Art Metropole

12 Oct. 2017

ANNA BANANA at Art Metropole!

Speaker

Anna Banana

Time

5-7pm

Please join us to welcome the original, 100% Queen of Bananaland, Anna Banana on Thursday, October 12th!

Born in Victoria, BC in 1940, Anna has lived and worked in Victoria, Vancouver, Big Sur, Sooke, San Francisco and currently, Roberts Creek, BC. Her mail-art practice, begun in ‘71 led to and facilitated several performance tours & interactive events in Europe; Futurist Sound, Proof Positive Germany is Going Bananas, Banana Communion, But, is it Art? not to mention her large, interactive public events such as the Banana Olympics; ‘75 in San Francisco, ‘80 in Surrey, BC. It also led to the publication of her newsletters Banana Rag ‘71-’16, Artistamp News ‘91-96, 7 issues VILE Magazine 74- ‘82, and International Art Post (full color stamps by artists) from 1988-2014, all documenting network activities. She is currently working toward a book; Verbal & Visual NETWORK PORTRAITS; and stamp edition, documenting long-term mail-artists now that the Mail Art Network is devolving into Face Book and other social media with special thanks to ever increasing postal rates.

Anna will be reading from About VILE, the final issue of Vile Magazine, published between 1974 – 1983. This critical issue contains a history of the magazine, a summary of Anna Banana’s events in San Francisco, and of Futurist Sound, her and Gaglione’s 1978 European Tour. Included in the extensive documentation is a letter David Buchan wrote in 1977 from Art Metropole to Vile, regarding copies that had been sent to AM, but were held at the border by Canadian Customs.

Copies of Anna Banana: 45 Years of Fooling Around With A. Banana, edited by Michelle Jacques, will also be available in the shop. This publication is a compelling retrospective of the artist’s work and her place in art history. Michelle Jacques traces Banana’s evolution from Anne Long to conceptual artist Anna Banana and the breadth of her oeuvre. Craig Saper contemplates the paradox that an artist of her stature could remain virtually unknown while subverting mainstream art and culture so relentlessly and so humorously for so long. Anne Thurmann-Jajes relates the value of the Banana Rag and other publications in publicizing the artist’s actions and maintaining contact with other artists. And Edward M. Goméz highlights the importance of Banana’s fun, frank and frequently experimental art in engaging new audiences and bridging the historic anti-art practices of Dada and Fluxus and today’s contemporary practices. Like the artist herself, this remarkable book will enlighten, engage and surprise.

Be sure to catch the closing party of Anna’s exhibition at Kunstverein Toronto on Friday, October 13th at Mulherin Gallery at 1086 Queen St. W!

Please join us in the shop for this rare chance to meet and speak with Anna Banana herself, and pick up a signed copy of the essential About VILE. Reading will begin at 6pm.

Born in Victoria, BC in 1940, Anna Banana has lived and worked in Victoria, Vancouver, Big Sur, Sooke, San Francisco and currently, Roberts Creek, BC.

Since 1971, her mail-art practice has generated a wide range of work, including international performance tours (Futurist Sound, Proof Positive Germany is Going Bananas, Banana Communion, But, is it Art?) and large, interactive public events (the Banana Olympics; ‘75 in San Francisco, ‘80 in Surrey, BC.).

Banana has consistently documented artist networks and mail-art activities, publishing newsletters Banana Rag ’71-‘16, Artistamp News ‘91-96, VILE Magazine ’74-‘82, and International Art Post (full color stamps by artists) from 1988-2014.

She is currently working toward a book; Verbal & Visual NETWORK PORTRAITS; and a stamp edition documenting long-term mail-artists.

Image

Image credit: Kunstverein Toronto.

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