The visual arts. For some a morass of condescending shapes and figures, galleries and glasses of cheap white wine, pulleys and machinations. For others, a language, a way of life, a strange far away look, bits of plaster and blue paint dangling on face and hair. My guess is that Artword is trying to bridge the gap between these two realities. Whether that is possible is really not something I know. But the magazine isn’t bad, lots of first person writing that isn’t too arty (whatever that means) and an interesting essay on Bad Art by Diane Wyman. Probably one of the better Canadian art mags, it exchanges glossy presumption for the pervading irony of a half-open door. Do we dare look inside?
magazine / #21, 48 pages / publisher: Ronald Weihs / main creator: Judith Sandiford (editor) / free, $20 for subscription / 81 Portland Street, Suite 201, Toronto, Ontario, M5V 2M9