General Idea
Life & Work by Sarah E . K . Smith
This attention in Europe was a significant achievement ; AA Bronson noted that Switzerland , Austria , and Italy were particularly receptive to General Idea ’ s work at this time . Key exhibitions in the early 1980s included the Venice Biennale in 1980 , where General Idea was part of the group exhibition Canada Video . In Venice they presented Pilot , 1977 , and Test Tube , 1979 . In 1982 they presented Cornucopia , 1982 , as well as an installation that included painted constructions and works on paper , at the important exhibition Documenta 7 in Kassel , Germany . That same year , they presented work in photography and performance at the Biennale of Sydney .
“ Because we were so ironic ,” Bronson stated , “ in Canada we were seen as not being really serious . Also , people would tell us that you can ’ t be a group and be an artist , artists don ’ t work in groups . But when we went to Europe … we were very quickly picked up and written about in political terms , Marxist terms , because we operated as a group , because we operated by consensus , because of the critical intent inherent in the work , and I think to a certain extent because of the sexual aspect : that we were , if not clearly gay , at least sexually
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ambiguous .” The international critical reception of General Idea ’ s work influenced how the group understood their practice and also filtered back to North American audiences .
In 1984 the group received recognition in the form of a large , touring retrospective titled The 1984 Miss General Idea Pavillion . Bronson notes that this show was extremely important in terms of General Idea ’ s career as it was initiated by two of the most-influential museums in the period : the Kunsthalle Basel and the Van Abbemuseum Eindhoven . The European retrospective allowed the artists to reflect on their past production and rethink their future . The group identified this moment — the symbolism of the year 1984 and their increased recognition — as a new era in their practice . “ We had made that commitment to work together ’ til 1984 ,” explained Felix Partz . “ So here was 1984 …. We were involved in this retrospective , but also we were involved with this
52 conclusion of a project . Or was it ?” At this point General Idea had not yet received any
recognition in the United States . Bronson also explains that though they were not taken seriously in Canada , they exhibited their work at the Vancouver Art Gallery in 1984 .
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Installation view of General Idea , Khroma Key Klub : The Blue Ruins from the 1984 Miss General Idea Pavillion , 1985 , installation , scenic acrylic on found Styrofoam objects , approximately 400 x 1,000 x 1,000 cm , photograph by Wim Riemens . International critical attention paid to General Idea ’ s work preceded recognition from institutions in Canada . This installation view is from De Vleeshal , Middelburg , the Netherlands , 1985 . Khroma Key Klub was destroyed after its exhibition
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