Kate Craig

Kate Craig

Born	(1947-09-15)September 15, 1947 Victoria, British Columbia
Died	July 23, 2002(2002-07-23) (aged 54) Storm Bay, British Columbia
Nationality	Canadian
Education	Dalhousie University, (1963-1966)
Known for	Performance art, video art, mail art

Kate Craig (September 15, 1947 – July 23, 2002) was a pioneering Canadian video and performance artist. She was a founding member of the artist-run centre the Western Front, where she supported the video and performance works of many artists while producing her own influential body of work. She is known for her performances as ‘Lady Brute" and her video productions.

Biography

Catherine Shand Craig was born on September 15, 1947 in Victoria, British Columbia. She was the third child of Sidney Osborne Craig (née Scott) and Charles Edward Craig. Her parents divorced in 1956. In 1960, her mother married Douglas Shadbolt, an architect and brother of the painter Jack Shadbolt. The family moved to Montreal and then to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where Kate attended Dalhousie University (1961) and had a summer job in the costume shop at the Neptune Theatre. She left Dalhousie University in her third year and moved to Montreal to work in the costume shop at Le Theatre du Nouveau Monde. In 1967, while in Victoria she met and married Eric Metcalfe (1963). The couple travelled to Europe and to Toronto, settling in Vancouver where, along with friends, Michael Morris, Vincent Trasov and Glenn Lewis, they bought the space that became the Western Front in the Mount Pleasant area of Vancouver.

Performance art

Lady Brute

Eric Metcalfe was a fine arts student at the University of Victoria and Kate was drawn to his circle of artists and performers. In 1969, he created a mail art persona called "Dr. Brute." Kate became "Lady Brute" This collaborative project created the fictional world of "Brutopia." Their collection of leopard material filled this world and the characters examined the foibles of western society. In 1972, Lady Brute appears as the ‘Picture of the Week’ in an issue of FILE magazine and marched in the Victoria Day parade in Victoria, B.C. Her performances were usually informal, happening in the real world rather than on stage. She would attend an opening or a dinner in her leopard regalia and that was the performance. In 1974 she performed ‘Flying Leopard’ in Vancouver at Cates Park and again on Hornby Island. In 1975 she produced her first video "Skins: Lady Brute presents her Leopardskin Wardrobe.^[1]" In that same year she and Metcalfe curated the exhibition "Spots Before your Eyes" at the Western Front and A Space. Lady Brute continued to make appearances and participate in exhibitions through the 1970s. She and Metcalfe separated in 1973.

As Lady Brute

1974 – Dr. and Lady Brute attend Hollywood Decadence and Art’s Birthday, Elk’s Lodge, Los Angeles, performing with the Brute Saxes.
1975 – A guest appearance with the Hummer Sisters in Toronto
1975 – Ace Space Show at the Western Front.
1976 – Dr. and Lady Brute, an evening of film video, slides and performance at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria.

Performance groups

In 1974, Kate was a founding member of the ‘ettes’ a women's ‘post feminist’ performance group. They performed as the "Peanettes’ during Mr. Peanut’s campaign for mayor of Vancouver. They also performed as the Coconettes and the Vignettes in 1975. She was also a founder of the Lux Radio Players in 1974, that group performed through 1977. The Canadian Shadow Players, founded in 1976, performed nationally and internationally until 1986.

Lux Radio Players

1974 – A Clear Cut Case at Western Front
1975 – A Bite Tonight, Planet of the Whales (for the send off party, first Green Peace Anti-Whaling expedition); and The Raw and the Plucked by Mary Beth Knechtel
1976 – Habitart, or How to Live with Your Just Desserts, commissioned by the Vancouver Art Gallery for the Habitat Festival.
1976 – The Thief of Gladbag, commissioned and performed for the Judy Lamarsh Show on CBC Radio, at the Hotel Vancouver.
1977 – Weather or Naught at the Western Front

