Visual artist Catherine Richards has a new exhibit entitled Excitable Tissues currently on show at the Ottawa Art Gallery.

Richards, a fave of the MIT Media lab folks and a feminist pioneer in cyberspace, works with both old and new technologies to excavate new artistic meaning. Her more recent works Charged Hearts (1997), Cabinet of Curiosities (1995), and Virtual Body (1993) toured both North America and Europe.

Richards has received a Canada Council award in Media Arts for "outstanding and innovative use of new technologies" in media arts. Her use of virtual reality resulted in the acclaimed Spectral Bodies. Richards was commissioned in part by the National Gallery of Gallery to create Charged Hearts and co-directed the Bioappratus at the Banff Centre for the Arts.

Clearly Richards is an artist to keep our collective eye on. She's an artist in residence at the National Gallery and was recently appointed as a professor at the School of Arts of the University of Ottawa.

Gee I wonder what tissues she's finding so terribly exciting? Sounds a bit like Terminator 2 undressed.

NAC NEWS:
There are a couple of cool bilingual shows on the board at the NAC over the next couple of nights. First off is An Evening with Erich Kunzel. Kunzel, known as The King of Pops, is back due to popular demand for the first time since 1994. The conductor has sold over 7.5 million records, and the NAC is thrilled to have this musical megastar back in Ottawa. Nov. 16, 17 and 18 with the National Arts Centre Orchestra.

And on the NAC's dramatic frontier, the Théâtre de l'Île and the NAC French Theatre are hosting a co-production of Quand Marie est Partie by Israel Horovitz. "This comedy-drama by an American author who has been praised throughout the world but is still not well known here will spin you between tears and laughter in this completely local production featuring distinguished guest artists."

Quand Marie est Partie is a warm and touching story about what it's like to find yourself tumbling crazily into love when you're old and gray. The play stars Danielle Grégoire, Edwige Herbiet, Gilles Pelletier and Jean-Louis Roux. Runs Nov. 16 to 25.

Fine Tuning: Elizabeth Smart: On the Side of the Angels Archival features the incomparable Jackie Burroughs in this innovative use of interviews, readings, and dramatic re-creation, to tell the story of the Canadian writer. 5 p.m. ET on Bravo.

Also, watch for the repeat of last Sunday's episode of Canada: A People's History. It's part five and they've made their way up to 1775. What are you missing? CBC-TV at 8 p.m.