General Idea Haute Culture. A Retrospective, 1969-1994
Item date(s): 2012
Frédéric Bonnet
- (curated with a forward by)
Pages: 223pp Size: 236mm
Sub-type: Exhibition catalogue
Place publication: Zurich, Switzerland Publisher: JRP/Ringier ISBN: 978-3-03764-162.0
Additional notes: ARC/Musée d'Art moderne de la Ville de Paris. 11/2/11-30/4/11.
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. 16/7/11-1/1/12.
This volume presents an overview of the Canadian collective oeuvre - an oeuvre still haunted by Miss General Idea, a fictive character who was at once muse and object, image and concept.
Founded in Toronto in 1969 by Felix Partz, Jorge Zontal (both died 1994), and AA Bronson, the trio adopted a generic identity that "freed it from the tyranny of individual genius."
Their complex intermingling of reality and fiction took the form of a transgressive and often parodic take on art and society. Treating the image as a virus infiltrating every aspect of the real world, General Idea set out to colonizeit, modify its content, and so come up with an alternative version of reality.
Ref: 2065
Articles
Setting the Stage: Back to Reality! Frédéric Bonnet (essay by) p12
The Colonnade: Staging the Museum in the Work of General Idea David Moos (essay by) p46
The Life and Work of Miss General Idea Jean-Christophe Ammann (essay by) p68
Gender "Trouple" Elisabeth Lebovici (essay by) p84
Copyright, Cash, and Crowd Control: Art and Economy in the Work of General Idea A. A. Bronson (essay by) p118
Interview with AA Bronson, Felix Partz, and Jorge Zontal Jorge Zontal (interview with) Felix Partz (interview with) Louise Dompierre (interview by) A. A. Bronson (interview with) p148