1.Ron and I met at school, when we were 12 years old. Since then we have traveled around Europe together, been roommates once or twice, and, for the most part, continued to enjoy each other’s company. These days, my wife and I happily play the role of “non-art world friends” in Ron’s life.
2. When I look at the “Welcome to Vancouver” sign I think about the city where we both live, obviously, and what the phrase “Vancouver based artist” might mean to Ron and to rest of the world (Prague, for instance).
I also think about Ron’s earlier Jeopardy paintings. Both feature text on a monochrome background, so I can see a line from one to the other. That gets me thinking about the sign as painting-esque, and then it occurs to me that maybe the sign is Ron’s twist on a landscape painting. And I haven’t even begun to consider the whole readymade thing.
3. I think skip the first part of this question, as it strikes me as too big for me to answer here. As for the second part, if it’s just a matter of giving my personal opinion I suppose I can oblige. A far as any dichotomy is concerned, I personally think that art should be at the intersection between the two, directing the flow of ideas back and forth and generally keeping things interesting.
— John Ounpuu


Selected solo exhibitions: 2003: Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver; 101, Ottawa; Art Metropoli, Toronto; 2002: Catriona Jeffries, Vancouver; 2000: Or, Vancouver; Western Front, Vancouver.
Selected group exhibitions: 2003: Soundtracks, Art Gallery, Edmonton; Subscribe: Recent Art in Print, Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, New York; 2002: Crack, Agnes Etherington Art Center, Ontario; 2001: Universal Pictures 3.1, Plug in, Winnipeg, Canada; This day, Art Gallery, Vancouver; Promises, Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver; Supersonic transport, Dunlop Art Gallery, Regina, Canada.