A Review of Sorts Inspired by Events
By Will McGuirk
The friction between moving and standing still causes the spark of art in the grand old lady one horse town that is the Carrying Place. The art created here in this space so artfully curated by Steven Frank is the motor loud roar of the confined, determined to break out, to fly with the geese, to ride with those born to be wild, to spin like a tornado across the creeks, ponds, pools, to ride in a glass carriage across broken concrete, to be on the road, oh to be on the road, to drive painted trucks round and around and around and around again and again and again year after year until spark pow boom all roads converge in one like one mad blast which looks just like one bleeding blurry Lautrec blend of strip club and art house, a melee of nightlife mad for those who burn brightly above in the windows James Bond and James and his Giant Peach slurp sex on the beach shaken not stirred. There is nothing here in the specificity of this city there is only that in the electricity after the spark and that’s too long a time - one can move but there is only understanding in not moving in the standstills in there it comes to you - the world cycles through you and us and them converges at that one time pow boom spark art then on like heavy metal thunder in and out and in and out life breathing moment this and that thus and then pow boom spark art the overarching everything is art of Tinkl’s Farm, the over ground underground of Lishman, in the fields and on the street no gallery wants it the punked up washed up caught up in the weeds draped over the canoe paddle worming its way up Lord Simcoe’s tail coat trailing over the edge all the worlds a stage coach stop Queen Mum steps out tipples her hat sleeps it off and she too is on the move in the rearing head heavy magnificence the Colonel made, like a wave rearing its white head and then easing into landing on the shores of Lake Ontario the shwater easing its way inland meeting the shwater easing its way home, a confluence, a convergence a meeting of the holy shwaters the Mill wheel turns and turns and turns into car wheel turning carrying place to place to place the wandering searching seeking peeking looking painters painting and photographers photographering and visionaries envisioning everything everywhere all at once pow boom spark art is there anyone who has carried this city further forward to now here than lets be frank Steven round and around and around and around again and again and again year after year until spark pow boom all roads converge in one like one mad blast he is the spiral the cycle the spin the centrifugal force holding it all together like King Lear the wheel has come full circle I am here!
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By Steven Frank
The ON the ROAD exhibition took place Sept. 23rd/2023 as part of the CONVERGENCE ART & MUSIC FESTIVAL presented by Oshawa Tourism and the Greater Oshawa Chamber of Commerce.
Besides being a salute to HOTEL GENOSHA’S/70 KING’s relationship to Oshawa’s connection to General Motors and the automobile it was also a tribute to the late actor Kenneth Welsh with art by Uxbridge area artists Lynne McIlvride, Viktor and Judith Tinkl and Will Zenga.
Long before the Genosha was built, General Motors was building Chevrolets and Kenneth Welsh’s colourful Chevy pick up truck, adorned with Shakespearean quotes by his wife Lynne McIlvride, was the jumping off point for this exhibition that was a celebration of creativity including not just painting and sculpture but literature, theatre, video, film, projections, animation, photography, printmaking, textile art, music, architecture, engineering and even tall bikes!
Besides the Uxbridge area artists many local artists took part: Jenn E Norton, Dani Crosby, Gary Greenwood , Margaret Rodgers, Mike Drolet, Grant Cole, Steven Laurie and Dwight Siegner. The event also included a look back at the Downtown Oshawa Art Festivals - Durham Artfest (1992-95) and Oshawa Space Invaders (2013-2014) - Over 30 Years of Space Invading.
The interactive 3D tour of the 70 KING space has many surprises if you click on the dots.
Wtch the Interactive 3D TOUR of ON the ROAD Exhibition here
Link here to read all about the exhibition in a Special Edition of Wunderlit Magazine here
Watch a video recap of the exhibition below.
ON the ROAD Fundraiser for Durham Outlook for the Needy.
A multimedia exploration of the ON the ROAD Exhibit held at 70 KING took place at the Biltmore Theatre Dec. 7th.
Besides a multimedia presentation of the art event, the evening also included performances by Juno Award winning guitarist Jack de Keyzer and multi-instrumentalist David Shewchuk.
Official sponsor for the event was the MARKET at 70 KING which will be opening early in 2024.