In the Galleries
Postcards from the Edge
Artist and activist Les Paterson cans Parliament
Pop is clearly Les Paterson’s thing—be it culture, politics or cans. Last year he showed his Marge Simpson Project at Lennox Contemporary, for which he recreated all the blue-tressed cartoon character’s often talked about but rarely seen portraits, from Homer to Mr. Burns (nude) to Ringo Starr. Paterson’s new endeavour is inspired by democracy in ancient Athens, where citizens cast their votes on pottery shards; the Toronto-based artist substitutes crushed pop cans, which he sees as the contemporary equivalent. Turning the flattened items into postcards and stamping them with the address of Parliament Hill, he encourages people to write to their MPs (or the PM) about the environment and other pressing issues. His goal—ironically subsidized by the government since letters to members of the House are postage-paid—is to put at least 1,000 cans in the mail by the end of his show: a disruptive act as easy as dumping a bag of recyclables, but far more productive. Activism, Paterson reminds us, can be this simple, this hands-on and this, er, canny.
Pop Can Poll. Artwork not for sale. Aug. 9 to 19. Lennox Contemporary, 12 Ossington Ave., 416-924-7964, www.lennoxcontemporary.com.
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