Author: artoronto

November 18 – December 19, 2012
Opening Reception:Sunday, November 18, 12:30 -2:30 p.m.
YORKMINSTER PARK GALLERY
1585 Yonge St
(at Heath, N of St Clair Ave, on E side) Enter YP Centre door.
Toronto ON M4T 1Z9
T: 416.922.1167
www.yorkminsterpark.com
Hours: Mon – Fri 10 – 2, Sat 12 – 4 p.m.

On Sunday September 16, 2007, Yorkminster Park Gallery began its ministry through the visual arts. For five years, a wide variety of art has enlivened the entry to Yorkminster Park Centre. Each year the gallery has prospered and improved. One mark of success is the high calibre of artists represented. A total of thirty-seven artists have exhibited in one-artist or two-artist shows.

They each will present one work in a major group show and sale celebrating our 5th anniversary. It will be possible to stand in the exhibition space, make a slow pivot, and see the sweep of works that make up the history of our gallery.

In chronological order the participants are:

Elizabeth Myles Elliott
King Wong
Margaret Glew
Douglas Elliott
Lila Lewis Irving
Karl Griffiths-Fulton
Paul Roorda
Janet Read
Judith Raymer Ivkoff
Douglas Brown
Douglas Purdon
James Ridyard
Jacqueline Treloar
Rose Hirano
Nancy Falconer
Randall Speller
Dorothy Mould
Carol Westcott
Henry Regehr
Les Tibbles
Nancy Oakes
Judith Livingston
Paul Osadchuk
James MacDougall
Tracey Lawko
Shuna Heeney
Doreen Renner
Anthony J. Batten
Lois Dierlam
Howard C. Dierlam
Robin Laws Field
Esther Lovrics
Joan Burdette Ness
Jane LowBeer,
Graham French
Anne Renouf
Linda Kemp.

The Art Committee invites you to please join us and the artists in marking 5 years.

November 17 – December 22, 2012
Opening Reception: Friday, November 16, 6 – 9 p.m.
O’BORN CONTEMPORARY
131 Ossington Avenue,
Toronto, ON
T: 416. 413. 9555
E:info@oborncontemporary.com
www.oborncontemporary.com
Hours: Tue-Sat, 11-6 p.m. and by appointment

EYES WITHOUT A FACE / recent works by Noel Rodo-Vankeulen

O’Born Contemporary is pleased to announce “Eyes Without a Face”, Noel Rodo-Vankeulen‘s first solo exhibition with the gallery. The title, which references the mechanized and often detached character of the image, reflects Rodo-Vankeulen’s interest in the nature of pictures as a realm for visual, poetic and conceptual possibility.

Rodo-Vankeulen‘s work, disparate in both subject and style, seems to follow our chaotic and ever-changing economy of images. His photographs are never tied to one type of gesture. Instead, they span a range of working treatments from concept to print – straight photographs, scans and digital manipulations. He produces both singular and mini-serial works that often deny concrete readings, enlisting themes and motifs in constant flux. These works, many of which are rooted in common subject matter (sunsets, pictures of wildlife, lowfi studio arrangements, etc) use the ‘everyday’ as a starting point or ground for greater formal and referential visual structures. Here, through interventions such as multiple exposures or in camera filters, figuration bleeds into abstraction and photographs based on the traditional idea of the still-life, portrait or landscape begin to slip between genres.

Sometimes familiar and often strange, Rodo-Vankeulen’s “Eyes Without a Face” unfolds the dynamics embedded in all pictures. His photographs point toward an increasingly sophisticated visual oscillation present in today’s images – Acting out new structures of seeing and opening up new contextual spaces.

Noel Rodo-Vankeulen (born 1982) is an artist and writer who lives and works in Brampton, ON, Canada and holds a BFA in Visual Arts from York University in Toronto. Selected exhibitions include: “After Color” at Bose Pacia in New York, which traveled to galleries at Savannah College of Art & Design; “Where is Here”, part of the Flash Forward Festival; “Graphic Intersections” at the Umbrage Gallery in New York; “One Hour Photo” at The American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center in Washington, DC; and “Young Curators, New Ideas” at the Bond Street Gallery in New York. His work has been featured in various publications including UK-based Twin Magazine, Lay Flat: Meta, Daylight Magazine, and the book 100 New Artists by Dazed and Confused Arts Editor Francesca Gavin which is published by Laurence King.

