Canadian Net Art Show

Curating based on citizenship can be tricky: it can be limiting to identify or understand artwork in nationalistic terms. However, a brief visit to the 'I-Highway - Netart from Canada' show curated by Agricola de Cologne dispels concerns about over-the-top Canadian essentializing. Simply, the curator has aggregated a lot of introductory information on Canadian artists, projects and organizations. Despite de Cologne's propensity to stage exhibitions dramatically -- each one is heavily scored and features unusually literal graphics (like images of people working on laptops with Canadian cityscapes in the background, or cups of coffee representing the J.A.V.A site), with a little patience one can work one's way into artists' more individual, singular aesthetics. -- Rachel Greene