The French critic Andre Malraux in his book The Voices of Silence warned of his fear that Art was sinking into the slough of - to use his word - delectation. It was becoming something merely to please. Reviewing the Mayworks Art Shows held in the Oceanside Gallery, he needn't have worried.

The works in the main Oceanside Gallery had depth. The show resonated with implication. They were making passionate social comment through Art, some of it decidedly painful, and because of this they are important pieces.

Ed Varney's TIME TO GO TO WORK is a text-based piece pointing out how we are driven by the Task Clock. Standing on guard in front of the piece is a splendid 19th century alarm clock about to go off.

Wayne Cameron's MONOPOLY (which is the brand name of a cheap Brit champagne) shows a fashionable woman sipping champagne behind a row of bottles with the label 'Fuck You'. His other submission, a sister piece entitled FRIDAY, shows an ancient copy-machine printing an illustration of a skull & crossbones that we recognize warns us of poisonous contents.

A related piece is Paula Maloney's DAYMINDER, a satirical piece about the daily psychological states of working for "The Man" over the course of one week. A row of mounted photographs showing a woman's facial expressions of mounting horror move the viewer from Monday through Friday.

Bonnie Laird's very large piece, THE INFERNAL NOISE OF MACHINERY, assaults the viewer with the dramatic bleak silence of the painting which seems almost to follow one around the room. Her second piece is a portrait of a face without hope, called PAVEMENT PEDDLING.

Laurie Broadhurst's WORKING WITH SENILE DEMENTIA is a Moebius strip hanging from the ceiling. Attached to the strip are small clock faces without hands, and the never-ever-ending sentence WHEN DO WE GO TO THE DOCTOR? NOT UNTIL TOMORROW DEAR. WHEN DO WE GO TO THE DOCTOR? NOT UNTIL TOMORROW DEAR. WHEN DO WE GO TO THE DOCTOR? NOT UNTIL TOMORROW DEAR. Do we know about senile dementia now?

CARPAL TUNNEL BLUES by Tony Kirby is a collage-painting showing pictures of hands quietly knitting, with nails driven into each wrist which are connected by a thread (of pain?). A loose landscape kind of painting, embedded with medical text illustrations of the musculature of wrists and hands, drips down from above the hands. Because of its landscape quality this is one of those paintings you admire from across the room before you have absorbed the details.

WORKING TOGETHER is an idealistic textile piece by Donna Polos, showing three women clothed in the work of their hands, facing away from the viewer and looking up at the tiny gold stars pinned to the sky. Her second piece, TERRORIZED, about the vulnerability of New York city workers during the 9/11 attacks, is more abstract and riven with tension.

These pieces are curiously complemented by Natasha Henderson's FOOD AND FACTORY, which refers to the untold numbers of people working behind the scenes in often deplorable conditions to produce our food. Her PROCESSED EATING OPPORTUNITIES is a caricature of a fast food mascot, simultaneously giving us both a 'thumbs up' and 'the finger', while cynically trampling the landscape. The cartoon quality of the figures plays off against the no-fun titles.

Rod Corraini's HOW DOES YOUR BOSS MEASURE? is a crackling angular aggressive piece with a workman's glove holding a hammer coming out of the dark sky that is reminiscent of God's hand in the Sistine Chapel. The sky is covered with ugly screw nails and the hammer is over top a pair of shorts that have the fly open. You come away from the piece feeling as if you've been mentally clawed. His other piece, WISHY WASHY WASHERWOMAN, is an acrylic showing a woman pushing a laundry cart, perhaps in the New York city garment district as recorded by de Chirico.

Elizabeth Russell uses her materials and processes as means to explore the theme of domestic and manual labour. SOUNDS FROM ABOVE, containing nails and just the fragrance of colour, expresses both the physical and meditative elements of work. Her other piece, MOP PAINTING, is a vigorously swabbed black background framing a white ladder, which suggests the hierarchical ladder domestic workers must climb in their struggle to survive. The ladder is cut and hung in sections, so there is a kind of precarious feeling to it, like a fire-escape ladder from an old building.

THE COURAGE OF OUR DAILY TASKS is an icon by Virginia Moon. A blue dressed Virgin Mary figure holding a baby and with an armload of household things - a frying pan, a tea towel, Lux cleanser - hangs on a clothesline under a bicycle-fender Cybelle moon. Above this icon are two poems - Hope is the Only Thing with Feathers by Emily Dickinson and a response by Virginia herself, that concludes - and still we choose to sing.