Rodo-Vankeulen’s critical and editorial writing has been included in such publications as the Toronto-based Hunter and Cook Magazine, Foam International Photography Magazine, The Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s book Words Without Pictures and the second volume Lay Flat: Meta, an annual journal of photography.

November 16 – 30, 2012
Opening Reception: Friday, November 16, 6 – 10 p.m.
GALLERY 918
918 Bathurst Street, (just north of Bloor)
Toronto, ON
T: 416.538.0868
www.918bathurst.com
Hours:  Tues-Wed 1-5, Thurs-Fri 1-8, Sat-Sun 11-5 p.m.

A public art memorial celebrating life and death through clothing and story.

 “…My last memories of her are of birds singing quietly out the window, the smell of gardenia, and blue.”

In 2007, over 100 people across Canada contributed to Collecting Loss by donating clothing that belonged to their deceased loved ones and the stories this clothing evoked. The clothing and stories have been given new life in a powerful public art memorial by textile artist Esther Kalaba and writer Karen Haffey. A national touring exhibit, Collecting Loss: Weaving Threads of Memory will be on display at Toronto’s Gallery 918 from November 16 to 30.

This extraordinary multimedia installation, incorporating textiles, photography, audio recordings and print, acts as a public memorial. Paying homage to the deceased through the act of remembering, Collecting Loss creates a visual and verbal gathering place for grief, allowing for public expression of mourning and dialogue about death.

This project is the first of its kind to use textile art with story-telling to address society’s relationship to death and how it is that we grieve. By using clothing from people who have died, this project takes what are, for the most part, hidden and intimate memories about a person’s life and makes them public. Collecting Loss thereby challenges the notion that the discourse on death should remain private, acknowledging it as an unavoidable part of life.

The final textile works are re-created items of clothing, made from pieces of the donated clothing which belonged to those who have died. The metaphor of change and transformation is made tangible through the textile pieces in the gallery. What was once an individual piece of clothing becomes collective fabric, carrying within it new life and stories of its own. The result is a beautiful, intricate, and textural patchwork that unites all the clothing contributed to the project and shows that we are never alone in our experience of grief. The accompanying book poignantly captures Collecting Loss in print.

The idea for the exhibit was shaped from Esther Kalaba and Karen Haffey’s personal grief journeys. Both artists met while training to facilitate bereavement groups with Bereaved Families of Ontario – Toronto. Common experience brought them together. As teenagers, Esther and Karen each lost siblings – Esther’s brother to murder and Karen’s sister and brother to a fatal blood disorder. These deaths have profoundly impacted the life and work of these two artists, and are what gave rise to this project.

Through the integration of multiple artistic disciplines, Collecting Loss places the deceased in front of a living lens. By doing so, the project creates a new social fabric where personal loss is a strong and supportive common thread that ultimately serves to weave communities, while offering many creative possibilities about what it means to grieve and how we can celebrate death and life together.

Images left to right: Brad Turner, Elevated Balance #5; Jesse Bromm, Landscape XI; Tanya Lyons, Armour 300

November 15 – December 28, 2012
Opening Reception: Thursday, November 15, 6 – 9 p.m.
THE ONTARIO CRAFTS COUNCIL GALLERY
990 Queen Street West
Toronto, ON M6J 1H1
T: 416.925.4222
E: jheimstra@craft.on.ca
www.craft.on.ca
Hours: Mon-Sat 11am – 6pm

This is the Last Glass Show! Or depending on how you look at the current state of the world…it might be the NEXT glass show! Either way it is an exhibition that brings together a diverse group of artists and designers, professionals and hobbyist, all of which share a common interest in glass as a creative medium and who are drawn to participate in a national community and presented by the Glass Art Association of Canada.

