Series: Text/Context: Writings by Canadian Artists
An artist book? A treasury of texts by one of Canada’s preeminent contemporary artists? Subject to Change: Writings and Interviews by Liz Magor resists categorization. Like the other books in the valuable series, Text/Context: Writings by Canadian Artists published by Concordia University Press, this book of primary source material illuminates how the artist thinks about their own work, but also their relationship to other artists and the issues of their time.
The interchange between material, production and nimble-minded questioning that distinguishes Magor’s art practice threads through. The book has presence as an object and allure for its content. With a soft paper cover, it’s nine inches by seven inches — and an inch thick, with text printed in a time-honoured font that makes long-form writing easy to read. Images of works from 1976 to 2020 are chronological, supporting the texts that span more than four decades.
The book opens with a preface by Magor, an introduction by Philip Monk, and follows with a compendium of many forms: exhibition catalogues, notes for curators, a seminar presentation for conservators addressing the care of her works in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada, lecture notes for “Burn, Burn, Burn” at Emily Carr University, essays about other artists’ work such as ceramist, Paul Mathieu, unpublished writing and published interviews. Magor crafts her language with careful attention to the specificity of words, making each entry a rewarding read. She has a knack for handling complexity with succinctness and can deliver zingers. The 2019 publication of “Zero Things: Liz Magor Interviewed by Lee Ann Norman” ends, “I’m always surprised by what fetches up in a thrift store. But I can predict that my future artwork will be based on your past pleasures.” ■
Subject to Change: Writings and Interviews by Liz Magor, published by Concordia University Press, is available now
OTHER ART BOOK REVIEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED
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- The Quest for the Meaning of Art
- Quick Pick - J.E.H. MacDonald: Up Close
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- The Role of Textiles in Relation to Art
- Surreal Spaces: The Art and Life of Leonora Carrington
- Early Days: Indigenous Art from the McMichael
- Bianca Bosker: The Quest for the Meaning of Art
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