Boudoir Poodles, Mural Fragment from the 1984 Miss General Idea Pavilion

A.A. Bronson, Felix Partz, and Jorge Zontal formed the artist collective General Idea in Toronto in 1969. They frequently drew parallels between beauty pageants and the art world—arguing that both are premised on talent showcases, prizes, winners, and losers. Following their 1970 event, the Miss General Idea Pageant, they continued to reference fictional pageants and pavilions.

The artists claimed that this work was an archeological remnant from the burned-down 1984 Miss General Idea Pavilion, which never in fact existed. Often depicted having sex, poodles appeared in the group’s visual lexicon in the early 1980s, challenging critics and viewers to confront sexual identity and AIDS—which claimed the lives of Partz and Zontal in 1994.