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Outside the EAC’s artworks, you may have also noticed a number of wonderfully interactive sculptures on loan from Vancouver Biennale. Delivered by train and dropped onto 118 Avenue via Arts on the Ave, “on loan” indeed means they’re here for some time and include Cosimo Cavallaro’s Love Your Bean; Wang Shuyang’s The Meeting and Magdalena Abakanowicz’s Walking Figures.
But if there was one piece of art that struck the loudest chord in the city in 2020, it was the return of Bob and Doug in Ritchie Velthuis’ painted bronze tribute of the brothers McKenzie sitting on a bench at 103 Street and 103 Avenue. Clutching a couple stubbies, these two arrived without fanfare in March just as the pandemic hit its stride, and offered huge relief as the city — indeed the world — wondered how bad things would be getting under the shadow of this brain-ruining COVID-19 insecurity.
That these two SCTV hosers showed up to a party no one else could come to — including their actors Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis — actually ended up being such a great punchline. Of course it went down like this after years of planning, it’s Bob and Doug! And as much as this statue honours a very, like, familiar Canadian lifestyle, it’s also worth noting the statue is also, down deep, a tribute to the arts, eh? What did you think TV comedy is, sports? Take off! But it’s such a great addition to the jock district.
Three last murals deserve note on our way out, two private commissions, starting with Jean Paul Langlois’ The Conversation over in Parkallen — a thoughtful look at appropriation by the Métis artist — at 6551 111 St. Next is Pete Nguyen’s giant skull on the east side of the Commercial Hotel on Whyte under the banner “Crush beers not dreams,” just in case you thought Bob and Doug were being too greedy with their outdoor suds. Both murals went up in July.
And finally, on the city’s Free Wall along the LRT tracks near 95 Street, AJA Louden’s Seventy Seasons tribute to Joey Moss — temporary as all art on such walls must be, and as all of us are, too.
But see what I mean about it being a memorable year for public art around here? Now bring on 2021’s!