Glass is not an easy material to work with. It is one of the most common of materials yet it remains one of the most mysterious. It requires collaboration, cooperative studios, and an overall willingness to share ideas and information. It is highly inclusive and like all culture, it is a group activity. This exhibition is as much about the culture that this organization supports as it is about how we contribute to it. The works presented represent the ways in which each person responds to their own set of concerns and circumstances and to the world at large. All who expressed interest have been given the chance to be involved. The inclusion of personal photographs provides an intimate view into how glass objects are lived with and experienced on a daily basis, from the eyes of those who produce it. The Last Glass Show (the NEXT glass show) offers a glimpse into the ideas and efforts that in many ways define our collective identity from coast to coast and beyond.

Magnétisme  4, detail, 76 x 76 x 35 cm

November 15 – December 9, 2012
Opening Reception: Thursday, November 15, 6 – 9 p.m. – Artist in attendance
Screening of In Her Blacksmith Eye: November 15, 7 p.m. at Cooperage space
THOMPSON LANDRY GALLERY
The Distillery District
Stone Distillery Space
55 Mill Street, Building 5, #102
Toronto, Ontario, M5A 3C4
Tel: 416.364.4955
E-mail:info@thompsonlandry.com
www.thompsonlandry.com
Hours: Tues–Sat 11-6, Sun 12-5

Thompson Landry Gallery proudly presents their solo exhibition, Magnétisme by acclaimed artist, Marie-Josée Roy. Magnétisme explores the universal forces that hold various elements together on earth. For Magnetisme, metal etching, ink transfers, welding with metal rods, and bronze and chrome plating are the vehicles for this exploration. These elements, combined with a little chance, common within her chosen medium, evolve into exquisite figural forms and representations. It is Magnétisme that pulls Roy’s work into existence, and the same force that effortlessly draws the viewer in.

Roy first gained popularity in Quebec’s underground art scene with her standout forged iron sculptures. Roy sees metal as part of her, like a second skin or a shield. Using techniques ranging from image transfer, painting, etching, plating, welding, and engraving, she transforms this cool metallic medium with meticulous detail and experience into warm, intricate and creative works.

Working as both a painter and sculptor, Roy seeks to express and contemplate the complex duality present in each of us. Her work shows scenes of masculine and feminine, strength and vulnerability, growth and decay, whimsy and pain, even fear and transcendence. Using heat and fire, Roy’s pieces tell stories that embrace the fantastic, folklore, and dreamlike imagery of characters in transition: bodies who exist somewhere between the human form and foliage. Roy and collaborator, Jerome Prieur’s new series raises questions into what connects us to each other, nature, and the universe. Contemplating the cycling between life and death, Roy believes it is this constant transitioning that binds us together.

Untitled, 2012, oil on canvas, 28 x 24 inches

November 8 – December 2, 2012
Opening Reception: Thursday, November 8, 6 – 8 p.m.
FRAN HILL GALLERY
285 Rushton Road
Toronto, ON, M6C 2X5
Tel: 416.363.1333
E: franhillgallery@bellnet.ca
Hours: Fri–Sun 11–6 p.m. or by appointment

The ‘Bateau Lavoir’, 2012, oil on linen, 48 x 68 inches

November 8 – December 15, 2012
Opening Reception: Thursday, November 8, 6 – 8 p.m.
Artist talk on Saturday, December 1, 2 p.m
NICOLAS METIVIER GALLERY
451 King Street West,
Toronto, M5V 1K4
T: 416.205.9000
www.metiviergallery.com
Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 10 – 6 p.m.

Nicholas Metivier Gallery is pleased to announce Place, Story & Memory, an exhibition of new paintings by John Hartman. The exhibition will open on November 8 and will be on view through December 15 with a reception for the artist on Thursday, November 8 from 6– 8 p.m.

John Hartman’s latest body of work features watercolour and oil paintings of Georgian Bay, Nova Scotia and New Orleans. Painted from his signature aerial perspective, Hartman populates the landscapes with ‘drawings’ that commemorate the heroes and legends of these places. While the illustrations recall Hartman’s earlier narrative paintings of the Georgian Bay area, this exhibition represents some of his most energized and unmediated paintings to date.

