The Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest organization and the National Gallery of Canada—which features their exciting summer exhibition Pop Life: Art in a Material World—have formed a partnership. Pop Life will become the presenting sponsor of the sophomore edition of the Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest ByWard. Pop Life is also a key new feature on the Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest website that allows patrons to preview the exhibition and add its dates and surrounding events to their personal Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest calendars. 

Pop Life Presents the Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest ByWard from July 8 through July 13. Pop culture enthusiasts can check out Pop Life: Art in a Material World at the National Gallery of Canada, then stop by the Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest ByWard Pop Life Stage on York Street for some free musical entertainment! Officials from both organizations feel that this partnership adds an extra dimension to their respective events and creates a “win win” situation for music lovers and art enthusiasts alike.

The Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest ByWard line-up includes: City and Colour; Doc Walker; Taj Mahal; Wintersleep; Stereos;  Tokyo Police Club; Junior Brown; Born Ruffians; Amanda Rheaume; Peter Voith; the Mighty Popo; Jhevon Paris; JW-Jones; Jeff Rogers; and Abandon All Ships. Click on the 'Pop Life Stage' icon, above for a link to all the Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest ByWard programming details.

Pop Life: Art in a Material World

June 11 through September 19, 2010

The National Gallery of Canada (NGC) is the sole North American venue for this unprecedented exhibition, which features more than 250 paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures, videos, installations, multiples and other ephemera produced over the past three decades.

The exhibition begins with Warhol’s notorious provocation that “good business is the best art.” Marketing and publicity provided a means for Warhol to engage in modern life beyond the confines of the studio, the gallery and the museum. Rather than simply representing or commenting on mass-media culture, Warhol deliberately infiltrated the publicity machine to cultivate an artistic persona. By performing as a partygoer, model, television personality, paparazzo and publisher, he harnessed the power of the celebrity system and expanded his reach beyond the art world and into the wider world of commerce.

Pop Life then looks ahead to the work of a number of artists who, like Warhol, have openly engaged with the cult of celebrity and unashamedly championed the idea of turning public attention into aesthetic notoriety and financial reward.   gallery.ca/poplife/