One of the most discussed art exhibitions of 2015 is Douglas Coupland's everywhere is anywhere is anything is everything. Douglas Coupland is a Canadian contemporary artist and writer, known for his best-selling novels JPod and Hey, Nostradamus!, as well his notorious public art around the country (think Canoe Landing Park in Toronto).
An exhibit originally hailing from the Vancouver Art Gallery, everywhere is anywhere is anything is everything is Coupland's largest display of work in fifteen years. It was exhibited in Toronto through a joint partnership between the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art and the Royal Ontario Museum, two very different venues that helped to showcase Coupland's recent work in an exciting way.
The MOCCA exhibition was based around the notion of Canadiana and Canadian cultural identity, while the exhibition at the ROM featured much larger works that discussed 21st century technology, popular culture, and the influence of social media on our world today. Unlike the majority of art exhibitions, visitors were encouraged to use their phones to take pictures and engage in social media, a phenomenon in which Coupland has commented, "I don’t think its possible to have people not take photos... people are just strip mining museums for Instagram and wallpaper and stuff, which is kind of funny actually because it gets people involved”.
everywhere is anywhere is anything is everything ended this past month after a three-month run, but a Google Street View of the Vancouver exhibit is online here for those interested.
The Royal Ontario Museum
100 Queen's Park
Toronto, ON
M5S 2C6
Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art
952 Queen Street West
Toronto, ON
M6J 1G8