Pavillion Poodle Fragment #35
Artist
General Idea
(Canadian, 1969 - 1994)
Date1984
Mediumplaster, wire mesh, acrylic, gold leaf
Dimensions37 × 65.6 × 4.9 cm
Credit LineThe Mendel Art Gallery Collection at Remai Modern. Gift of Sandra L. Simpson 1993.
Object number1993.26.4
Classificationssculpture
On View
Not on viewAs an art collective, General Idea operated as commentators on society more than makers of art objects. They used a variety of recurring motifs, or images that appeared in multiple works. One example is that of the poodle, a common euphemism for a gay man. It first appeared in 1981 depicted on ‘architectural remnants’ from the ruins of the Miss General Idea Pavillion. As symbolic representations of the artists, this trope was a coded means for the artists to express their queer identity and to push art critics to address sexuality in their work. The group—comprised of AA Bronson, Felix Partz, and Jorge Zontal—met in Toronto in the late 1960s and went on to live and work together for twenty-five years. General Idea ceased activities in 1994, with the untimely deaths of Partz and Zontal from AIDS-related causes.
The group, according to Bronson, was born out of the “late Sixties psychedelia of student revolution, fluorescent posters, underground newspapers and Marshall McLuhan, and inspired by Canada’s first artist-run centre … Intermedia.” In addition to their influence as artists, General Idea founded two important initiatives. In 1972 they launched the publication FILE, which adopted the logo of the popular American news magazine LIFE, deliberately confusing consumers. The following year they established Art Metropole in Toronto as an alternative distribution centre and archive, which continues today to promote low-cost media distribution and facilitate the production of artist books, video, audio works and multiples.
The group, according to Bronson, was born out of the “late Sixties psychedelia of student revolution, fluorescent posters, underground newspapers and Marshall McLuhan, and inspired by Canada’s first artist-run centre … Intermedia.” In addition to their influence as artists, General Idea founded two important initiatives. In 1972 they launched the publication FILE, which adopted the logo of the popular American news magazine LIFE, deliberately confusing consumers. The following year they established Art Metropole in Toronto as an alternative distribution centre and archive, which continues today to promote low-cost media distribution and facilitate the production of artist books, video, audio works and multiples.
