I was very impressed by the quality of the Pop Art exhibit at the National Gallery in Ottawa. The full title is: POP Life: Art in a Material World. The show is organized by Tate Modern,London in association with our National Gallery. It runs until Sept. 19.
The show is thorough, entertaining, provocative-exactly as pop art should be. Warhol, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Murakami, Haring, Sarah Lucas, Cattelan, Kippenberger-all the biggies are represented in an extraordinary show which leaves one with the tune I'm turning Japanese in one's head for the duration of the day. Not to mention the many risque images which accompany the music. The Pop Artists made it o.k. to make money from art-they embraced the notion of tangible assets as art-good art=good commerce=good art. COMMERCIAL is no longer a dirty word in the world of fine art. It has always seemed false when I've heard proclaimed artists say that "they paint or create for themselves". Nonsense. The minute one makes any mark on any surface-it is like a primal scream-can anybody see this? Is anyone there? It is communication. It is a desire for an exchange. It is, in a sense, commerce.

In Ottawa, visit Koyman Galleries in St. Laurent if you are interested in seeing some of my recent work.
P.S. We spent the weekend there and capped it off by attending the Michael Buble concert at Scotiabank Place-now that was a terrific show ( c'mon now, we can't be on the job 24/7! )