Apr 28, 2012
Feb 24, 2012
Events in London, Ottawa, and Montreal
Not For Sale: FCG's Members' Show
February 24 - March 2, 2012
Closing reception: Friday, March 2, 7:00pm
Forest City Gallery
258 Richmond Street
London, Ontario
In this exhibition, FCG members were asked to submit a work of art they have created that they would be reluctant to sell. Most artists have created at least one piece, which holds a close attachment for emotional, anecdotal or personal reasons, making it hard to part with no matter the price. In Not For Sale, FCG’s members are exhibiting these works, sharing them with our community. The exhibition celebrates the membership of FCG, one of Canada’s oldest Artist-run Centres.
Jamie Q. Canadian Rockies. 2006.
Participating Artists:
Laura Acosta, Cheryl Bender, Ben Benedict, Marla Botterill, Dickson Bou, Alicia Coutts, Gina Duque, Kim Ewin-Goebel, Katrina Farrow Jones, Jennifer Lorraine Fraser, Kelly Greene, Andrew Gugan, Jen Hamilton, Erin Kaszarowski, Jessica Kliza, Nancy Kravalis, Mallory Landsmith, Conan Masterson, Beth McEachen, Eric Mummery, Alyssa Nicholls, Daniel O'Connor, John Osborne, Nickola Pandelides, Alexandria Petropoulakis, Jenna Faye Powell, Megan Press, Julia Puzara, Jamie Q, Jag Raina, Solafa Rawas, Ben Robinson, Cheri Robinson, Sarah Scope, E. R. Strebe, Al Sugerman, Annette Sullivan, June Taekyung Yeo, Santiago Tavera, Shelby Taylor, Cheryl Teoh, Lorraine Thomson, Rene Vandenbrink, Robert Williams, Jin Won Han
Prints & Inks
March 2 - 9, 2012
Opening reception: Friday, March 2, 8:00pm
Falldown Gallery
288 Bank Street
Ottawa, Ontario
I'll be exhibiting a portion of my silkscreened LOTTO 6/49 series, What Luck as part of the Prints & Inks exhibition. Raffle tickets will be available for $2, for your chance to win one of the prints!
Launch Event for Issue #23 of .dpi
March 8 (International Women's Day), 7:00pm
Studio XX
4001 Rue Berri, Suite 201
Montreal, Quebec
Pages from my limited edition silkscreened book What Makes an Object Queer? will be projected at the launch event for issue #23 of the online magazine .dpi.
Central to trans, queer, and feminist self determination, perceptions of gender and sexuality are as varied as the bodies expressing them. From documentary portraiture, through physically demanding performance art, to abstract sculpture and digital creations, a vast array of artistic forms are employed by trans, queer, and feminist artists when representing themselves and their communities. Formal and theoretically, multiplicity itself figures centrally, as cultural practices surrounding issues of gender and sexuality are brought together to form exhibitions, publications, and histories. This issue of .dpi seeks to explore and celebrate the ways in which artists contribute to the proliferation of multiple genders, sexualities, and feminisms and understandings thereof through their work.
Guest Editor-in-Chief for this issue, Johnny Nawracaj, is a Polish-born writer and video/installation/performance artist. In their academic and artistic pursuits they explore love, loss, and longing with a particular investment in these themes as a part of radical queer and trans cultural production. Their performance works have seen the cabaret stages, theatre vitrines, and gallery floors of venues such as Café Cléopatre, Théâtre Ste. Catherine, and Toronto's Xpace.
February 24 - March 2, 2012
Closing reception: Friday, March 2, 7:00pm
Forest City Gallery
258 Richmond Street
London, Ontario
In this exhibition, FCG members were asked to submit a work of art they have created that they would be reluctant to sell. Most artists have created at least one piece, which holds a close attachment for emotional, anecdotal or personal reasons, making it hard to part with no matter the price. In Not For Sale, FCG’s members are exhibiting these works, sharing them with our community. The exhibition celebrates the membership of FCG, one of Canada’s oldest Artist-run Centres.
Jamie Q. Canadian Rockies. 2006.
Participating Artists:
Laura Acosta, Cheryl Bender, Ben Benedict, Marla Botterill, Dickson Bou, Alicia Coutts, Gina Duque, Kim Ewin-Goebel, Katrina Farrow Jones, Jennifer Lorraine Fraser, Kelly Greene, Andrew Gugan, Jen Hamilton, Erin Kaszarowski, Jessica Kliza, Nancy Kravalis, Mallory Landsmith, Conan Masterson, Beth McEachen, Eric Mummery, Alyssa Nicholls, Daniel O'Connor, John Osborne, Nickola Pandelides, Alexandria Petropoulakis, Jenna Faye Powell, Megan Press, Julia Puzara, Jamie Q, Jag Raina, Solafa Rawas, Ben Robinson, Cheri Robinson, Sarah Scope, E. R. Strebe, Al Sugerman, Annette Sullivan, June Taekyung Yeo, Santiago Tavera, Shelby Taylor, Cheryl Teoh, Lorraine Thomson, Rene Vandenbrink, Robert Williams, Jin Won Han
Prints & Inks
March 2 - 9, 2012
Opening reception: Friday, March 2, 8:00pm
Falldown Gallery
288 Bank Street
Ottawa, Ontario
I'll be exhibiting a portion of my silkscreened LOTTO 6/49 series, What Luck as part of the Prints & Inks exhibition. Raffle tickets will be available for $2, for your chance to win one of the prints!
Launch Event for Issue #23 of .dpi
March 8 (International Women's Day), 7:00pm
Studio XX
4001 Rue Berri, Suite 201
Montreal, Quebec
Pages from my limited edition silkscreened book What Makes an Object Queer? will be projected at the launch event for issue #23 of the online magazine .dpi.
Central to trans, queer, and feminist self determination, perceptions of gender and sexuality are as varied as the bodies expressing them. From documentary portraiture, through physically demanding performance art, to abstract sculpture and digital creations, a vast array of artistic forms are employed by trans, queer, and feminist artists when representing themselves and their communities. Formal and theoretically, multiplicity itself figures centrally, as cultural practices surrounding issues of gender and sexuality are brought together to form exhibitions, publications, and histories. This issue of .dpi seeks to explore and celebrate the ways in which artists contribute to the proliferation of multiple genders, sexualities, and feminisms and understandings thereof through their work.
Guest Editor-in-Chief for this issue, Johnny Nawracaj, is a Polish-born writer and video/installation/performance artist. In their academic and artistic pursuits they explore love, loss, and longing with a particular investment in these themes as a part of radical queer and trans cultural production. Their performance works have seen the cabaret stages, theatre vitrines, and gallery floors of venues such as Café Cléopatre, Théâtre Ste. Catherine, and Toronto's Xpace.
Feb 2, 2012
A response to Broken Pencil's article, "Zine vs. Art"
The current issue of Broken Pencil: The Magazine of Zine Culture and the Independent Arts features the headline, "Zines vs. High Art: In the gallery zines are selling for $400 a page. Is this the future of DIY?" Inside, the title page goes on to say, "As artist books morph into art zines, our hero the zine gets a new aesthetic and higher sticker price to match. Is there room in the zine world for both the low-price, cut-and-paste zine and these glossy new commodities?"
I was surprised to discover that this article by Laura Tretheway, and indeed this headline, refers to the Not Bad For London exhibition. The article is disappointing in its divisive tone and its lack of depth. I have a lot to say about it, especially since the article is partly about me, and attempts to address a topic that is close to my heart. I wrote this letter to the author, and to the editor of Broken Pencil.
Hello Laura,
I am writing in response to your article in this month's Broken Pencil. When I saw the headline, my mind started racing. The title of my visual arts master's thesis is Do-It-Yourself: Politics and Aesthetics in the Margins and the Mainstream. It focuses on zines, art multiples, the DIY ethic as being highly politicized (and in danger of being depoliticized within art criticism), and the phenomena of underground or "outsider" artists and their work becoming accepted by the mainstream. I make art, I make zines, and I make art books. Needless to say, I have spent a lot of time thinking about these topics critically. I was shocked to then see my name in the first line of the article, and to realize that my work and a recent exhibition that my art was part of are specifically what this headline is referring to.
I feel that the article actually misses much of the complexity of its topic, and oversimplifies things into a binary "us vs. them" situation, framing artists as encroaching upon the territory of zinesters unwantedly. In reality, the type of artists who participate in zine fairs are generally part of the same demographic of people who are unsatisfied with mass-market consumerism, and are simply a sub-category of zine-makers. Even though some of the zines might be apolitical in form (illustration, abstract art, doodles, etc.), they are still fundamentally political in terms of the ways they are being produced and distributed: handmade, produced locally and independently, a means of building community, creating our own culture rather than consuming the one we're fed by the mass media and entertainment industries, etc.
