Little Stabs At Happiness at Clint Roenisch (944 Queen West), to February 22. 416-516-8593. Rating: NNNN
Rating: NNNN
Clint Roenisch’s little stabs at happiness is a big hug of a show – the kind of hug that boys give girls in junior high when they press their erections into their thighs. Despite the fact that this is a smart curatorial effort in a commercial gallery, Little Stabs seems to have been brought together with almost childlike enthusiasm. Dozens of artists have been gathered into an exhibition that celebrates sexuality, perversions and, especially, playfulness.
Even the more explicit work feels fresh, like a youngster’s first exploration of sexuality rather than the gropings of an old pervert: a pole-riding stripper is lovingly rendered in watercolour the exaggerated privates of a lounging horse are naughtily exposed.
There’s no point in getting into the individual artists, since Roenisch has packed so much work into his smallish space that he seems to be trying to answer the art world equivalent of the question How many college kids can you fit into a phone booth? But every piece, true to the show’s title, is a little stab at happiness.
Happiness is in the details – a painting supported by two Löwenbräu king cans, or two holes in the wall labelled “holes.”
This Valentine’s Day you won’t even find such joyful variety in a box of Pot Of Gold chocolates.
