Author: artoronto

ART CHANGED MY WIFE!
Opening reception: October 10, 2013, 6 – 9 p.m.
De Luca Fine Art / Gallery

De Luca Fine Art is celebrating it’s 10th anniversary in October. “This journey has changed my life”, said Director Corrado De Luca in the press release. “I also got fat. That could be because of all the wonderful dinners and receptions or because I’m getting older. Maybe it’s a bit of both”, he continues with a smile on his generous face. “I grew up as the son of an artist in Italy and I’ve been surrounded by great art my whole life. The gallery had it’s humble beginnings on Sorauren Avenue in 2003. A year later I moved the gallery to Queen West and for the last two years the new home of De Luca Fine Art is 217 Avenue Road. There is an increased interest in what we are doing at the gallery and I’m looking forward to what is to come.”

Co-director of De Luca Fine Arts Walter Willems and director Corrado De Luca in front of Ville Löppönen, Flagellation (2013)

Art changed my wife! is a playful and celebratory exhibition showcasing a wide variety of art. From signature works by longstanding gallery artists to works by conceptual installation-based artists who joined the gallery recently. It will be a smorgasbord of engaging art, presented on the cocaine-white walls of the gallery, located at the edge of Ramsden Park in Yorkville, Toronto.

Artist Peter G. Ray with his work, My Waterloo (2006)

Actress, Jennifer Dale, artist Peter G. Ray and friend

Artist Tony Calzetta

“The exhibition will pose a curatorial challenge as the artworks rotate over the duration of the show”, says Walter Willems, Co-director at De Luca Fine Art in the press release. “There’s too much good stuff to show in this modest space, so we’ll have to shuffle and shuffle to showcase samples of all the great work we have in store.”

Juul Haalmeyer and Jes E. Sladojevic with Robert Hedrick’s work Monarch’s Journey (2007)

Artists, Max Streicher and Harley Valentine in front of Camilla Singh, Secret V, Variation 1 (2010)

 Photo: Alice Tallman

*Exhibition dates: October 10 – November 2, 2013, De Luca Fine Art / Gallery, 217 Avenue Road, Toronto. Gallery hours:  Wednesday – Saturday, 12 – 6 p.m.

Opening Reception: October 10, 2013, 6 – 10 p.m.
Project Gallery
1109 Queen Street East

Project Gallery in Toronto’s east side might just be one of the busiest art spaces in the city. In its five months of being open to the public, the gallery has already hosted twenty shows. I went to check out number 21’s opening reception last Thursday night titled, Architexture.

I was fashionably early in my arrival which gave me a chance to speak with gallery co-director Alex Buchanan. I learned that Architexture seeks to explore the relationship and personal reflection we can experience with space and architecture. The works produced for this group show aim to visually highlight this connection, as well as the sublime feeling of inspiration it can evoke within us. Rather than a showing of human presence in these works, they encourage viewers to connect with the exhibition by placing themselves into the pieces.

Photographer, Robert Greatirix

The expression of power and wealth of Toronto’s downtown urban jungle is captured by photographer Robert Greatirix. The towering form requires you to consider your position within this space both physically and mentally, while the white light emitting from the street draws you in. This push and pull juxtaposition  makes for a striking image.

Doug Temple, Taking Place 2, oil on canvas, 16 x 20 inches, 2013. Courtesy of Project Gallery

In the two pieces titled Taking Place 1, and 2, the bold thickness of the brush strokes and the resulting shadows cast onto itself makes for a striking image. Artist Doug Temple sees it as an abstracted birds eye view of the city. It is easy to see where he is coming from. The white strokes that seem to intensify at a point, reminiscent of Toronto’s grid style layout.

Marzena Kotapska in front of her work, Big Sky (right)

Marzena  Kotapska of “Big Sky” explains how for her piece, she took numerous urban shots in Toronto and used elements from each to come up with her final piece. Working in a style that is new to her, its effectiveness is clear as the saturated vibrancy of her colour palette drew many guests immediately to her work.

Emerson Myers, Shanty Town, oil, acrylic and ink on canvas, 60 x 60 inches, 2013. Courtesy of Project Gallery

One of the largest pieces in the show “Shanty Town” by Emerson Myers, breaks the idea of urban space down to its bones. It focuses on the materials we associate with our surrounding environment. Through articulate curation, this piece sits well in this exhibition as a threshold between the more abstracted works and those that rest in a realist state.

Cate Mcguire, Winter

Artist Gavin MacDougall

Matt Cohen, Back and Forth

According to Alex Buchanan, the east side of Toronto is experiencing somewhat of a cultural uprising. In an area not traditionally known for its artistic community, Project Gallery is among several new spaces set to change this perception. With no plans to slow down, watch out for the addition of Gallery Crawl (Sunday October 20, 2013, 1 – 5 p.m.) and more exiting exhibitions like Architexture from Project Gallery.

Text: Rhys Male. Photo: Celeste Ringrose

*Exhibition dates: October 10 – 24, 2013, Project Gallery, 1109 Queen Street East. Gallery hours: Wed – Sun 12 – 6 p.m.

Exhibition Dates: October 24 – November 6, 2013
Opening Reception: October 31, 2013, 7 – 11 p.m. with performances
Deadline: October 25, 2013

Film Night: November 2, 2013 short film/movie screening w/ pumpkin carving

ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS in ANY AND ALL MEDIA, including traditional visual arts (painting, drawing, photography etc) but also PERFORMANCE, MUSIC, SCULPTURE, SITE-SPECIFIC INSTALLATION, and VIDEO. This is a 2-week group exhibition.

Simply seeking artworks that explore, express, confront, overcome, or provoke the experience of, FEAR in its many forms. Art that makes people scared of art.

GET EVIL

Submit to: submissions@projectgallerytoronto.com by October 20th

WITH:

• Up to 5 Photos or up to 2 videos of your work

•  Titled: FULLNAME_TITLE_SIZE_MEDIUM_DATE

• A brief artist bio/statement – up to 200 words

• Contact information – phone number + website/blog

* Main wall projection, and dedicated screens available to feature video work

* Plinths and shelves available to display sculpture work

Send submissions to submissions@projectgallerytoronto.com by October 25, 2013.

Exhibition: November 7 – 21, 2013
Opening Reception: Thursday, November 7, 2013, 7 – 11 p.m.
Deadline for Submission: November 1, 2013

Seeking submissions in any and all media for a contemporary art exhibition at Project Gallery: TWISTED. There will be an opening reception for the exhibit on Thursday, November 7th from 7 – 11 p.m. Additionally; NBMG will be hosting an open wine tasting and cultural event on Friday November 15th from 7 – 11 p.m. as well.

The exhibition will feature works that address the limitations and nuisances of perception by displaying works that can intrigue, guide and trick the eye. Works that incorporate twists, turns, layered perspectives, amorphous forms, dynamic compositions, warped imagery, distortions, circuitry, coils etc – be it thematically or visually. The aim of the exhibit is to engage the viewer in discerning the subtleties between illusion and reality in art, in a way that prompts consideration of the factors that form our unique perspective of reality and what we experience. The purpose of this exhibit is to provide a dialogue and discussion about the real and the surreal, the norm and the deviant. Project Gallery is seeking submissions from artists interested in the perplexities and uncertainties of vision and perception, whose artwork bend, defy or reconsider traditional notions of scale, composition, balance, form, and perspective.

The show will examine questions like: Is there finite truth in perception? How does vision contribute to our understandings and experiences? What are the limitations of vision, perception and thinking? What is the human process that brings meaning, feeling and experience to ambiguous forms and optical illusions? How does the manipulation of forms affect our vision, imagination and psyche?

* Projector and dedicated screens available for displaying video work

* Plinths and shelves available for displaying sculptural work

If you wish to submit, please include:

• Up to 5 Photos or up to 2 videos of your work

o Titled: FULLNAME_TITLE_SIZE_MEDIUM_DATE

• A brief artist bio/statement – up to 200 words

• A sentence or two stating your position on the topic (for, against, neutral)

• Contact information – including phone number and website/blog

Send submissions to: submissions@projectgallerytoronto.com by November 1st, 2013 (quoting ‘TWISTED’ in the email subject)

Typically artists selected to exhibit at Project Gallery contribute a nominal exhibition fee of 50-125$ based on exhibit duration as well as size and number of pieces exhibited. Fees go towards operating and maintaining of the gallery, exhibition promotions and printed materials, photography/videography, reception bar/food and SOP permits. Exhibition fees can be flexibly offset by commission negotiations.

Art Zoo Studio, a new project by 253469, opens with a weekend group exhibit on Saturday October 19, from noon – 6 p.m. and continues Sunday October 20, noon – 6 p.m. in Toronto’s west end. Promoting the avant garde, the known and the underground, Art Zoo Studio is a place for art enthusiasts and the public to gain access to bi-monthly group exhibits and non-traditional performance workshops. Art Zoo Studio is also a full time working studio for creating and is genuinely dedicated to working with a diverse range of challenging artists and art forms.

253469 opened as an art space at Bloor and Lansdowne in 2009 under the direction of Wesley Rickert. Numerous group events focused on screening art films, window installations, the exhibition of 2D work, art video projection and performance events, plus special solo exhibitions by Istvan Kantor, Henry Benvenuti, Wesley Rickert and Kathleen Reichelt. 253469 was a space for pure art experimentation and became an art community platform for “an interdisciplinary art space not ruled by commerce, academia, politics or common sense.” Since closing the first location in 2011, 253469 has produced events such as the international art film and video screening at the Trash Palace in 2012 and most recently the “Spell of the Hippodrome” – a theatrical duration / intervention project part of the very unofficial 2013 Nuit Blanche.

The first group exhibit includes contemporary sculpture, work on canvas, mixed media, work on paper, ceramic art, photography, video art, audio recordings and found objects. Participating artists include Kathleen Troy, Henry Banger Benvenuti, Istvan Kantor, Kenneth Laing Herdy, David Bateman, Caroline Mosby, Char Da Silva, Alexandria Pellegrino, Kelly Wray, Alpha Couple, Robert Ezergailis, Erin Murphy, Kathleen Reichelt, Wesley Rickert and Ashley Zarowny. Exhibit continues October 20, noon to 6pm.

Art Zoo Studio is a 253469 “umbrella without the hat” project and will be open for art exhibits, special events and by appointment.

Art Zoo Studio is located at 1 Wiltshire Avenue, Unit 132, Toronto, at Dupont and Symington.

John Lucas, Untitled #5 Riga, 2011 © John Lucas / Courtesy of Stephen Bulger Gallery

People in Milan and Riga are sitting at streetcar windows in John Lucas photographic series, Tram Portraits. They are all looking through the glass with meditative, far-away stares. None of them is happy. The images were made in 2011, when Europe had already gone into an economic recession. These people, travelling in the night, are not winners.

The old man in Riga has the most expressive face among them. He travels on a tram where time and distance seem to be suspended. Latvia is a cold country and it is winter there. The window is covered with steam/frost and he’s scraped a small area just big enough to see through. What is he looking at? Latvia, a former state of the Soviet Union, is now independent but this man has likely lived most of his life under repression. He must have been a soldier in WWII, suffered the Red Terror that followed, worked, loved, and raised a family under the communist regime. His clothes suggest that he belongs to the middle class, probably an intellectual. He was a witness to difficult times and history is written all over him.

Is he really staring at the frozen city outside? I don’t think so. He seems to be looking inward, captured by his memories. His sad face tells the story of a life well lived, a life that was worth living regardless the hardships.

Emese Krunák-Hajagos

*Exhibition dates: September 21 – October 19, 2013, Stephen Bulger Gallery, Gallery Two, 1026 Queen Street West. Gallery hours: Tue – Sat 11 – 6 p.m.

October 5, 2013 from sunrise to sunset

This year’s Nuit Blanche was less impressive than prior years. The stand-outs for me were the tower of chairs outside the Metropolitan United Church and the Shrine of garbage containers. Other things I liked a bit, but overall, I wished for more of a theme…. and I hope that going forward, Nuit Blanche (especially the curated exhibits) would provide more guidance to artists: displays must be large enough and high enough and lighted enough for “hundreds” of people to see at a time. Getting away from lining up should be a big goal. I wished the dome near Queen’s Park and College where they invited participants to have their brain waves scanned had projected their sound and show on the outside of the dome so everyone walking by (the spectators) could have understood it without waiting a long time ( I left) to get inside. I liked the “Forever Bicycles” but wished it had “more to it” and felt the Rose poem’s light overpowered everything else in Nathan Phillips Square.
I bailed out by about 1:30 a.m., missing the rain.
I hope for better things next year.

RevitaLight, Bata Shoe Museum

RevitaLight, Bata Shoe Museum

The Illusion of Linear Time by Kagame Murray, The Four Seasons Hotel

This, I build For You, Queens Park Crescent East & Grosvenor Street

There is an elephant in the truck, Queens Park Crescent East & Grosvenor Street

Monster Child by Libby Hague, Queens Park Crescent East &  College Street

Rumbling Drumlins, University Avenue and College Street

PARALLAX, University Avenue & Edward Street

Tanks by Cal Lane, David Pecaut Square, 221 King Street West

Outside the TIFF Lightbox promoting a David Cronenberg show, 350 King Street West

Mariner 9 by Kelly Richardson, Commerce Court, 25 King Street West

Shrine by John Notten, 21 Jordan Street

Ai Weiwei, Forever Bicycles, Nathan Phillips Square

Ai Weiwei, Forever Bicycles, Nathan Phillips Square

The rose is without why by Boris Achour, Nathan Phillips Square

Familia, Church of the Holy Trinity, 10 Trinity Square

Garden Tower by Tadashi Kawamata, Metropolitan United Church

View through Garden Tower by Tadashi Kawamata, Metropolitan United Church

Text: Julie McNeill. Photo: Adrian Ooesterman

Scotiabank Nuit Blanche
October 5, 2013 from sunset to sunrise
Downtown Toronto

As usual, Nuit Blanche provided for chaotic foot traffic, and beautiful, even occasionally thought-provoking, works of art. As the event it naturally transforms Toronto into an open-air gallery. It gives a chance to the public to see artworks and objects that are usually found in galleries or exhibition halls. There were artists here with their projects from all over the world giving a change to the public to see them.

Visitors lining up to get into Garden Tower by Tadashi Kawamata

Some of these objects included chairs, bikes, living rooms. However, this is not to imply that they were presented passively. These mundane and sometimes overlooked objects presented their audience with an opportunity to actively approach the artists’ ideas. Moreover, the event provided a (free!) sensory feast which made for a playful and lighthearted evening for adults and children alike. As a result, the Torontonian community was out to enthusiastically explore, instagram, and tweet the night away.

Tongue and Groove, Take a Load Off, 2013

 Danielle Sernoskie, 36km: Toronto Alleyway Exploration Project

Paulina Wiszowata, Art Objects (Ma Babies) batch 3

Identity in Place at the Deaf Culture Centre Gallery: Conner J. Lalonde, Deaf Functionality

Incredibly talented street musicians: the Sidewalk Crusaders

Text and photo: Leanne Simaan

Downtown in the wee hours

Aptly titled “Music Box” this kinetic installation upon first viewing is just that. A large wooden crate, standing tall on an empty parade float, containing an indecipherable muffled noise from within. Before long its doors burst open and a small stage attached to a pulley system is slowly brought out before us. One-upping the “one man band”, the stage plays host to a range of instruments operated by no one. The instruments are moved randomly by an intricate maze of gears and springs, and amplified through a sound system. Just as I thought Sonic Youth would show up claiming copyright, the stage was drawn back into the box, possibly in eager wait of an encore chant (something I half expected as onlookers were unanimously pleased.) I found this piece to be very engaging, inexplicably eerie, and one of the highlights of the evening. Through the rationality of mechanical operation, the artist has rejected musical logic in favour of an outburst of feeling.

Music Box by John Dickson

At 3.30 a.m., the Bata Shoe Museum on Bloor street provided excellent shelter from the rain, along with hosting some of the most interactive and enjoyable installations of the evening. Bleary eyed and lead footed, I dragged myself into a dark room that was entirely made up of mirrors and dotted with small spherical lights hanging from the ceiling. Already disorientated and exhausted, this was amplified considerably by an infinite projection of white lights and self-reflections. Once inside the dreamlike (or was I just dreaming?) space, there was a sense of peacefulness amongst those enjoying the aesthetically pleasing, almost otherworldly void we found ourselves a part of.

Ad Astra 

Text and photo: Rhys Male

Nuit Blanche at Wychwood Barns

I liked the Arduino Disco exhibition the best, probably because I love little LED (Light Emitting Diode) lights and seeing how artists use the technology to make something new. The interactive exhibit was titled after the Arduino digital programmable hardware. Motion and light sensors activated words which lit up in the darkened gallery, such as “nuit” and “art” which could then be added to text in progress shown on a laptop projection. White balloons glowed softly in the corner. The project was put together by six OCAD U first year digital Futures graduate students: Klaudia Han, Katie Meyer, Melissa Phachanhla, Anna Sun, Laura Wright and Brandy Yang. I spoke with Katie Meyer who said she is a writer and media student finding new ways to tell a story.

Scotiabank Nuit Blanche 2013
October 5, 2013 from sunset to sunrise

This years Scotiabank Nuit Blanche was largely concentrated in downtown. The best works I saw were on University Avenue and Nathan Phillips Square while King Street and Queen Street seemed somewhat neglected this year except for the usual Gladstone, Drake Hotel and Mocca events. There were some other installations at CAMH and in a few galleries but it wasn’t the same as through the past years.

I started out on University Avenue and Queens Park with Margaux Williamson’s How To See in The Dark. A parade of costumed young people, dancing down the street to some rhythmic sounds, on the other side of Queens Park got my attention and I joined in before returning to the more static events. 

Back at The Parade I made my way down University checking out Monster Child by Libby Hague with its spider like monster.

Monster Child by Libby Hague

(X) Static Clown Factory by Ruth Spitzer and Claire Ironside was manned by some engaging clowns.

(X) Static Clown Factory by Ruth Spitzer and Claire Ironside

(X) Static Clown Factory by Ruth Spitzer and Claire Ironside

Max Deans video Cancer is Our Story was powerful. Parallax by the Idea Tank Design Collective was fun with its stacked tubes but didn’t work as well for me. Music Box by John Dickson was pleasing but I think I arrived when it wasn’t fully functioning.

A Quack Cure by Lisa Hirmer, as DodoLab

I was soon off to Nathan Phillips Square coming upon Kim Adams clever Toaster Work Wagon with different sized bicycles mounted back to back, so riders had to collaborate to get anywhere. Little People by Workparty with its small toys in a staged demonstration was cool and tempting for many a youngster.

Little People by Workparty

Little People by Workparty

Ai Weiwei’s Forever Bicycles with all 3,144 stacked bikes was epic and beautiful at the same time.

Ai Weiwei, Forever Bicycles

I made an effort to watch Crash Cars by Alain Declercq for a few moments – but found the driverless cars only slightly entertaining. Apparently some intoxicated person attempted to join the action on the ice and had to be removed by security.

Crash Cars by Alain Declercq

The Garden Tower by Tadashi Kawamata of Japan was one of my favourites and didn’t disappoint a huge line of people that lined up to walk through it and gaze upwards at the inside.

Garden Tower by Tadashi Kawamata

Garden Tower by Tadashi Kawamata

Mariner9 by Kelly Richardson of the UK was my favourite video work of Nuit Blanche with its panoramic view of a Martian landscape. Hundreds of people sat or stood mesmerized by this work.

Mariner9 by Kelly Richardson

Mariner9 by Kelly Richardson

Pink Punch by Polymetis of New York was a decorative light installation that was not as engaging as it might have been for me. The Shrine by John Notten constructed from garbage bins had more people lined up to pass through it. The Tanks sculptures by Cal Lane at Metro Hall were interesting mixtures of recycled steel oil tanks and I-beams.

 Shrine by John Notten

Tanks by Cal Lane

On foot I headed to Queen Street West but was not as engaged with the displays. The streets were busy with the Saturday night regulars. There was a long line up for MOCCA which I passed on. I tried to avoid most line ups and fit in as much as possible. I checked Propeller Centre’s 13 Exhibit and liked some individual works but it didn’t flow together very well as an exhibition.

Trying to do a credible description or review of Scotiabank Nuit Blanche would be an arduous task and I am sure I missed a lot of other contributions but I had enough to be satisfied with for one outing and found that rewarding enough. I left before the rain had started. Though I find fewer things I like in Nuit Blanche as each year passes I still would miss it if it wasn’t a regular annual happening. The close to a million people and hundreds of participating artists no doubt would agree.

Text and photo: Phil Anderson

October 5, 2013 from sunset to sunrise
Ad Astra, Light_Scape and RevitaLife / Group Exhibitions
Bata Shoe Museum
327 Bloor Street West

With a challenge to bring deeper sensorial texture to existing urban spaces, Ryerson architecture students put their creativity on show last night at the Bata Shoe Museum, playing host to unprecedented crowds patiently lined up for a chance to experience their immersive, re-imagined
landscapes.  

Crowds stretched all the way around the corner of St George as visitors lined up for a chance to see creative re-adaptations of the museum’s main communal areas.

“It all began with a challenge,” explained Kevin Pu, spokesperson for the Ad Astra project, “our professor challenged us to bring greater sensorial dimension to existing architecture—to transform vacant spaces into responsive, interactive environments.”

Ad Astra: a collaborative project featuring responsive silver spheres sequencing light and music.

With a mandate to exploit the untapped potential of what may otherwise be seen as sparse communal spaces, the students presented a trio of exhibitions centered on the manipulation of light and sound. Using both ultrasonic and touch sensors, visitors were encouraged to translate their moods and adapt their surroundings.

Against a blank background, Light_Scape turns touch-sensitive LED cubes into interactive sculpture.

“The ultrasonic sensors react to visitors,” affirmed Lisa Chen, member of the RevitaLight group, “but they also serve as a record of movement.” In other words, the installations not only necessitate visitor interaction but effectively reflect it: a concept which, on a night devoted to communal participation like Nuit Blanche, played seamlessly.

Visitors exploring the interactive nature of RevitaLight’s responsive character.

Channeling technological innovations to cater individual adaptations, these exhibitions become more than creative architectural explorations, effectively reflecting our society’s individualist character.

Text and photo: Veronica Scarpati