The categories of "zinester" and "artist" aren't mutually exclusive. I make art, I make limited-edition art books, and I make zines—sometimes art zines and sometimes zines with other content. Although my presence tabling at Canzine was mentioned in the article in the context of my art zines, it neglected to mention the other writing-based zines I had to offer. I had two issues of Queer Enough, a zine I edited about queers in different-gender relationships for $3. I also had copies of the fabulous Undoing Borders, which I was giving away for free and which is available online here. I also had copies of my thesis in a hand-bound book version. Because these take me hours to stitch together and are expensive to print, they are more expensive to buy as well. But for anyone who couldn't afford a hand-bound version, I offered a PDF file of it emailed for free.
Another aspect we might consider, is how the value of a piece of art is determined, and think about art-making as a culturally valuable form of labour. The headline on the cover is actually a bit misleading, since the zines my friends and I make are not selling for $400 a page. The photocopied zines are still in the $3 range (sometimes up to $9 because colour copies are expensive and colour art doesn't translate well in b+w). What was selling in the Not Bad For London show were original drawings and paintings, not zines. In the example you give of Peter, Jason, and Billy's Uncle Pork Chop zine, the drawings were $100 apiece. This is split between the three collaborating artists. And the sale price of an artwork is typically split 50/50 between the artist and the gallery. So each artist, in theory, would get $16.67 per drawing. If the drawings take two hours to make, the artist is making less than minimum wage. Additionally, an artist's labour is not only comprised of making art. It also includes countless hours applying for shows, grants, residencies, etc. It includes doing research, writing emails, coordinating events, having studio visits and meetings, doing promo, and more. All of that is essentially unpaid labour. So the price of original artwork goes up if you are a full-time artist and you factor all of that into the price of your work.
I really struggle with the idea that I wouldn't even be able to afford my own art. It's bizarre. But my cost of living, and my desire to be a full-time artist and to pay myself fairly for my work as an artist, mean that the prices on my original art are in the range of luxury art items that most people I know couldn't afford. This is part of the reason I make zines and art multiples like prints and buttons. Plus, I love books, especially handmade ones. I sometimes fold handmade prints into books, and sometimes these books are limited edition and in the $20 - $35 range. A lot goes into making them in terms of time and materials and technical skill - way more than goes into pressing a button on a photocopier. This is not to say that I think more of one form than the other, it just means that the resulting price is different.
Although my work is sometimes abstract and academic, it's also personal and political. Sometimes it's at a gallery, and sometimes it's at a zine fair. Sometimes it's an expensive unique piece, sometimes it's a relatively low-cost limited edition, and sometimes it's photocopied and priced at $2. It's true that art zines and art books don't interest everyone. But talking about "the growing divide" in the zine world between art zines and personal or political zines, and publishing an article based on this supposed divide, only serves to alienate people who don't fall neatly into some narrow definition of what a "real" zinester does or what kind of content their zines contain.
Sincerely,
Jamie Q
One more thought on the topic.. This issue of Broken Pencil is being promoted as exploring "the growing influence of the art world on zines." You might be interested to know that artists having been producing zines as early as the Dada years, long before the rise of punk zines in the 70's, and even before they were called zines. [Image shows the 3rd issue of Dada, Dec. 1918.]
Peter, Marc, and Jason (three of the artists in the Not Bad for London exhibition) have been collaborating and making zines for two decades.
I was surprised to discover that this article by Laura Tretheway, and indeed this headline, refers to the Not Bad For London exhibition. The article is disappointing in its divisive tone and its lack of depth. I have a lot to say about it, especially since the article is partly about me, and attempts to address a topic that is close to my heart. I wrote this letter to the author, and to the editor of Broken Pencil.
Hello Laura,
I am writing in response to your article in this month's Broken Pencil. When I saw the headline, my mind started racing. The title of my visual arts master's thesis is Do-It-Yourself: Politics and Aesthetics in the Margins and the Mainstream. It focuses on zines, art multiples, the DIY ethic as being highly politicized (and in danger of being depoliticized within art criticism), and the phenomena of underground or "outsider" artists and their work becoming accepted by the mainstream. I make art, I make zines, and I make art books. Needless to say, I have spent a lot of time thinking about these topics critically. I was shocked to then see my name in the first line of the article, and to realize that my work and a recent exhibition that my art was part of are specifically what this headline is referring to.
I feel that the article actually misses much of the complexity of its topic, and oversimplifies things into a binary "us vs. them" situation, framing artists as encroaching upon the territory of zinesters unwantedly. In reality, the type of artists who participate in zine fairs are generally part of the same demographic of people who are unsatisfied with mass-market consumerism, and are simply a sub-category of zine-makers. Even though some of the zines might be apolitical in form (illustration, abstract art, doodles, etc.), they are still fundamentally political in terms of the ways they are being produced and distributed: handmade, produced locally and independently, a means of building community, creating our own culture rather than consuming the one we're fed by the mass media and entertainment industries, etc.
The categories of "zinester" and "artist" aren't mutually exclusive. I make art, I make limited-edition art books, and I make zines—sometimes art zines and sometimes zines with other content. Although my presence tabling at Canzine was mentioned in the article in the context of my art zines, it neglected to mention the other writing-based zines I had to offer. I had two issues of Queer Enough, a zine I edited about queers in different-gender relationships for $3. I also had copies of the fabulous Undoing Borders, which I was giving away for free and which is available online here. I also had copies of my thesis in a hand-bound book version. Because these take me hours to stitch together and are expensive to print, they are more expensive to buy as well. But for anyone who couldn't afford a hand-bound version, I offered a PDF file of it emailed for free.
Another aspect we might consider, is how the value of a piece of art is determined, and think about art-making as a culturally valuable form of labour. The headline on the cover is actually a bit misleading, since the zines my friends and I make are not selling for $400 a page. The photocopied zines are still in the $3 range (sometimes up to $9 because colour copies are expensive and colour art doesn't translate well in b+w). What was selling in the Not Bad For London show were original drawings and paintings, not zines. In the example you give of Peter, Jason, and Billy's Uncle Pork Chop zine, the drawings were $100 apiece. This is split between the three collaborating artists. And the sale price of an artwork is typically split 50/50 between the artist and the gallery. So each artist, in theory, would get $16.67 per drawing. If the drawings take two hours to make, the artist is making less than minimum wage. Additionally, an artist's labour is not only comprised of making art. It also includes countless hours applying for shows, grants, residencies, etc. It includes doing research, writing emails, coordinating events, having studio visits and meetings, doing promo, and more. All of that is essentially unpaid labour. So the price of original artwork goes up if you are a full-time artist and you factor all of that into the price of your work.
I really struggle with the idea that I wouldn't even be able to afford my own art. It's bizarre. But my cost of living, and my desire to be a full-time artist and to pay myself fairly for my work as an artist, mean that the prices on my original art are in the range of luxury art items that most people I know couldn't afford. This is part of the reason I make zines and art multiples like prints and buttons. Plus, I love books, especially handmade ones. I sometimes fold handmade prints into books, and sometimes these books are limited edition and in the $20 - $35 range. A lot goes into making them in terms of time and materials and technical skill - way more than goes into pressing a button on a photocopier. This is not to say that I think more of one form than the other, it just means that the resulting price is different.
Although my work is sometimes abstract and academic, it's also personal and political. Sometimes it's at a gallery, and sometimes it's at a zine fair. Sometimes it's an expensive unique piece, sometimes it's a relatively low-cost limited edition, and sometimes it's photocopied and priced at $2. It's true that art zines and art books don't interest everyone. But talking about "the growing divide" in the zine world between art zines and personal or political zines, and publishing an article based on this supposed divide, only serves to alienate people who don't fall neatly into some narrow definition of what a "real" zinester does or what kind of content their zines contain.
Sincerely,
Jamie Q
One more thought on the topic.. This issue of Broken Pencil is being promoted as exploring "the growing influence of the art world on zines." You might be interested to know that artists having been producing zines as early as the Dada years, long before the rise of punk zines in the 70's, and even before they were called zines. [Image shows the 3rd issue of Dada, Dec. 1918.]Peter, Marc, and Jason (three of the artists in the Not Bad for London exhibition) have been collaborating and making zines for two decades.
Dec 15, 2011
Dec 9, 2011
The Teenie Weenie Zine Machine ROUND TWO
Round Two of teenie weenie zines launches Friday, December 9th, 2011, 5:00pm - 7:00pm
City Lights Bookshop (upstairs)
356 Richmond Street, London, Ontario
(519) 679 8420
Part art show, part miniature bookshop!
