paul, elijah and i went to see “the 1950 ford show” at the art gallery of alberta a couple weekends ago. we couldn’t make it to the opening, but we managed to attend the curator’s talk the day after.

the idea for the show was to have 100 artists draw a 1950 ford from memory. anthony easton curated the show and invited me to take part. i don’t have a memory of a 1950 ford, so i drew a mama-chari bicycle instead. the idea for the show came from this drawing by ed ruscha:

there were 100 drawings in the show. most of them were done on a sheet of white paper, the kind you use in a printer or copier. it was really interesting seeing all the different styles of drawing.

i was in and out the room because it was nursing time for elijah. there was no mother’s room in the gallery so i fed him in the bathroom. i used to have a bad case of public-washroom phobia. now it’s milder — i have to find somewhere to feed elijah, and public washrooms are sometimes the only good option. i’ve never eaten in a public washroom, but now i’m making my baby eat there. i hope elijah doesn’t mind.

i missed the most of the curator’s talk. i only caught the discussion at the end. i couldn’t follow the complicated art theory discussion. i don’t really understand art theory, i just like to draw.

afterward, we met anthony easton and got to take a look at the show with him. then we all went out for lunch and spent the day together, shopping. he showed us around some nice places in edmonton. it was a fun day.

here i am talking to anthony and looking at all the fords.

anthony easton is curating a show at the art gallery of alberta based on the ed ruscha drawing, will 100 artists draw a 1950 ford from memory. he got permission from ed ruscha himself. 100 people have agreed to draw a 1950 ford from memory for this show.

anthony contacted me, so i had to draw something. i was supposed to use basic white paper - like the one you would use for desktop printing. since i had to draw from memory, i was not supposed to use any reference images of a 1950 ford.

it turns out, i have no clue what 1950 ford looks like. i have no memory of it whatsoever. i think it might look like a mama-chari bicycle. plus it says “ford” in japanese on the mama-chari, so it’s clearly a ford. the maximum team power ducks are impressed, except for the one evil duck who is trying to puncture the tires…

THE 1950 FORD SHOW
guest curator, anthony easton
september 21, 2007 – january 6, 2008
opening reception: friday, september 21, 7pm
curator’s talk: saturday, september 22, 1pm

art gallery of alberta
enterprise square
100-10230 jasper avenue,
edmonton, alberta
780.422.6223