Hartman credits his recent watercolours for the reappearance of narrative in his work. He developed a new technique that took advantage of the medium’s versatility, working on both wet and dry surfaces and then re-soaking the paper. The detail and layering that he was able to achieve through this process encouraged the illustrations. In addition, Hartman was inspired by how the transparent medium mimicked the watery topography of the locations he was painting.

In a recent interview with Robert Enright, Hartman speaks about the connection between the three places. When you get out to these more remote locations the people and the landscape are one and the same thing. In a way, they create each other. Certainly the people are influenced by the place. But I think the way we see the place is tied up with the people that live there. I always come back to landscapes that combine stories and people. It’s almost as if the landscapes don’t exist unless people are telling stories about them.

Explorer, edition of 9, archival pigment print on rag paper, 36 x 36 inches

November 10 – 24, 2012
Opening Reception: Saturday, November 10, 2 – 4 p.m.
BAU-XI PHOTO
324 Dundas St. West
Toronto, Ontario M5T 1G5
T: 416.977.0400
E: info@bau-xiphoto.com
www.bau-xiphoto.com
Hours: Mon-Sat 10-5:30, Sun 11-5:30

In a world full of tablets, tweets and links, the lifespan for the printed book would appear to be in jeopardy. That is until you discover the artwork of artist Cara Barer. Barer sculpts a second life into cast-off books and paper, experimenting with curling irons, clothes pins and water to transform volumes of information into coiled, crumpled objects of beauty. These objects are captured in portrait-like images, set against simple black or white backgrounds. The books themselves are either tinted with bright, varicolored hues, or left in their original state, with muted, sepia tones.

Barer states, “ The inspiration could come from the dictionary, a story that I’m reading, something I saw on the internet, or even a passing remark made by a friend. I want to create a theatre with my images…unique for every viewer because it can only exist in their own imagination, and it will be unique because my images do not come from only the physical world around us. They are a mixture of objects, words, paper, and my thoughts.”

Fanciful and symbolic, Barer ’s work alludes to the status of the book in contemporary times. “My photographs are a lament for the passing of eras when books were considered much more valuable, and a path to knowledge,” says Barer.

Cara Barer holds degrees from the Glassell School of Ar t at the Museum of Fine Ar ts, Houston, and the Art Institute of Houston. She has exhibited in solo and group show throughout the US and Canada since 1994. Her work can be found in the collections of Bloomingdale’s, Lehigh University, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Nordstrom, Danielle Steel, United States Embassy, Kyiv, Ukraine, VISA and Wells Fargo Bank.

November 10 – 24, 2012
Opening Reception: Saturday, November 10, 2 – 4 p.m.
BAU-XI GALLERY
340 Dundas St. West
Toronto, Ontario, M5T 1G5
T: 416.977.0600
E: toronto@bau-xi.com
www.bau-xi.com
Hours: Mon-Sat 10–5:30, Sun 11–5:30

Vector, a Latin word meaning ‘carrier ’, is a fitting title for Andre Petterson’s latest exhibition. Full of movement-inspired imagery, including his well-known dancers, birds, and elegant horses, Petterson’s mixed media pieces capture the essence of objects bursting with energy and movement caught in a split-second of time.

Petterson explains that his recent trips to Thailand, India, and Singapore were incredibly influential in regards to this body of work, yet singles out his time in Burma as the most inspirational. Buddhist monks’ red robes, broken bicycles, and clocks appear in his newest pieces, and reflect the ar tist’s experience of witnessing this place where, for him, it was as if “time stood still.”

Signature imagery from Petterson’s oeuvre will re-appear in this exhibition, albeit approached with new eyes af ter his travels. This includes his sewing machines, dancers, and the ever present typewriter – the latter stationary object given a life of its own with gestural marks and exploding ribbons of colour. These var ying subjects together become representations of past and present ; stillness and movement ; push and pull – themes that continue to emerge throughout Andre Petterson’s impressive career.

Petterson has exhibited in both private and public galleries in Canada and the United States. He is the recipient of The National Film Board of Canada Award, and has work featured in numerous private and public collections including Canada Council Ar t Bank, Canadian Airlines, Vancouver General Hospital, and Laxton & Company.

