle the queen of contemporary art in Canada?
Is Shary Boyle the queen of contemporary art in Canada?
By Kevin Naulls | June 25, 2012
By Kevin Naulls | 06/25/2012
White Light, 2010 (Image: courtesy of the artist and Jessica Bradley Inc.)
It was announced by National Gallery director Marc Mayer on Friday night that Toronto artist Shary Boyle will represent Canada at the Venice Biennale in 2013. Boyle was chosen by a jury that included Power Plant director Gaëtane Verna, Mackenzie Art Gallery curator Timothy Long, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia curator Sarah Fillmore and Mayer himself. A news release from the National Gallery describes Boyle’s work as “[mining] the history of porcelain figurines, animist mythologies and arcane techniques to create a symbolic language uniquely her own.” Boyle and Canada’s Venice Biennale curator, Josée Drouin-Brisebois, are currently in Venice checking out the Canadian pavillion, and our hope is that Boyle takes the year to create a gigantic version of this porcelain sculpture.
145875 Details: plaster, goldleaf, ribbon, porcelain and hair <br />
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(Image:Toni Hafkenscheid. Courtesy of the artist and Jessica Bradley Inc.)<br />
Commissioned piece for the BMO Project Room, 2012 The works of Shary Boyle https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/01.SB_.2012-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/01.SB_.2012.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/01.SB_.2012.jpg 624 784 {"copyright":"Copyright: Toni Hafkenscheid"} https://torontolife.com/culture/shary-boyle-venice-biennale/slide/01-sb-2012/ 01-sb-2012 0 0
Commissioned piece for the BMO Project Room, 2012
145876 Performance still from the Harbourfront Centre World Stage.<br />
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(Image: courtesy of the artist and Jessica Bradley Inc.)<br />
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Shary Boyle and Christine Fellows present <em>Everything Under the Moon,</em> 2012 The works of Shary Boyle https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/02.SB_.2012-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/02.SB_.2012.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/02.SB_.2012.jpg 624 567 [] https://torontolife.com/culture/shary-boyle-venice-biennale/slide/02-sb-2012/ 02-sb-2012 0 0
Shary Boyle and Christine Fellows present Everything Under the Moon, 2012
145877 Details: ink and gouache on paper<br />
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(Image: courtesy of the artist and Jessica Bradley Inc.) <em>Self-Immolation,</em> 2011 The works of Shary Boyle https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/03.SB_.2011-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/03.SB_.2011.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/03.SB_.2011.jpg 624 842 [] https://torontolife.com/culture/shary-boyle-venice-biennale/slide/03-sb-2011/ 03-sb-2011 0 0
Self-Immolation, 2011
145878 Details: foam, textile, string, porcelain, hair and black light<br />
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(Image: courtesy of the artist and Jessica Bradley Inc.)<br />
<em>White Light,</em> 2010 The works of Shary Boyle https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/04.SB_.2010-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/04.SB_.2010.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/04.SB_.2010.jpg 656 437 {"copyright":"For copyright permission contact the Art Gallery of Ontario"} https://torontolife.com/culture/shary-boyle-venice-biennale/slide/04-sb-2010/ 04-sb-2010 0 0
White Light, 2010
145879 Performance still from the 23rd Images Festival<br />
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(Image: courtesy of the artist and Jessica Bradley Inc.)<br />
Shary Boyle and Christine Fellows present <em>The Monkey and the Mermaid,</em> 2010 The works of Shary Boyle https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/05.SB_.2010-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/05.SB_.2010.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/05.SB_.2010.jpg 624 629 {"copyright":"Henry Chan Jr."} https://torontolife.com/culture/shary-boyle-venice-biennale/slide/05-sb-2010/ 05-sb-2010 0 0
Shary Boyle and Christine Fellows present The Monkey and the Mermaid, 2010
145880 Detail: porcelain, china paint, luster<br />