Dominating the centre of the gallery was a spectacular piece made up of two huge silvery figures representingæ Corporation Man, carrying transparent briefcases and running to keep up. Inside each briefcase are small figures, one of whom is decapitated, representing marginalized workers encouraged by our economic system to fight each other for jobs and advancement. The huge silvery figures have an oval hole where their hearts should be. The piece is by Marion-Lea Jamieson and is called COLOUR THEORY.

Surveying the room from the corner was Ken Flett's A DRAGONSLAYER'S WHISPER. Flett's materials are an intricate part of his work, and Dragonslayer has a rich beeswax surface coating a frame made of wooden branches. There is something very medieval about the bust. Something of the Dark Ages. In a more immediate sense it is about the armour we wear everyday as a sort of protection when working at distasteful, unrewarding jobs.

The Nemeth Gallery hosted a group of stunning photographs taken by Courtenay's Studio One staff. The eight participants -- Trudy Bottrell, David Hall, Melissa Heydamack, Dave Johns, Donna Kerr, Doug Kerr, Pauline Mitchell and Lars Olsson -- portrayed men and women at work in a wide range of occupations, including logging, fishing, construction work and welding, military and police work, flying, animal training, candle lighting and bartending. These works were impressive for their technical skill and in the sensitivity shown to their subjects.

And then, in the Arrowsmith Gallery -- revolution! ASSAULT! Hundreds of pieces of art the size of a playing card, ARTISTS' TRADING CARDS, or ATCs, from all over Canada, US, and Europe decorated the walls in a kind of (well the French again) Convulsive Beauty - which naturally you couldn't buy. You had to grub out at the back of the schoolyard and trade! Which meant you actually HAD TO MAKE A CARD! Then you had to get somebody, somewhere in Europe, Canada, or the US to trade her card for your card. It is contagious.  [view the catalogue list]

The first sign of the disease was in January, 1997 in Switzerland, started by M. Vanci Stirneman . . . and by September 27th of that year the first ATC gallery, called The New Gallery, opened in Calgary. The Authorities haven't noticed it yet even though a virulent strain has hit the Nanaimo area.

So, if you see a piece of art the size of a playing card, you'll know that The Revolution has begun.

= Bill Lynch.

Unless otherwise noted, all events take place at The Oceanside Arts Centre.

Monday, MAY 1st - Opening Events

• WORKING WITHOUT A NET • Exhibition Opening, 7:30 - 9 pm
  In the main Oceanside Gallery, a visual art exhibition about the marginalization of workers affected by a changing economy. Show continues to May 28th.

• STUDIO ONE PHOTOGRAPHERS • Exhibition Opening, 7:30 - 9 pm
  Featured in the Nemeth Gallery, recent work by this Courtenay-based group. Show continues to May 28th.

• INTERNATIONAL ATC EXHIBITION • Exhibition Opening, 7:30 - 9 pm
  Held in the Arrowsmith Gallery in conjunction with Mayworks, featuring work-themed trading cards made by artists from around the world. Selected works from each artist will be included in the permanent OCAC Archive. Show ends with a trading session on Sunday, May 28th, 2 - 4pm.

Wednesday, MAY 10th

• FILM NIGHT • Free film screening, 7 - 10 pm
  Double feature about community and environmental issues: Thirst and It's Our Water, Dammit.

Sunday, MAY 13th

• SOUP KITCHEN • Empty Bowl Event, 5 - 6:30 pm
  Organised by the Arrowsmith Potters' Guild, and featuring delicious soups made by local chefs, donated by local restaurants, with take-away bowls donated for auction by local potters. Food and food prep supplied by Bayside/Heron's Restaurant, Cabernet's Restaurant, Lefty's Restaurant, Starbuck's, Quality Foods and Alain Bernard.

Sunday, MAY 20th

• COWGIRLS' ROUNDUP • Knox United Church, 7:30 pm
  An evening of entertainment with 2005 Alberta Entertainer of The Year singer/songwriter Eli Barsi and 2005 North American Female Cowboy Poet of The Year Doris Daley.

Sunday, MAY 28th

• ATC TRADING SESSION • Closing event, 2 - 4 pm
  Local artists get together to trade with works sent by artists from around the world.