Tangible Ax

"We don’t demand that art change the world, only that it reflect it – or perhaps transcend it. Most of the work in this exhibition is a retort to colonialism and it may sway minds or provoke thoughts, but it is unlikely to result in tangible acts of decolonization. So why make it? These artists, so certain of their themes, seem uncertain of the answer." -- Kate Taylor, Globe & Mail, November 10, 2022

The Sobey Art Award has been with us for how long? Do I need to look it up, or has it been long enough? Let's just say it has -- and yet for the first time the Globe has reviewed its exhibition of the five shortlisted artists with a critical eye. Though I agree with the conclusion ("Finer form may yet blossom from a generation that has content all figured out"), it's how its critic arrived there that has me wanting.

Words like "reflect" (e.g. Realism)  and "transcend" (e.g. Minimalism) are quaint expectations, and their elevation only blurs art's ability to carry its own critique, resist its utility. Mirrors reflect; drugs and religion offer transcendent experiences. Art would have so much more going for it if its artists and critics weren't so beholden to terms set for them by that which they claim to be kicking against, where anything that threatens the status quo is given symbolic power, and only rarely political economic power (and even then in benign doses).

Replacing a museum's stolen treasure with a bag of sand, as one nominated artist, Divya Mehra, did, only maintains the relationship, adding value to that bag. Critiquing the museum is tolerated, if not rewarded by the museum and its public and private funders. As long as artists participate in the museum's powers of validation, they are in its service. Divya Mehra will be given the Sobey Art Award this year for reasons that will not have everything to do with her art and practice. The jury, made up of the curators who selected the artists, will consider their selection a tangible act of decolonization.