EXTENDED PLAY
Groove is in the art
BLENDER
Featuring DJs DMT, Claudia McKoy, Curtis Smith, A Man Called Warwick.
Fri, Nov 28. 7pm. Mind Control, 42 Gladstone, unit 5. Free.
BY DENISE BENSON
The galleries are alive with the sound of music. Club nights are alight
with art. Hopeful exaggerations perhaps, but it's clear that music and
visual arts are being merged with increasing creativity and zest in
Toronto and beyond.
There is, of course, a healthy history of musicians, producers and DJs
emerging from specific art movements -- The Velvet Underground, Sonic
Youth and DJ Spooky represent three different eras and sounds connected
to particular New York art scenes for example. There's an equally
lengthy history of performance art, film and visual arts being
incorporated into club nights, with examples as broad as infamous club
kid Michael Alig's creations, Montreal painters Heavyweight Productions
or Toronto projection team Mix Motion.
Locally, we've seen spaces like We'ave, Art System and The Rivoli host
artists, writers, performers, DJs and musicians -- often all on the
same night. Ditto an increasing number of galleries, particularly on
the vibrant "West Queen West" art strip. Music and visual art are
natural companions.
"Absolutely," says Claudia McKoy, editor of arts magazine MIX. "Music
is both serious and fun. Art is both serious and fun. You try to take
one element out of it, and it collapses. The reason music can be so
politically potent is because it can get right into your bones, it can
tickle you into seeing reality. It's the same thing with a really good
painting. Music and art are excellent partners when you mix the two in
a party atmosphere."
The MIX folks intend to do exactly that with Blender, an event
showcasing the drawings of 18 artists -- Sandra Brewster, Steve Sechi
and curator Drew Simpson among them. It's no coincidence that two of
the participating artists -- A Man Called Warwick and Derek Mainella,
a.k.a. DMT -- are also DJing. MIX actively promotes a broad spectrum of
independent art culture, music included.
"None of us live in or as part of any one scene," says McKoy. "The
magazine shouldn't live that way."
It's appropriate then that renaissance man Mainella is heavily involved
in Blender, including as a host: he's the artistic director of the
event's venue, the Mind Control gallery space. A painter currently in
his thesis year at OCAD, Mainella is a creative powerhouse.
"I really like Derek's vibe," says McKoy. "He's not into a
one-dimensional scene, he's eclectic and open to different cultures and
backgrounds. I like what Mind Control is about: opening up and
exploring new things, which then encourages different types of people
to come see art. That means the scene will grow."
With Mind Control mates Matthew Bennett and Shane Laurila, Mainella has
worked like mad to bring a spectrum of media together. In 2002, he
curated two massive shows cum events: Arcade and Dance, Dance, Dance,
the latter showcasing the work of 15 artists while featuring live
music, performances, installations and DJs. Six hundred people attended
Art System that night, proving there's an audience eager to take in art
while partying.
"I would go to art parties, and they'd be kind of rock 'n' rollish,
with people just standing around," says Mainella. "That's not what I
envision when I think about art. I really just wanted to do something
different, like a Warhol-esque art happening. I'm really into this
notion of art happenings where people feel involved, and the whole
space becomes an organic art piece.
"I'm against the very sterile gallery scene," he says. "I do like the
stark professional-gallery setting, and very high-art aesthetics, but I
also like to incorporate fun into the atmosphere. You can still see the
gallery show after, when it's quieter, but I've found that I look at
work the most when I'm having fun at an opening. I'll go back and see a
painting 10 to 15 times if I'm somewhere for three hours."
This collector of classic hip-hop, reggae, electro, rare groove, Latin
and Brazilian business can be found behind the desk at Cosmos Records
when he's not out scoping the city for art that inspires him. His
record collection may be predominantly old-school, but with art,
Mainella leans towards the new -- certainly with what he aims to show
at Mind Control.
"We want to be like a German gallery space where you see very
contemporary shows with new, strange stuff that people might not even
think of as art," he chuckles. "We try to be next level with everything
we do."
© 1991-2004 eye
http://www.mindcontrol.ca/studio/article.php?story=20040713190534842