Artist Viktor Mitic is making headlines with his controversial gunshot paintings, which feature portraits of celebrities, iconic religious figures, and famous works or art outlined in bullet holes. Shocked by recent incidences of defacement of sacred works of art by fanatics—for example, the destruction of the giant Buddhas of Bamiyan by the Taliban—Mitic’s goal was to use weapons in his art to create rather than to destroy. Guns are naturally perceived with uneasiness, and the image of an artist shooting a painting of an iconic figure carries an intense psychological impact; however, the juxtaposition of beauty constructed out of violence in Mitic’s paintings generates an unexpected feeling of tranquility. In his own words, “Although the process is very loud, there is a sense of peace after the smoke is gone.”

Eleven of the paintings presented in Art or War are accompanied by prose or poetry by a distinguished Canadian author: Erika Ritter, George Elliott Clarke, George Fetherling, Katherine Govier, Catherine Bush, Susan Musgrave, Gary Michael Dault, Barry Dempster, Jim Nason, and Goran Simic. These writers’ creative responses provide an illuminating counterpoint to Mitic’s inspiring and challenging work.

Included as an additional bonus is a film by Laurie Kwasnik of the artist at work, with commentary by Terry Graff, Curator, Beaverbrook Art Gallery; Ryan Grover; Curator, Biggs Museum of American Art; Gary Michael Dault, critic, writer; Charles Pachter, artist; Pamela Edmonds, Curator, Peterborough Art Gallery; Cole Swanson, Curator Living Arts Mississauga; and Ewan Whyte, poet, writer.

Click to read an excerpt from Art or War.

Praise for the paintings of Viktor Mitic:

“Sometimes he’s right on and sometimes he’s not . . . Some of it is smartass, some of it is mischievous, but that’s art too.”
—Charles Pachter, Globe and Mail, USA Today

“Provocative art with religious connotations.”
—Peter Goddard, Toronto Star

“Serious painting, but it’s fun . . . there is levity to it.”
—Terry Graff, Telegraph Journal

[He's] taken . . . an iconic religious image and used a gun on it . . . What next?
—Mark Coles, BBC

The stories in After the Fires light the dark places where reality burns away to reveal something fantastical.

In these stories Ursula Pflugs worlds unfold like waking dreams where what was forgotten is remembered. Her narrators accept these shadow worlds as their truth and the reader is seduced into following along to see what has been refashioned and lies waiting to be discovered among the ashes that remain after the fires.

Click to read an excerpt from After the Fires.

Ursula Pflug is author of the novel Green Music (Tesseract Books, 2002.) She is also an award winning short story writer, professionally produced playwright, book reviewer and creative writing instructor.

In the fantastical world of Sandra Kasturi’s poetry, myth intersects with reality resulting in a unique dream world that even those who generally shy away from poetry find irresistible.

Filled with instances of role reversal, shapeshifting and gender bending, the feminist streak running through these poems becomes a bedtime story whose ending is suspect, unexpected and filled with dark humour.

Whether running with the wolves, or sleeping with them, Kasturi uses her sly words to turn everyday conventions inside out.

With an introduction by Neil Gaiman.

Click to read an excerpt from The Animal Bridegroom.

Sandra Kasturi is a poet, writer and editor. She is currently working on an animated children’s TV series, a novel and another poetry collection. In 2005 she won ARC magazine’s coveted annual Poem of the Year award for her poem “Old Men, Smoking.” She has also received several Toronto Arts Council grants, and a Bram Stoker Award for her editorial work at the on-line magazine, ChiZine. Sandra has three poetry chapbooks published, as well as the well-received SF poetry anthology, The Stars As Seen from this Particular Angle of Night, which she edited. Her poetry has appeared in various magazines and anthologies, including Prairie Fire, On Spec, several of the Tesseracts series, 2001: A Science Fiction Poetry Anthology, and Northern Frights 4. Her cultural essay, “Divine Secrets of the Yaga Sisterhood” appeared in the anthology Girls Who Bite Back: Witches, Slayers, Mutants and Freaks. Sandra is a founding member of the Algonquin Square Table poetry workshop and runs her own imprint, Kelp Queen Press. The Animal Bridegroom is her first full-length poetry collection.