3X3 (Dealing With Abstraction) / Acrylic on canvas / 28″ x 28″ / 2012

November 9 – December 8, 2012
Opening Reception: Friday, November 9, 6 – 10 p.m.
COOPER COLE GALLERY
1161 Dundas Street West,
Toronto ON, M6J1X3
T: 647 – 347 – 3316
E-mail: info@coopercolegallery.com
www.coopercolegallery.com
Hours: Wed–Sat 1–7, Sun 1–6 p.m.

COOPER COLE is pleased to present a solo exhibition from Geoff McFetridge.

McFetridge creates his work with qualities that invite participation and connectivity with the viewer. His personal and commercial art projects use simple shapes to create universally recognized public signage, corporate logos and contemporary iconography. He evokes an interesting play between two and three dimensional space with simple yet intriguing lines fitting into his simplistic and playful style.

Geoff McFetridge was born in Calgary, Alberta in 1971. He attended the Alberta College of Art and Design, as well as the Graduate Design Program at the California Institute of the Arts. McFetridge is widely known for his reductive graphic style. He began to show his work in galleries in 1998, with his first exhibition at George’s Gallery in Los Angeles, California. His first large-scale show was in Japan at Parco Gallery, Tokyo. McFetridge was part of the infamous Beautiful Losers exhibition which toured the world, and he has since had solo exhibitions in galleries and institutions in cities such as Los Angeles, New York, Berlin, Paris, London, Copenhagen, Seattle, Milan, and the Netherlands.

This will mark McFetridge’s first solo exhibition in his native Canada. There will also be a limited edition silk screen released in conjunction with the show.

November 8 – 30, 2012
Opening Reception: Saturday, November 10, 12 – 4 p.m.
CANADIAN SCULPTURE CENTRE
500 Church Street
Toronto, ON M4Y 2C8
T: 647-435-5858
E: gallery@cansculpt.org
Hours: Tue–Fri 12– 6; Sat 11 – 4 p.m.

Curated by: Richard McNeill, Shuhui Lee

Opening Remarks by: Dawne Rudman, Festival Chair / Co-curator, WOT, Gareth Bate, Festival Co-curator, WOT Richard McNeill, Curator for THREADSpace

Participating in the “World of Threads” for the first time, the Canadian Sculpture Centre will showcase juried works by fourteen artists. Each created sculptural and installational narratives from a wide spectrum of fibre media.

Eight participating international artists are:

Marie Bergstedt, San Francisco, CA
Martina Breyer, Berlin, Germany
Jodi Colella, Somerville, MA
Catherine Dormor, Cambridgeshire, UK
Britta Fluevog, Vancouver BC
Xia Gao, East Lansing, MI
Dagmar Kovar, London ON
Anna Wieselgren, London ON

Six participants from the Sculptors Society of Canada are:

Michelle duQuesnay-Jones, Toronto ON
Camilla Geary-Martin, Toronto ON
Joyce Honsberger, Wainfleet ON
Lisa J. Irvine, Mississauga ON
J.Mac, Toronto ON
Judi Michelle Young, Toronto ON

Ryan G. Hinds and Zane Bernhard painted and photographed by Matti McLean

It was scary at first. Matti (McLean) asked me about participating and I liked the images he had shown me of the people he had already painted. I asked if I could do a duo shot because I was nervous about facing down the camera solo, so Zane (Bernhard) joined in. Although we could see each other, we couldn’t see ourselves – and as someone who is meticulous with image – it was tough. I don’t think I’ve ever in my life been photographed shirtless, and now that it’s done, I’m not sure what I was so afraid of.  It helped to think of my body as canvas; my self-identified flaws became invisible. When I saw the images I just realized how often I use clothing to give me confidence.

Matti’s work taught me that I can rely on myself a little bit more for confidence, and the soft and beautiful side of my persona that came out  was a lovely surprise. His goal, in his own words, was, “I want to show the world who you are by painting your personality on your skin”.  The process of disrobing, music selection, and conversation became like therapy: soothing and opening.  My true, genuine, real personality (not my brash public one) is beautifully caught here in his work.

by Ryan G. Hinds