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(Image: courtesy of the artist and Jessica Bradley Inc.) <em>Family,</em> 2010 The works of Shary Boyle https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/06.SB_.2010-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/06.SB_.2010.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/06.SB_.2010.jpg 624 524 [] https://torontolife.com/culture/shary-boyle-venice-biennale/slide/06-sb-2010/ 06-sb-2010 0 0
Family, 2010
145881 Details: porcelain, china paint and luster <br />
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(Image: courtesy of the artist and Jessica Bradley Inc.) <em>Burden I,</em> 2009 The works of Shary Boyle https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/07.SB_.2009-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/07.SB_.2009.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/07.SB_.2009.jpg 624 501 [] https://torontolife.com/culture/shary-boyle-venice-biennale/slide/07-sb-2009/ 07-sb-2009 0 0
Burden I, 2009
145882 Details: gouache, ink and acrylic on paper, 110 x 100 cm.<br />
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(Image: courtesy of the artist and Jessica Bradley Inc.)<br />
<em>Vanity,</em> 2009 The works of Shary Boyle https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/08.SB_.2009-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/08.SB_.2009.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/08.SB_.2009.jpg 624 642 [] https://torontolife.com/culture/shary-boyle-venice-biennale/slide/08-sb-2009/ 08-sb-2009 0 0
Vanity, 2009
145883 Details: acrylic and gouache on paper, gold foil on card, collage, acetate, thread and and three projectors.<br />
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(Image: courtesy of the artist and Jessica Bradley Inc.)<br />
<em>The Clearances and Skirmish at Bloody Point,</em> 2007 The works of Shary Boyle https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/09.SB_.2007-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/09.SB_.2007.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/09.SB_.2007.jpg 624 410 [] https://torontolife.com/culture/shary-boyle-venice-biennale/slide/09-sb-2007/ 09-sb-2007 0 0
The Clearances and Skirmish at Bloody Point, 2007
I hope NOT – that stuff looks like crap – an embarrrassment to Canada!
I am embarrassed. For you jay.
It is clear that you have commented on an artist and work that you have no first hand experience of. Shary’s work is provocative and brilliant as well as being exceptionally well crafted and executed in a diverse range of mediums.
Please do tell us who you would have represent Canada at the Venice Biennale.
I’m embarrassed for you Su-Ying.
Shary is no queen. Secondly, her work is derivative.
For me, it’s just a propped up version of things done before. It’s described as “quirky”. Do you really think Ms. Boyle is the first woman artist to come up with these images, incorporate a twist – whether it be feminist or surreal? Get a reality check and start looking at Mexican and American women artists from the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s. Who by the way were brilliant.
Su-Ying, my problem with your comment is that you seem like a person with blinders on, you only see what’s in front of you. And Shary’s art does not inspire.
Yeah, I’d recommend several contemporary women artists that are native to these lands – there are many indigenous women artists who can proudly represent Canada. If you’d stop kissing ass to the “conventional”, you might expand your horizons, even just a little.
& Shary’s “fairytale like figurines” – take a look at women surrealist artists – 1st half of 20th century. It’s been done before, bigger and better…like 70 years ago!
jay you sound so bitter! did you used to show with her at Katherine Mulherin? is that the problem? sounds personal to me.
Ms. Boyle has been chosen and should be congratulated and supported. Regardless of what your opinion is about her art (I like it a lot), she’s got a big challenge ahead and should be wished well – seeing what anybody under these circumstances can pull together is exciting. Go Boyle go!
How can something so derivative be celebrated?
Being “derivative” is a good quality. Bob Dylan was a derivative of Woody G and the delta bluesmen; many great film makers derived their methods from Rossellini, Bergman and Pasolini; and many great visual artist pay homage to the history of art. There are no “originals” — just creative expansion on the past, so let’s get past it.
The fact that Shary Boyle has studied art makes her better. She remains focused on the great work that proceeds her, but certainly, her procelain work is nothing other than fantastically original. She is a master of the past and the present. She is smart, and she deserves to represent Canada at Venice.