Drop the puck
Schtick hangers by Stephen Lindsay's Urban Product. In the very first issue of In Toronto magazine (May 2010), I wrote a round-up of hockey-inspired art and design as a nod to the NHL playoffs, works by Barr Gilmore, Lisa Platt and Stephen Lindsay (PDF). With the playoffs starting up again, it's worth checking out this team of talented Torontonians... since there ain't any other Toronto team in play.
Recently Philip Pritchard, curator and vice-president of the resource centre at the Hockey Hall of Fame, was quoted as saying, "Everyone says the same thing -- what kind of hockey art is there?” I'm not sure the painted pucks and sticks that the story mentioned are really where it's at -- granted, the Hockey Hall of Fame does have a Warhol portrait of Hall of Famer Rod Gilbert. I guess you can't expect too much from a donated-only collection. Wouldn't it be great if the Hockey Hall of Fame had a real art acquisition budget? There are reams of Canadian artists who are as excited by hockey as the rest of us.
Too bad the Hockey Hall of Fame never teamed up with curator Ray Cronin and the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. Back in 2008 Cronin came up with a blockbuster of a show, Arena, all hockey-inspired artworks by a high-powered group of mostly Canadian artists, including Jean-Pierre Gauthier, Brian Jungen, Wanda Koop, Ken Danby, Aganetha Dyck, Greg Forrest, James Carl, Greg Forrest, Charles Pachter, Craig LeBlanc and Graeme Patterson. And yes, there was a Warhol, too, his portrait of Wayne Gretzky. (The show did go on tour, coming to Toronto's MOCCA.) What a great marriage of talent and inspiration -- just what hockey fans in Toronto are starving for.
Recently Philip Pritchard, curator and vice-president of the resource centre at the Hockey Hall of Fame, was quoted as saying, "Everyone says the same thing -- what kind of hockey art is there?” I'm not sure the painted pucks and sticks that the story mentioned are really where it's at -- granted, the Hockey Hall of Fame does have a Warhol portrait of Hall of Famer Rod Gilbert. I guess you can't expect too much from a donated-only collection. Wouldn't it be great if the Hockey Hall of Fame had a real art acquisition budget? There are reams of Canadian artists who are as excited by hockey as the rest of us.
Too bad the Hockey Hall of Fame never teamed up with curator Ray Cronin and the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. Back in 2008 Cronin came up with a blockbuster of a show, Arena, all hockey-inspired artworks by a high-powered group of mostly Canadian artists, including Jean-Pierre Gauthier, Brian Jungen, Wanda Koop, Ken Danby, Aganetha Dyck, Greg Forrest, James Carl, Greg Forrest, Charles Pachter, Craig LeBlanc and Graeme Patterson. And yes, there was a Warhol, too, his portrait of Wayne Gretzky. (The show did go on tour, coming to Toronto's MOCCA.) What a great marriage of talent and inspiration -- just what hockey fans in Toronto are starving for.
 Diana Thorneycroft's Martyrdom of the Great One |  Davida Kidd's Slap Schtick |
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