Peanettes

1974 – perform with the Mr. Peanut ‘s Mayoral campaign

Vignettes

1975 – Amy Vanderbilt Valentine Debutante’s Ball at the Western Front

Coconettes

1975 – Ace Space Show with Lady Brute at the Western Front

Canadian Shadow Players

1976 – The Exploits and Opinions of Dr. Faustroll, a commission by the City of Vancouver for the Habitat Festival, the production tours
1977 – The Exploits and Opinions of Dr. Faustroll at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
1978 – Vis-à-vis, a commission by the Music Gallery, Toronto, touring to Montreal, Ottawa, Hamilton, Vancouver and Victoria.
1982 – Aka Nada, a commission by the Music Gallery, Toronto, touring to Montreal, Ottawa,Berlin, Santa Barbara, Innsbruck, and Lienz, Austria
1985 – Corpus Collossum, funded by the Department of External Affairs and the Holland Festival
1986 – The Pataphysics of Umbrology at the Centre for Creative Music, Mills College, Oakland, California

Performances

1974 – Flying Leopard in Vancouver at Cates Park and on Hornby Island.
1975 – Appears as a Supreme Court judge in Errol’s Errors, Byron Black.
1976 - 1980 – Guest spots on the HP dinner show, CFRO-FM, Vancouver.
1976 – Presents solo evening of video, film and slides, Langton Street Gallery, San Francisco.
1977 – Plays drums for the Young Adults, a Vancouver based punk band.
1979 – A video of Flying Leopard is on view at Video Inn during the Living Art Performance Festival, Vancouver.
1979 – Performs At the End of the World, in collaboration with Hank Bull at the Robson Media Center, Vancouver.
1980 – Appears as a frumpy desk clerk in Colin Campbell’s Peachland.
1981 – Performs La Chaise des Memes, a shadow play in collaboration with Hank Bull
1982 – Appears making a mandala in Ko Nakajima’s video Mandala 82.
1984 - Appears as herself in Marshalore’s video installation Album.
1984 – Appears as a flute player in Fraser Finlayson’s Come Fly with Sunny Day.
1985 – Appears as one of the respirating in Margaret Dragu’s video Breath.

The Western Front

Main article: Western Front Society

In 1973 Kate Craig and seven other artists (Martin Bartlett, Mo van Nostrand, Henry Greenhow, Glenn Lewis, Eric Metcalfe, Michael Morris, and Vincent Trasov) purchased the former Knights of Pythias lodge hall and founded the Western Front Society.^[2] An artist-run centre, The Western Front became a centre for artistic exploration in many disciplines.^[3] She established and curated an Artist-in-Residence video program in 1977. In addition to creating her own work, she fostered and produced video works with an impressive array of Canadian and international artists, including Stan Douglas, Mona Hatoum, Tony Oursler and Robert Filliou. In 1993 she retired from her position as curator of media arts. The Western Front continues to support exhibitions, concerts, workshops, performances and maintains an extensive media archive.

Video production

1975 – "Skins: Lady Brute Presents her Leopardskin Wardrobe"^[4]
1976 – "Still Life: A Moving Portrait^[5]"
1978 – "Backup" in collaboration with Margaret Dragu^[6]
1979 – "Delicate Issue"
1979 – "Clay Cove"
1980 – "Straight Jacket"
1983 – "Canada Shadow" in collaboration with Hank Bull
1986 – "Ma"
1989 – "Mary Lou"

References

↑ Bull, Hank and Sharla Sava. "Skin: A Conversation With Kate Craig," Boo Magazine (Vancouver) 11, 1998: 8-13.
↑ Personal Perspective by Kate Craig. Vancouver: Art and Artists 1931-1983. Ed. Luke Rombout. Vancouver: Vancouver Art Gallery, 1983. p. 261-262
↑ Western Front
↑ "Skins: Lady Brute Presents her Leopardskin Wardrobe"
↑ "Still Life: A Moving Portrait"
↑ "Backup"

External links

Authority control	VIAF: 104145840 ISNI: 0000 0001 1001 9862 ULAN: 500018788