{"product_id":"general-idea-test-tube-1981","title":"GENERAL IDEA “TEST TUBE POSTER” 1980","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.caviar20.com\/collections\/general-idea\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eGeneral Idea\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e 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 contribution to postmodern and conceptual art in Canada and beyond.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThe group was both prolific and multi-disciplinary long before it became de rigueur. They worked with a wide range of media including photography, sculpture, painting, mail art, video, installations, multiples, and performance.   \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eWith their subversive approach and interest in parody and appropriation, General Idea addressed a broad range of social (and art-world) issues such as the cult of the artist, mass media, queer identity, and consumerism.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eIn 1970, General Idea debuted the Miss General Idea Pageant, a conceptual parody pageant that subverted traditional beauty contests through absurd documented performances and related objects. Through various mediums and iterations, The Miss General Idea Pageant endured for nearly two decades. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e\"Test Tube\" was related to the 1984 Miss General Idea Pageant Pavilion. Initially introduced as a satirical soap opera, General Idea explored the concept of the Pavilion's Colour Bar Lounge as a cultural laboratory where they experiment with how art is consumed. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThis image features a research participant drinking from a test tube at the Pavilion's Colour Bar Longe while text from the video reads vertically, framing their figure. It is worth mentioning that the idea of beverages and consumption make repeated appearances in General Idea's oeuvre including \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.caviar20.com\/collections\/general-idea\/products\/general-idea-nazi-milk-glass-1980\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e\"Nazi Milk\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.caviar20.com\/collections\/general-idea\/products\/general-idea-magic-palette-1980\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e\"Magic Palette\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThis poster was produced as a promotion for a screening of the TEST TUBE videotape at Carmen Lamanna Gallery on March 27, 1980.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eIn 2022, the National Gallery of Canada held a major retrospective of the group's work, which has since traveled to Amsterdam and opened at the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.berlin.de\/en\/exhibitions\/7913511-5202331-general-idea-retrospective.en.html\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eGropius Bau in Berlin during the fall of 2023\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eTwo of the members, Felix Partz and Jorge Zontal died of AIDS in 1994. General Idea's surviving member, AA Bronson, continues to practice as an independent artist and oversees the representation, exhibition, and reedition of General Idea’s work internationally.  \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eQuestions about this piece? \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"mailto:troy@caviar20.com\"\u003eContact us\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, call +1.416.704.1720, or\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.caviar20.com\/pages\/contact\"\u003evisit our Toronto Gallery\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eTest Tube Poster: Carmen Lamanna Gallery\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eCanada, 1980\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eOffset lithograph on paper\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eUnnumbered edition\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e24\"H 18\"W (work)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003ePublished by Carmen Lamanna Gallery, Toronto\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eVery good condition\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"General Idea","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":68115336528108,"sku":"10-26","price":1250.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0074\/2712\/files\/Caviar20_General-Idea_s-Test-Tube-Poster_01.jpg?v=1794080520","url":"https:\/\/www.caviar20.com\/products\/general-idea-test-tube-1981","provider":"Caviar20","version":"1.0","type":"link"}