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GENERAL IDEA "GENERI©" MYLAR BALLOON, 1992
USD 1,250.00
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General Idea was founded in 1967 in Toronto by AA Bronson (b. 1946), Felix Partz (1945-1994), and Jorge Zontal (1944-1994). Over the course of 25 years, they made a significant con
tribution to postmodern and conceptual art in Canada and beyond. In 1992, at the height of their career, and less than two years before the untimely demise of two of its members, General Idea staged a massive installation at the Centre d'art Santa Monica (Spain) The installation at the heart of their exhibition Pharma©opia included 3,000 giant half-yellow, half-red mylar balloons (a nod to the Catalan flag) in the form of a stylized capsule. Both the individual balloons and the installation as a whole conveyed a remarkable tension between the overall pop aesthetic and the sinister and tragic issues, specifically the macabre responsibility of pharmaceuticals keeping AIDS patients alive. Of course, the parallel between the fragility of the individual balloon and the AIDS patient of the era is similarly inescapable. The extreme size of the "pill" can be similarly understood as how cumbersome and consuming the medical regimen of the day was. In conjunction with the exhibition, General Idea released an edition of 250 of "Generi©". It is a testament to General Idea's power that this piece remains topical, poignant, and engaging some thirty years after its inception. Visit our Toronto gallery on Thursdays or by appointment. "GENERI©" Barcelona, 1992 Custom-shaped printed mylar balloon, title sheet (photocopy on card) in plastic sleeve Signed and numbered by the artists From an edition of 250 10"H 25"W Very good condition. Literature: "General Idea: Editions 1969-1994" catalog number 9204. Note: some oxidization to the paper card
