WUJAVC Acknowledgements and Introduction

From the Editorial Board by Sharday Mosurinjohn, Emily Heersink and Amy Wallace

The editorial committee is tremendously pleased to introduce the second issue of the Visual Arts Department’s student-run journal Bon À Tirer: The Western Undergraduate Journal of Art History and Visual Culture, formerly known as The Western Undergraduate Journal of Art and Visual Culture. This publication engages with some of the most culturally relevant and socially pressing issues in both their historical and contemporary manifestations. It is currently available in electronic format from the department website and we hope to publish the issue in hardcopy before the end of the academic year.


This year’s contributors address a great breadth of time periods and topics. Jessica Surtees tackles notions of obscenity, freedom of speech, and fetishization in an essay on the ethics of pornography. Julia Paoli negotiates concepts of contemporary feminism and femininity using the work of Cindy Sherman.  Stephanie Liokossis contributes a discussion of 20th century immigrant women and textile production through a fascinating portrait of her own grandmother’s experiences. Juliana Su considers the transference of architectural forms through a 17th century Italian case study. Ruheena Sangrar unites aesthetics and politics in a compelling essay on 19th and 20th century Indian textile production and Gandhian theory. Sara Loureiro offers a survey of socially engaged artwork and community-building art projects. Sharday Mosurinjohn explores contemporary attitudes toward art and culture in Conservative-led Canada by analyzing Calgary’s unique situation. William Lockett provides a critical look at the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal at the renovated Royal Ontario Museum.  Andrea Dixon investigates theories of representation in painting by analyzing the work of Poussin and Velasquez. Mallory Austin evaluates a range of interpretations of Munch's Scream across time. Sarah Nantais blurs disciplinary boundaries by offering a visual critique of Ezra Pound's imagist poetry.

This project could never have come to fruition without the kind support of the Visual Arts Department staff and faculty. We wish to thank our faculty mentor Professor Kirsty Robertson, who originated the journal and indispensably guides the editorial board. We are appreciative of the Department Chair Professor Patrick Mahon, for his support in integrating Bon À Tirer with the always-anticipated Annual Juried Exhibition. We also acknowledge the work of the ArtLab Steering Committee in their deliberations over the cover prize. Thank you to Andrew Gugan for ensuring our advertising materials reached the whole department, and to the professors who granted us the time to speak to their classes about the opportunity, and who spread the call on our behalves. And finally, thank you to all of the students who submitted their hard work for our consideration. We have enjoyed reading the insights of our peers tremendously, and hope that you all will too.

Sharday Mosurinjohn, Emily Heersink and Amy Wallace
WUJAVC Editorial Board, 2007/2008

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