Awkward moments with Diane Thorneycroft
A visual deconstruction of some of the McMichael collection's most iconic images
Group of Seven Awkward Moments (In Algonquin Park) 60.9 cm by 76.2 cm. Tom Thomson's classic 1914 oil 'In Algonquin Park' is Thorneycroft's backdrop here. It's in the McMichael Canadian Art Collection's permanent collection; as a result, the original canvas hangs near Thorneycroft's treatment. Note the determined, mono-focused cross-country skier exiting the picture frame and the mayhem he's leaving behind, including a Canadian flag pole affixed with an inordinate number of human tongues.
McMichael Art Gallery: Awkward Moments - Jack Pine - Winnipeg artist Diana Thorneycroft is known for creating provocative and controversial photographs that challenge her audience's viewing experience. Her seemingly comical images composed of innocent subjects-dolls and toy figurines -and set against the landscapes of the Group of Seven and their contemporaries reveal, upon a closer examination, a deeper and darker meaning. Early Snow with Bob and Doug of the Group of Seven.
Group of Seven Awkward Moments (Avro Arrow at Sombre Hill) 11.7 cm by 152.4 cm. Diana Thorneycroft uses Arthur Lismer's 1922 canvas, 'Sombre Hill, Algoma' as her backdrop. In the foreground is a model of the Avro Arrow airplane propped up by pontoons that Thorneycroft took from a Cessna model. An interceptor aircraft, the real Arrow in the mid-1950s was celebrated as the cutting-edge of Canada's aviation industry. However, in 1959, at the height of the Cold War, its production was cancelled by the Diefenbaker government and all five flying test models and production aircraftdestroyed, along with their blueprints. In Thorneycroft's alternate universe, though, one has survived and been adapted to serve the more prosaic needs of the Great White North.
Group of Seven Awkward Moments (Maples and Birches with Winnie the Pooh) 60.9 cm by 76.2 cm. A.A. Milne's famous fake bear gets his comeuppance from a sloth of equally fake but more realistic looking ursines, one of whom is carrying what appears to be a Luger. (Milne, of course, was inspired to write his Pooh stories after seeing a black bear from northern Ontario in a London zoo. The bear had been deposited there by a Canadian soldier from Winnipeg enroute to fighting the Germans in the First World War who adopted the creature as a sort of mascot and named him after the first two syllables of his hometown's first name town.) The backdrop for the mugging is A.Y. Jackson's 'Maple and Birches,' painted in 1915.
Group of Seven Awkward Moments (Birches in Winter in Algonquin Park) 53.3 cm by 76.2 cm. The backdrop here is an A.Y. Jackson canvas from 1914, 'Birches in Winter in Algonquin Park,' painted six years before the creation of the Group of Seven. An aroma of homoeroticism hangs heavy over the snow-flaked lakeside scene -- but what exactly is the well-muscled Mountie who's removed his red serge uniform doing with the equally well-muscled (and apparently unclothed) man in his arms? Whatever the goings-on, a poodle, a German shepherd and a horse with a saddle built for two patiently await the return to shore.
Group of Seven Awkward Moments (Nickel Belt Trailer Park) 53.3 by 76.2 cm. What's a wilderness for if not parking the trailer, doing a little barbecuing and having some brewskies with your pals? The pals in this case are, of course, Bubbles, Ricky and Julian. Thorneycroft does a radical reinterpretation of Franklin Carmichael's 'The Nickel Belt' for her backdrop, inserting a decidedly dangerous funnel-like cloud. The boys, however, couldn't care less.
Group of Seven Awkward Moments (Fatal Accident near Ski Tracks) 60.9 cm by 76.2 cm. The backdrop is 'Ski Tracks,' a 1935 oil by Edwin Holgate, a Montreal painter who was invited to join the Group of Seven in 1930. Thorneycroft's diorama is a cautionary tale of drinking and driving. Even the blessed Saint Nick and Rudolph need to exercise care when flying close to the ground. It's a wilderness out there after all!
McMichael Art Gallery: Awkward Moments - Grey Owl and Anahareo at Beaver Swamp
Group of Seven Awkward Moments (Lake and Mountains with Double-double) 152.4 cm by 106.6 cm. The Group of Seven tended to paint pristine, depopulated landscapes with few signs of suburban encroachment. Also, the Group's view of the North was at once awestruck and benign. In other words, no Albert Johnson (aka "the Mad Trapper of the North') gunning down Mounties and terrorizing aboriginals, no disputes over just who has sovereignty over Baffin Island, no fornicating seals and certainly no crullers. The backdrop here is Lawren Harris's 'Lake and Mountains' 91927) from the McMichael permanent collection.