Did you know that there's no admission charge to the National Gallery of Canada's latest show, Garry Neill Kennedy: Work of Four Decades? If you happen to be in Ottawa the next few months, this is a great show to drop in and visit for a few hours. The Ottawa Citizen called the show tongue-in-cheek and tons of fun: "Nova Scotia artist Garry Neill Kennedy will undoubtedly provide you with the most fun you ever had at a major public gallery -- at least since Keith Haring's graffiti last whizzed through Canada."

Kennedy has been at the forefront of Atlantic Canada's art scene since the mid-1960s, when he became president of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 1967. "He set about transforming the college into a school with an international faculty and a direct connection with the development of conceptual art."

Although the title of the show "Work of Four Decades," seems to imply that this is a retrospective, much of the work has been freshly created for the National Gallery. The show includes 80 works: paintings, drawings, wall works, artist's books, photographs, and "site-specific installations."

The show is a celebration of the work of an artist, and Kennedy's obviously had a lot fun preparing the exhibit. It's a lighthearted deconstruction of 20th century art, and he spent months even painting the walls of the National Gallery with unique works that unfortunately can't be moved when the show closes in January. A video running during the show captures some of this prep process. So that's one more reason to take in this exhibit in person.

Following the Ottawa show, the exhibition will travel to the Nickle Arts Museum in Calgary from 20 February to 20 April 2002.

The Music Is Served:
Some of the bestselling Canadian authors have lately been chefs. Leading the cookbook craze has been the prolific kitchen guru Bonnie Stern. She's also got a few TV shows going, and now has teamed up with Sony Classical to lend a hand to budding hosts. Stern's complied a set of CDs to accent the mood of specific meals, and the accompanying booklets provide recipes and wine recommendations. Look for Stern's five 'A La Carte' compilations in music stores.

Fine Tuning: The Chorale group The Mediæval Bæbes has been getting more attention than most neo-gothic performers, but then girl-groups get all the hot press these days. Katharine Blake, the 28-year-old lead singer of the British goth-vocal group Miranda Sex Garden, formed the group to croon hit tunes from the 1300s attired in skimpy dresses not suitable for real medieaval castles. Watch these 12 knockouts -- they've been dubbed "Ye Olde Spice Girls" -- in their live concert in Bravo's Rehearsal Hall, Saturday at 8 p.m. ET.

And on a more classical note, Saturday Afternoon at the Opera presents the Canadian Opera Company production of Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore. Michael Schade headlines the cast and Maurizio Barbacini conducts. Saturday at 1:30 pm (2:30 AT; 3:00 NT) on CBC Radio Two.

From earlier this week: