Author: artoronto

The Keepers
April 5 – May 4, 2013
O’Born Contemporary

Installation view. Photo: Steph Martyniuk, Courtesy of O’Born Contemporary

Looking at the whale in Your only Companion sets the mood for the show. In front of a dark stormy sea a decomposing whale lies with a little bird on top of it. The bird would pick the whale’s parasites if it were still alive, staying even now as the only companion for this wonderful, gigantic animal that commands respect even in this sorrowful state. “Everyday, in the world, thousands of animals, that are part of our ecological system, are hit and run on our roads. They are victims of our expansion into their land for our benefit”, states Montreal based artist Marc Nerbonne. He took thousands of shots of road-kill during his trips between Ottawa and Montreal and lately along the shoreline from Gaspé to Montreal where fish have washed up.

Marc Nerbonne, Your only Companion, 2013, mixed media on panel, 36 x 36 inches. © Marc Nerbonne, 2013 Courtesy of O’Born Contemporary

His works starts with a composition of elements – taken from road-kill photographs – that he dry mounts on a panel and then uses as a canvas. On those surfaces he tries to bring his subjects back to life by over painting them with acrylic, spray paint or encaustic. Through this procedure the artist – like a magician – breathes life back into them. The images are disturbing, lingering in some limbo between life and death, persuading the viewer to think about the fate of these animals and our role in it.

Marc Nerbonne, Carnaval, 2013, mixed media on panel, 48 x 48 inches. © Marc Nerbonne, 2013 Courtesy of O’Born Contemporary

The show also includes portraits of the “Keepers” whose duty is to watch over all the living things. Some do. The nice, smiling lady in Carnaval is surrounded by happy, dancing creatures playing with kites – the embodiment of nurture. In Montmorency, a young beauty – who reminds us of nymphs from old paintings – is representing the waterfall with the same name.

Marc Nerbonne, Compass, 2013, mixed media on panel, 48 x 48 inches. © Marc Nerbonne, 2013 Courtesy of O’Born Contemporary

The other Keepers are on the sad or even scary side. In Compass a frightened human figure is hiding behind a Shakespearian figure from the Tempest. Can he give any guidance or will they go down together? This miserable Neptune of our time seems to be as lost as the human. He reminds us of Giuseppe Arcimboldo’s portraits created from fruits and vegetables but while the Renaissance master’s works radiate peace Nerbonne’s are disturbing. The figure is covered with seaweed. One eye is blind and looks like an oyster; the other is filled with dried blood while his headdress is created of fish gasping for air in their agony. As Shakespeare wrote: “Full fathom five thy father lies/…Those are pearls that were his eyes/ …But doth suffer a sea change/ Into something rich and strange.” There is certainly a strong foreboding atmosphere that something strange and bad will happen.

Marc Nerbonne, Was It What You Thought It Would Be, 2013, mixed media on panel, 36 x 36 inches. © Marc Nerbonne, 2013 Courtesy of O’Born Contemporary

Was It What You Thought It Would Be? asks one of the paintings. The sad faced man in front of a ruined, empty landscape is looking inside himself instead of around – and that seems to give an answer.

Emese Krunák-Hajagos

Online at ArtBarrage.com

Live Auction – Thursday April 25, 2013, 7:30 p.m.
The Gallery
99 Sudbury Street, Toronto
Reception and final viewing: Thursday April 25, 2013, 6 – 7.30 p.m.
Tickets: $60 per person

Free Public Previews:
Friday – Saturday, April 19 -20, 2013
Waddingtons Auction House
275 King Street East – 2nd Floor, Toronto
Hours: Fri 6 – 9, Sat – Sun 12 – 5 p.m.

Join us on Friday April 19, 2013, 6 – 9 p.m. for the preview opening reception.
This preview opening reception is generously hosted by Stephen Ranger and Waddingtons Auction House

ArtBarrage are very proud to once again curate the ArtBarrage 2013 FreeHand contemporary art auction to raise funds for War Child’s vital mission.

The mission to work with war-affected communities, helping children “reclaim their childhood through access to education, opportunities and justice” is needed more than ever in war-torn nations where vulnerable communities are struggling to overcome the trauma of war.

By incorporating drawings made by children in Afghanistan alongside contemporary visual artists, the FreeHand auction celebrates the War Child community, the visual arts community and the creative process in all it’s many manifestations.

Bid to provide hope. Bid with your heart.

Participating artists include: Michael Adamson, Lori-Ann Bellissimo, Janet Bellotto, Jacqueline Benyes, Kotama Bouabane, Stephen Brookbank, John Brown, Bill Burns, Colin Carney, Janice Colbert, Scott Everingham, James Fowler, Eldon Garnet, Stev’nn Hall, Sherri Hay, Catherine Heard, Clive Holden, Sophie Jodoin, Sarah Anne Johnson, Yuriko Kubota, Mark Laliberte, Anette Larsson, Rebecca Last, Nina Leo, Bogdan Luca, Rob MacInnis, Jordan MacLachlan, Isabel M. Martinez, Sanaz Mazinani, Alex McLeod, Andrew Mcphail, Diana Menzies, Sam Mogelonsky, Tomori Nagamoto, Tibi Tibi Neuspiel, John Nobrega, Nancy Oakes, Greg Oldenburg, Geoffrey Pugen, Seth Scriver, Lauchie Reid, Jaclyn Shoub, Camilla Singh, Shawn Skeir, Fiona Smith, Jeanie Thib, Elaine Waisglass, Douglas Walker, Jennifer Walton, Jacob Whibley, Sherley Yanover, Jacob Yerex. Also featuring art by children from War Child’s Afghanistan program. rtists, their galleries/ communities with the women and children devastated by the barrage of hostility in areas of conflict through the War Child vision.

April 26 – 28, 2013
Gladstone Hotel 2nd Floor Gallery + public spaces throughout hotel + exterior/offsite
Hours: April 25 | 6-10pm, April 26 | 11am-10pm, April 27 | 11am-9pm, April 28 | 11am-5pm

NEW APPROACHES TO LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE, URBAN DESIGN, ART AND EXHIBITION

The Gladstone Hotel cultivates Grow Op, a new four-day, juried event challenging preconceived notions of landscape architecture, garden design, art and place making. The only exhibition of its kind in Toronto, Grow Op participants will be bringing some high art to outdoor design culture.

Planting over 20 unique site-specific, installation-based ideas throughout the entire hotel, Grow Op will explore new territories and uncover new ways of expression and meaning through projects that represent a wide range of approaches from the prosaic to the poetic, the elemental to the ephemeral. Highlights include a mineral garden grown in vintage violin cases, a hydroponic, freestanding vertical garden and even an outdoor chicken hotel. 

For a complete list of exhibitors, please visit the Gladstone’s website at www.gladstonehotel.com

April Hickox, 2012

Friday, April 19, 2013, 6 p.m.
Gallery 44

FRESH ART FOR SPRING / ADD TO YOUR COLLECTION, OR BUY YOUR FIRST PIECE AT PHOTOPIA!

The gallery walls will be filled with a stunning selection of photographs created by talented artists, both members and friends of Gallery 44. With highly sought-after artists, and many pieces priced below $500, artwork will be flying off the walls!

PHOTOPIA opens to the public on Friday April 19 with our hottest party of the year, featuring an exciting lottery raffle, fantastic food, signature cocktails, special guest DJ, and artwork for everyone. Draw to take place 6 PM, April 19 (During PHOTOPIA Opening Reception)
To purchase a ticket ($10) contact the gallery photopia@gallery44.org

On Thursday April 18, our friends and supporters are invited to an exclusive Supporters Preview featuring an advance sale, wine and cheese reception, and an exhibition tour. The Supporters Preview is open to those who have contributed, or would like to contribute $50 or more to the gallery. Contact Gallery 44,  robyn@gallery44.org to become a supporter. For more information please check http://gallery44.org/photopia2013.

PHOTOPIA raises funds for Gallery 44’s education and exhibition programs and thus is a fabulous way to support a culture of art in Toronto, and in your own home.

The show is open till April 27, 2013

Featuring over 100 contemporary artists, including:

Sara Angelucci • Steven Beckly • Edward Burtynsky • Lynne Heller • Derek Shapton • Johan Hallberg-Campbell • Molly Crealock • Osheen Harruthoonyan • April Hickox • Sanaz Mazinani • Peter Kingstone • Virginia Mak • Anastasia Sakkab • Chris Shepherd • Jim Verburg • Hugh Martin • Barbara Staulus • Andre Laredo • Jonathan Groeneweg • Sarah Thomson • Victoria Piersig • Bruce Eves • Michael Barker • Robyn Cummings • Laurie Kang • Linda Briskin • Jesse Louttit • Tori Foster • Laurence Siegel • Meera Margaret Singh • Dean Bradley • Jason Brown • Stephanie Cloutier • Misbah Ali • Morris Lum • Noah Gano • Toni Hafkenscheid • Christina Boyer • Sarah Tothill • Derek Shapton • Jamie Campbell • Adolfo Fernandez • Jennifer Long • Lee Henderson • Louise Vezina • Brendan George Ko • Paula Grgurich Shewchuk • Chris Curreri • Nadine Bariteau • Maryanne Casasanta • Colwyn Griffith • Elisa Gilmour • Linda-Marlena Bucholtz Ross • and more!

Condo Living by Jordan MacLachlan
ArtBarrage
Opening Reception: Thursday, April 11, 2013, 5 – 8 p.m.

MacLachlan is known for her clay explorations of true-to-life narratives that reflect the often raw and contradictory nuances of human nature. Her sculptural vignettes afford viewers poignant glimpses of a brazen underside, revealing the teeth of life through emotional grit.

Installation view. Photo: Walter Willems

In Condo Living, the clay figurative sculptures are comfortably housed on a condo floor plan, yet possess a barbarism that one would not expect to find beyond the walls of our neighbours. There is an undeniable fine line between the homeless and the housed, and questions are raised about who or what we really are.

Installation view. Photo: Walter Willems

The show is curated by Walter Willems and Kelly McCray co-directors of ArtBarrage.

From left to right: co-director of ArtBarrage Kelly McCray, artists Jordan MacLachlan and co-director of ArtBarrage Walter Willems. Photo: Camilla Singh

On the Opening Rception people looked at the installation as whole and then they lost themselves in the many details of small groups or single figures depicted in their typical surroundings or pictured in their most private activities.

From left: Jordan MacLachlan, Juul Haalmeyer and others at the opening reception. Photo: Walter Willems

Larry Heaton and his wife. Photo: Walter Willems

Edward Burtynsky. Photo: Walter Willems

Ian MacLeod with visitors. Photo: Walter Willems

Photo: Walter Willems

ArtBarrage is located at 80 Spadina Ave. Suite 208. Gallery hours: Wed – Sat 12 – 5 p.m.

Milly Ristvedt, #5 in Gold, 2012, acrylic on canvas, 84 x 54 inches

April 6 – 27, 2013
Walnut  Contemporary

Walnut Contemporary is showcasing “Breathing Space”, an exhibition of new paintings by senior Canadian artist Milly Ristvedt. This exhibition marks the return for Ristvedt from over a decade of private studio work to the gallery milieu. Active in the late sixties and seventies period of post-abstract expressionism with mentors such as Jack Bush, Milly’s work re-emerges with a new significance of verticality and colour as “the visual meditations of the human condition, and the possibility of hope” (Milly Ristvedt, February, 2013).

But the question is, who is her new audience? As young adults, including myself, find ourselves in a generation of looking back, and trying to find out how to communicate with the art re-emerging from old eras? What we encounter with Ristvedt’s work is all the heart of the challenging Canadian post-abstract expressionists with a new sense of modernity. Her work is quiet but powerful, subtle but it speaks to audiences of the long past, the immediate present, and the hopeful future. But for today, in a contemporary understanding, Ristvedt challenges even the ripest painters of our young generation; one could say we have something to learn.

Saba Askary

 

April 11 – 14, 2013
Metro Toronto Convention Centre
SHOW HOURS:
Thursday April 11, 6-10pm
Friday April 12, 12-8pm
Saturday April 13, 11am-8pm
Sunday April 14, 11am-6pm

In our continuing mandate to bring outstanding trends in contemporary art from the world stage to Toronto’s audience we are pleased to present the work of internationally renowned artists at the Toronto Art Expo.

The Expo now presents a truly International face to art lovers in Toronto, unique in its featuring artists who have never been to Canada before as well as works through galleries that will only be on view this weekend. The works on sale will suit all budgets from first time buyer to high end collector to corporation boardroom.

For more information please check http://www.torontoartexpo.com/index.html.

Tuesday, April 23, 7:00 p.m.
Debates Room at Hart House, University of Toronto
7 Hart House Circle, Toronto
Free admission

The Justina M. Barnicke Gallery presents:

NOT IN THE AGE OF THE PHARAOHS
A Lecture by Bruce W. Ferguson

The lecture takes as its starting point the assumption that works of art can be symptomatic of larger cultural and political issues without necessarily using these as their content. Bruce W. Ferguson will discuss in detail the present day situation in Egypt through an investigation of works by four artists produced in the two years prior to the now-famous 18 days of Revolution begun in January of 2011.  He shows how these artists—Lara Baladi, Ahmed Basiouny, Bahia Shebib, and Amal Kenaway—were already a compact measure of the upcoming discontents and how these art works engaged with values that coincided with those of an earlier Modernist literature in Egypt, as well as those of years of protests that preceded the Revolution. Ferguson does not overvalue the works of art as predictive or as the cause of the uprisings but seeks to show how works of art can seen to be investigative and analytical in advance, like a symbolic social diagnosis of a political disease. The lecture explores works produced both before and after the revolution, seeing how they act as a hinge to the more recent works now produced in the streets of Egyptian towns and cities in the form of graffiti.
 
Bruce W. Ferguson, Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences of the American University in Cairo, is a proven arts and academic leader with extensive experience in entrepreneurial leadership and institutional development, with a demonstrated passion for facilitating artists and intellectuals and their work and research.  He has specialized in discovering and nurturing artistic talent internationally. He has also envisioned, advocated and created arts organizations from the ground up, including Site Santa Fe, an international art biennial in a regional setting, which now has a successful 15-year history.  Equally importantly, he has become known for his ability of remaking and rebranding disorganized or static academic organizations through infrastructural means and strategic planning, including the Future Arts Research at Arizona State University, the New York Academy of Art,  Columbia University School of the Arts , and the Humanities and Social Sciences at the American University of Cairo where he was appointed Dean as of 2010. Most recently, in 2012, Bruce Ferguson was Distinguished Professor at the Institute of Arts and Humanities at Penn State in Pennsylvania, a consultant to the Bergen Triennial in Norway, a consultant to a new curriculum at the Académie Libanaise des Beaux Arts (ALBA) in Beirut, Lebanon and has written a catalogue text for the inaugural Kiev Biennale in Ukraine as well as being an invited lecturer on the subject of pre-revolutionary art in Egypt to the University of London, School of Oriental and Asian Studies.

Interview with Corrado De Luca owner of  De Luca Fine Arts | Gallery by Emese Krunák-Hajagos (E.K-H)

De Luca Fine Arts | Gallery owner Corrado De Luca (left) and film director David Cronenberg (right) at the opening of Claire Weissman Wilks show on March 28, 2013

E.K-H: When and where did you first open your gallery? Why did you choose Toronto?

Corrado De Luca: The gallery is the result of dealing with and promoting artists from Italy – starting with my father Giuseppe De Luca – to galleries and collectors in Canada and USA, mainly in Toronto, in Montreal and in New York City such as Carrier Art Gallery, Odon Wagner Gallery, Artcore Gallery, Drabinsky Gallery, Gallery 7 in Toronto; Dominion Gallery in Montreal among others. After promoting my father for a while his representing galleries in Italy suggested that I should introduce other Italian artists as well. Not long after that I got a group of collectors that become “regulars” here in Toronto. That’s why I chose Toronto. I then started to short-term rent gallery spaces for shows from Italy that I curated. That led to a full time gallery (by appointment only at first) on Queen West, at Dufferin. The gallery was there for more than 6 years. Then in October, 2011 I moved to the current location at 217 Avenue Road.

Opening reception of Steve Rockwell, dArt burger, July 5, 2011, one of the last shows at the Queen West/Dufferin location. Photo: Terance Brouse

E.K-H: What the name of your gallery De Luca Fine Arts | Gallery means? What does the Fine Arts part stand for?

Corrado De Luca: The name of the gallery is my last name De Luca and fine arts is because, especially at the beginning, I was dealing with well-established Italian artists. Lately the gallery’s program has been changed as I also represent Canadian artists now, and more contemporary art as well. The gallery also represents a tight group of very interesting installation-based artists. I do work with galleries in Italy and the goal is to promote Canadian artists over there.

E.K-H: How do you choose your artists?

Corrado De Luca: The selection of the artists is a live and dynamic process. I don’t have a specific method. I choose what speaks to me and what I think my clients would appreciate and understand but also accept in terms of a challenge. The tricky thing for most galleries – especially at the beginning and financially speaking – is to be able to present innovative and strong artists that introduce new ways, themes and techniques in their work. This is a challenge because most art buyers in Toronto are still very conservative and not really risk takers; or they don’t feel “safe” to buy artwork until the artist is really well-known (media and museums) and therefore very expensive. It takes time and money for a gallery to achieve that even when the artists are solid. Also, intellectuals and of course artists are the first ones to appreciate and understand very well how and when a gallery is pushing the boundaries but most of them don’t have the financial resources to actually collect…

Installation view of the Group Show, Holiday Exhibition, December 8 – February 2, 2013, with Attila Richard Lukacs’ work  (on the left). Photo: Corrado De Luca

Lately the art scene in Toronto is becoming more “International”, though the art buyers still seem to prefer to collect Canadian artists. It is a good thing of course and it’s good when Canadian artists are acquired by important collectors and museums in Canada. It’s important that dealers and galleries help “internationalize” their artists’ career also. If not once the artists try to expand to International markets or galleries, their quotation might be very high but their reputation would not be internationally well-known enough to back it up. With my gallery, what I try to do is introducing the artists I work with in Italy and in Europe.  Art fairs as well are very important in promoting artists.

Installation view of Tony Calzetta’s show, April 14 – May 5, 2012. Photo: Corrado De Luca

E.K-H: Please tell us something about your Italian connections.

Corrado De Luca: My Italian connections are the result of growing up with an artist, my father Giuseppe De Luca, in Milan. Since I was little, I would be hanging out at galleries and museums… At home, dinner guests were always other artists, gallery owners, curators among other art lovers. I have been exposed to “art talks” and “art-business” all my life. Because of school I lived in Germany and England where I frequented artists’ studios and galleries. In fact, before I came to Canada I promoted my father in Germany as well.

E.K-H: You recently moved into a new location on Avenue Road. Why? How is it working out for you?

Corrado De Luca: The move to Avenue Road is still a new reality so I am still considering it an “experiment”. The area is very well-established and the residents say they are very happy to have a contemporary gallery in their neighbourhood. Though in general, if a gallery presents “commercial/decorative art” the location is very important since foot traffic is what one wants. If a gallery presents “contemporary art” especially, the location is not that important as the gallery would be more a destination point. Collectors would come regardless of the gallery’s location. Now the gallery’s program is moving toward a more contemporary direction, also with installation-based artists like Barb Hunt, Janet Bellotto, Max Streicher, Scott Eunson and two more important artists to be soon announced. That’s why I am planning to have a second location (or just a larger one) later on, but even in a more remote or industrial area, to accommodate those types of art-projects/exhibitions.

Barb Hunt, Metal Dress, from her show Steel Dresses, May 12 – June 16, 2012. Photo: Corrado De Luca

Janet Bellotto, The Lure, digital video, 2011, from her show The Lure, November 3 – 27, 2011. Photo: Corrado De Luca

E. K-H: Are you satisfied with sales in your gallery?

Corrado De Luca: Yes, I have to say that it has been growing little, by little. Some of my artists sell more than others. Some are collected by the same person while others are a one-time-purchase by different buyers. Sometime it is a challenge for a gallery not to go for the easy way, selling “easy art”. That might be financially better of course but mainly for the short period and not for the long-term vision. I myself want to go after my vision and try to build something. Building artists’ careers gives me great pleasure.

Galleries too are affected by the social media and the new marketing approaches. I think that these days more than in the past, the buzz but more like “glamour” around the owner/director and the gallery is more important than the actual art. Same thing is for an artist when being a very popular figure as a person. Most people don’t really know how to “judge” art, by themselves, or don’t have the time to do so. Everything is high-speed and has to “shock” so there is a risk of promoting art the same way, more like “a brand”. I feel that the romanticism of collecting art is being lost.

Damien Hirst for example. He is leaving Gagosian after a long collaboration… Some critics believe that it’s just part of his strategy to “make people talk” about him, since in recent auctions his quotation went down by 25% and some pieces haven’t even sold.

Installation view of the Group Show, Holiday Exhibition, December 8 – February 2, 2013, with Putti by Max Streicher (on the left). Photo: Corrado De Luca 

E.K-H: You just hired Walter Willems as co-director and Laura Keeler-Lavin as assistant. The Gallery was so packed at the opening reception for Claire Weissman Wilks’ show on March 28, 2013 that people had to wait outside to get in. It seems you are doing really well. What are your future plans?

Corrado De Luca: We’ll see. It also depends on the response from patrons but as I said, I intend to have a second, larger location where I would curate installation based exhibitions and also invite other curators to do so, mainly from Italy. I just hired two new people as I want to have a strong team around me in order to archive my goals. I have a few projects in New York City as well. I am also working on a project to create a “bridge” between Italy and Canada (both ways). In fact the gallery has just announced the cultural partnership with L’Altra Italia. Many interesting things will be coming….

The opening of Claire Weissman Wilks show, From the Beginning on March 28, 2013

2013 University of  Toronto MVS Programme Graduating Exhibition
April 2 – 13, 2013
University of Toronto Art Centre

The University of Toronto Art Centre is currently exhibiting three out of four of its graduating masters of visual studies students, each of them inviting you to an alternate universe. While their subject matter is diverse, the show successfully engages the audience through different mediums, backgrounds and intentions.

The first show you are greeted with is Julius Poncelot Manapul’s questioning of queer identity through an elaborately designed domestic setting. By birthing a fictional baby parented by Christophe Poncelot, a friend or possibly a significant other, and himself, he compares growing up with gay parents with what the media identifies as a family, a man and a wife. The references to media are primarily fairy tales presenting the man-wife family dynamic for example the appearance of snow white in the looped video Kissing Utopia Goodbye which also morphs into a homosexual couple highlighting the shortcomings of the fairy tale and showing how these fairy tales almost act as an indoctrination device, introducing children solely to heterosexual couples.

Julius Poncelet Manapul, Wallpaper Template, Digital Collage of Googled Gay Porn, Personal Pictures and Documents, 2013. Courtesy of the artist

The entire exhibition is surreal and over the top, with exquisite furniture and chandeliers made entirely of paper or cardboard, and is inspired by Victorian design. Manapul juxtaposes this element of luxury and Victorian conservative design with the elephant in the room, homosexual erotic cut-outs. Yet another contradiction arises by contrasting an innocent baby portrait with nearly pornographic cut outs creating an uncomfortable feeling however successfully confronting and eliminating the stereotypes people have of the gay community.

The second exhibition is a political discourse on drug cartels in Mexico. Manolo Lugo unravels a political dissonance by revealing hush-hush political and economic realities. Lugo attempts this by using different documentation methods, primarily photography, and cutting crosses out of these Mexican landscapes alluding to various ominous sceneries and creating a connection with his two Malverde’s Miracles. These two works highlights untimely deaths resulting from violent encounters that arise from Mexico’s illegal drug trade epidemic.

Manolo Lugo, “G. A. D. Y A. M. V.”, 2013, Inkjet print on paper. Courtesy of the artist.

In addition, Lugo presents two videos both including limbs being tied depicting restraint to highlight again the clandestine nature of these realities and also an allusion to the way violence is used to discipline behavior. Lugo’s work, while aesthetically appealing, appears very complex despite its simplistic approach leaving a less than strong political stance with viewers.

Jessica Hein’s show is in the last room and while introducing a completely different aesthetic, it closes the exhibition quite nicely. Hein presents viewers with several ephemeral landscape oriented water works using natural material such as powdered graphite, metals and minerals. Hein lists the environment as her primary inspiration as well as the feeling of being lost. It becomes clear as you enter the exhibition and are confronted with a large work titled The Unfamiliar Appears, which appears burnt and bare, creating a feeling of emptiness and loss. Hein’s work that refers to a broad spectrum of sentiments leaves viewers with a sense of calm after the previous two collectives stroke a political nerve.

Jessica Hein, The Light that Gets Lost SW., 2013, Mineral pigments on paper, 22×30″. Courtesy of the artist

The MVS students are successful in treading a thin line between provocative and distant and are able to keep viewers engaged. The political appears to have been in their past and continues to guide their future.

Aliya Bhatia

Sandi Wheaton, Pink Pod

March 28 – April 27, 2013
Akasha Art  Projects

The Salton Sea, an accidental oasis and California’s largest lake, lies centered in the Colorado Desert and has been the focus of Sandi Wheaton’s work since 2005. The Salton Sea at one time had been filled with all of the promise and glamour of a “desert Riviera” resort, but now lies mostly abandoned and neglected. An inlet of water with no outlet, it is quietly disappearing and killing off the life that it once fostered. Although the loss of this massive lake would be somewhat cyclical given its sudden appearance in 1906, its rapid depletion is creating a huge ecological and environmental impact on everything around it. Within this body of work lies the knowledge that what affects some of us inevitably affects us all.

Sandi Wheaton’s passion for the Salton Sea can be seen in the extensive body of photographic work she has created around it. Each image possesses a conscientiousness that is haunting in its realism while at the same time surreal in its beauty.

Kelli Jerome

Call for Submissions: SpeakEasy’s 2013 Spring Art Fair

Toronto’s SpeakEasy Event will once again produce a group exhibition entitled SpeakEasy’s Spring Art Fair, which will take place in May 2013.

Open to established and emerging artists from all disciplines, the SpeakEasy Art Fairs feature local artists from a variety of creative backgrounds.

SpeakEasy was established in 1996 and has made a dramatic impact on the local creative community. For over 16 years SpeakEasy has events designed to bring creative types together to share ideas and inspiration. We have experienced increasing interest year after year and have continued to introduce emerging artists into the Toronto art scene.

In 2012 SpeakEasy announced the launch of our Spring and Fall Art Fairs. These 2 week-long juried exhibitions offer our artists an extended period of time for display and promotion. The exhibitions include an opening night celebration and the extended exhibition hours allow more visitors to see the show and give art writers and critics a chance to review and write about the events.

2013 Spring Art Fair Theme: Spring

The thematic focus for this show will be “Spring” based on the following definitions:
1. the season of the year between winter and summer during which many plants bring forth leaves and flowers
2. a resilient metal coil used especially for cushioning and in clockwork
3. a source of water that flows out of the ground as a small stream or pool
4. a time of new growth, regeneration, renewal, resurrection or rebirth

Show Date: May 2-12, 2013

Opening Reception: Friday, May 3rd, 7-10pm

Submission Deadline: Monday April 8th, 2013

Submission Fee: Free

Participation Fee: $75 (+HST), only paid if you are selected to participate in the show.

Location: AWOL Gallery, 78 Ossington, Toronto

SpeakEasy Art Fairs seek to achieve the following goals:
Explore and identify local emerging talent
Foster dialogue and exchange between local creative types
Support and promote original and fresh ideas

The selection of artists for each show will be based on the following:
Creativity and innovation
Excellence of execution
Originality
Technical skill and fine craftsmanship

Artists from any discipline may apply, including but not limited to: photography, printmaking, sculpture, painting, drawing, film, video, ceramics, fiber art and installation art.

Registration Information:
Artists May submit a maximum of 5 pieces for consideration. Email us low res jpg files only (maximum 1MB total), along with a short bio and a description of the work you will be presenting.  Do not send originals!  Artwork must be no larger than 36″(wide)x48″(high) to be considered.  As the show will be curated to respond to the theme “Spring”, depending on the size and context of successful entries 1 or more of the entered images will be selected from those submitted.

Please include the following with your submission:
Your Name (and company name if you have one)
Contact Information (Phone, Cell, email)
Website (If you have one)
Email submissions to:
David Brown,
david@blttogo.com