Insert a $2 coin and the machine dispenses your very own teenie weenie art zine!
Round Two features books by:
Amy Lockhart
Jenny Lin & Eloisa Aquino (B&D Press)
Momoko Allard
Kim Kielhofner
Sonja Ahlers
Jesse Jacobs
Ryan Dodgson
Chris von Szombathy
Edie Fake
Facebook event here - invite your friends!
p.s. These are fabulous for those of you who participate in sock-themed winter rituals! (Some parents may find some of the content too "mature" for kids though, so put 'em in your grown-up stockings if that's the case.)
City Lights Bookshop (upstairs)
356 Richmond Street, London, Ontario
(519) 679 8420
Part art show, part miniature bookshop!
Insert a $2 coin and the machine dispenses your very own teenie weenie art zine!
Round Two features books by:
Amy Lockhart
Jenny Lin & Eloisa Aquino (B&D Press)
Momoko Allard
Kim Kielhofner
Sonja Ahlers
Jesse Jacobs
Ryan Dodgson
Chris von Szombathy
Edie Fake
Facebook event here - invite your friends!
p.s. These are fabulous for those of you who participate in sock-themed winter rituals! (Some parents may find some of the content too "mature" for kids though, so put 'em in your grown-up stockings if that's the case.)
Dec 1, 2011
Nov 29, 2011
Expozine 2011
Montreal's 10th Annual Small Press, Comic and Zine Fair!
Saturday and Sunday, November 26 and 27, 2011
from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
5035 St-Dominique
(Église Saint-Enfant Jésus, Laurier Métro)
Free admission
This year at Expozine I debuted the second issue of Queer Enough, a zine about queer experience in different-gender relationships. Contributors are Jimbeau, Frankie Mess, Chiquita Violette, Rose Cooper, Corin V. Barclay, Beja Alisheva, JL Long, Kaley Kennedy, Oliver Fugler, Sharday Mosurinjohn, and me... writing which comes from all over Canada and the US, and Australia too! It is now available to order here.
I was tabling with James Kirkpatrick (the other half of our collaborative art team, Dusty Peas). Both of us had our art zines too, and James had his hardcover art book/full-length downloadable album + 7-inch vinyl Before the End.
"Expozine is one of the largest small press fairs in North America, bringing together over 270 exhibitors showcasing all kinds of publications – from books to zines to graphic novels – in both English and French. The event attracts thousands of visitors as well as exhibitors from across Canada, the United States, and even Europe. It's a unique showcase of the best publications that today's small publishers and self-publishing authors and artists have to offer. Literally thousands of different publications can be found at Expozine; it's THE 'salon du livre' for readers interested in today's underground and alternative publications!"
Saturday and Sunday, November 26 and 27, 2011
from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
5035 St-Dominique
(Église Saint-Enfant Jésus, Laurier Métro)
Free admission
This year at Expozine I debuted the second issue of Queer Enough, a zine about queer experience in different-gender relationships. Contributors are Jimbeau, Frankie Mess, Chiquita Violette, Rose Cooper, Corin V. Barclay, Beja Alisheva, JL Long, Kaley Kennedy, Oliver Fugler, Sharday Mosurinjohn, and me... writing which comes from all over Canada and the US, and Australia too! It is now available to order here.
I was tabling with James Kirkpatrick (the other half of our collaborative art team, Dusty Peas). Both of us had our art zines too, and James had his hardcover art book/full-length downloadable album + 7-inch vinyl Before the End.
"Expozine is one of the largest small press fairs in North America, bringing together over 270 exhibitors showcasing all kinds of publications – from books to zines to graphic novels – in both English and French. The event attracts thousands of visitors as well as exhibitors from across Canada, the United States, and even Europe. It's a unique showcase of the best publications that today's small publishers and self-publishing authors and artists have to offer. Literally thousands of different publications can be found at Expozine; it's THE 'salon du livre' for readers interested in today's underground and alternative publications!"
Nov 11, 2011
Not Bad For London Mini-Doc
Not Bad For London from Michael Gibson Gallery. Thanks Emily Pickering for putting this together!
Nov 10, 2011
Nov 8, 2011
NBFL Teaser Trailer
Not Bad For London Teaser Trailer from Michael Gibson Gallery. More footage to come!
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