Michael Davey | commentary

Hockey Shtick

These works are a personal commmentary on the hockey stick as a Canadian cultural icon. As hockey fans, we are bombarded with images of the Canadian male as someone who works hard and also plays hard. Beer has always been central to this message. Hockey's biggest corporate sponsors are the brewing companies and in-game commercials show fans at home, in the arena or local bar with their eyes on the game - or a nearby attractive girl - and a beer in hand. In fact, beer is so central to the whole experience of hockey that the flow and momentum of the game may be constantly interrupted by beer commercials with no fan revolt and nothing apparently being lost in the process.

In making these observations, I am not merely taking the part of a critical observer. In many ways, I think they've - we've got it right. After all, is it not one of life's great pleasures to kick back, watch a game and have a beer.

Formally speaking, these works are a distinct departure from my earlier hockey sticks which were somewhat sedate and traditionally iconic being made of carved and sandblasted granite. Here, aluminum and glass are the constructive elements, materials which are central to the game - hockey sticks and arenas - and which are visually quite flashy. The overall effect is intensified by the airbrushing on the blades in hot colours using a variety of motifs - shooting stars, racing stripes - images usually seen on goalies' helmets. Then there is the beer. Filling the shafts of the sticks, beer becomes the liquid golden light-filled core of these works. One cannot escape the observation that the beer, from some angles, looks a lot like urine. Taken as a whole, the sticks comprise a flamboyant pre-emption of the gallery space - installation as constructed painting if you like.

Michael Davey, 2003

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