Author: artoronto

May 10 – June 2, 2012
Opening: Thursday, May 10, 5 – 8 p.m. with the artist present
Katzman Kamen Gallery
80 Spadina Ave., Suite #406
Toronto, ON, M5V 2J4
T: 416.504.9515
E: info@katzmankamengallery.com
www.katzmankamengallery.com
Hours: Tues. – Sat., 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

The Katzman Kamen Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition by April Hickox, titled Vantage. the exhibit runs from May 10 to June 2, 2012. An official opening will be held on Thursday, May 10 from 5 to 8 p.m. with April Hickox present.

April Hickox’s long-standing relationship with photography, explorations of personal history, and affinity to landscape informs her new exhibition. Vantage turns the viewpoint back toward the camera, or rather references its presence. Two series of photographs, Port Holes and Rain, engage watery landscapes and diverse weather conditions, embracing the lens as a tool, adding layers to the images captured.

Public: Collective Identity | Occupied Spaces
Opening: Saturday, April 28, 6–9 p.m.
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO ARTS CENTRE
May 1–June 30, 2012

Installation view with Ai Weiwei’s works. Photo: Nicholas Liang

Installation view with Richard Mosse’s photographs. Photo: Nicholas Liang.

Tarek Abouamin with his work. Photo: Nicholas Liang

Installation view with Robert Giard’s works. Photo: Nicholas Liang

 Max Dean, Album Project, “the installation on wheels” in front of UTAC. Photo: Nicholas Liang

Gender and Exposure in Contemporary Iranian Photography
Opening: Friday, May 4, 6 – 9 p.m.
Artist Talk: Saturday, May 5, 3 – 4 p.m.
GALLERY 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography
May 4 – June 16, 2012

Installation view with Amirali Ghasemi’s work and visitors. Photo: Barbara D. Waginski

Installation view with visitors. Photo: Barbara D. Waginski

Installation view with Abbas Kowsari’s work . Photo: Barbara D. Waginski

The opening crowd.  Photo: Barbara D. Waginski

Larry Towell, Donovan Wylie / Afghanistan
Opening: Friday May 4, 6 – 8:30 p.m.
Artist Talk: Friday, May 11, 7 p.m.
Institute for Contemporary Culture, Royal Ontario Museum
May 5 – July 8, 2012

Installation view with Larry Towell’s works and visitor at the opening. Photo: Aeree Rho

Larry Towell, Woman selling glamour magazines. Kabul, Afghanistan , 2010, © Larry Towell/Magnum Photos

 Donovan Wylie, FOB Masum Ghar, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, 2010, © Donovan Wylie/Magnum Photos

Installation view with Donovan Wylie’s works and visitor at the opening. Photo: Aeree Rho

April Hickox: Vantage
Opening: Thursday, May 10, 5 – 8 p.m.
Katzman Kamen Gallery
May 10 – June 2, 2012

Installation view. Photo: Aeree Rho

Gallery owner Marianne Katzman with artist April Hickox at the opening. Photo: Aeree Rho

Installation view with visitors at the opening. Photo: Aeree Rho

Installation view with visitors at the opening. Photo: Aeree Rho

This is a site, updated daily, showing how our staff, photographers and interns saw the exhibitions, openings and events of  Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, 2012. You can join in and send your photographs or reviews about any show to us (emese@artoronto.ca).

May 4 – July 21, 2012
Opening: Thursday, May 3, 7 – 10 p.m.
Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art
401 Richmond St. W.
Toronto, ON, M5V 3A8
T: 416.591.0357
E: info@prefix.ca
www.prefix.ca

Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art is pleased to announce Half of the Darkness, by Québecois artist Pascal Grandmaison, which opens next Thursday, May 3rd from 7 to 10 p.m.

Whether realized in the medium of photography, video, sculpture or installation, the work of Pascal Grandmaison consistently engages with the history and technology of photography. Drawing on the medium’s specific properties as a mode of visual representation, the artist creates his unique formal, conceptual and aesthetic universe. In keeping with these themes, Half of the Darkness presents over 300 negative photographic prints as a means to consider the history of photography, its subjective and constructed nature and its ability to produce an infinite number of reproductions from a single negative.

The exhibition is curated by Scott McLeod and accompanied by an essay by Anja Bock, published in Prefix Photo 25.

August 11, Roger in a tuxedo

May 31 – July 21, 2012
Opening: Thursday, May 31, 6 p.m.
Edward Day Gallery
952 Queen St. W.
Toronto, ON, M6J 1H1
T: 416.921.6540
E: eddaygal.toronto@sympatico.ca
www.edwarddaygallery.com
Hours: Tues. – Sat. 10 a.m. – 6 p.m

Elaine Waisglass’s photography exhibition, A Year in My Arts & Crafts Garden premiering May 31 through to June 30, 2012, at Edward Day Gallery in Toronto, is inspiring and intellectual. Executed as large and medium sized hand printed images using archival paper and inks, A Year in My Arts & Crafts Garden is a unique collection of 16 limited edition photographs fusing old ideas with the newest digital technology. The exhibition presents scenes from Waisglass’s historic Toronto property and home shot in natural light. The effect showcases her quest for beauty in its most simple and enchanting form.

The exhibition is a celebration of the Arts & Crafts philosophy and Waisglass’s own home and garden– both having been heavily influenced by the international movement begun in the 1860s. Inspiration for the exhibition was born 17 years ago with the rescue of an unwanted, century-old Toronto house and neglected three-acre garden. Architect Eden Smith originally designed the residence with unity of house and garden in mind, each aligned to the values of renowned Arts & Crafts leader, William Morris.

For years, Waisglass diligently documented her garden’s progress with photographs, becoming so enthralled that she upgraded the camera, lens and printer numerous times and began making her own prints. Recently, Waisglass spent a year photographing different elements of the garden’s cycle- from numerous old rose species and peonies every June to hydrangeas, Japanese Anemones and oak leaves in October- producing the stunning collection, A Year in My Arts & Crafts Garden. Along with the exhibition, Waisglass has created a limited edition, hand-bound, archival book on the philosophy and history of the Arts & Crafts movement, including beautiful renditions of her photography.

“The Arts & Crafts movement’s quest for beauty and ‘the mutable moment’ (beauty quickened by the inevitability of death) has become my own personal quest. In winter, long after the beautiful flowers of summer have faded, my photographs recall their beauty,” says Elaine Waisglass.

The windows in Waisglass’s Arts & Crafts house were strategically designed by Eden Smith to provide views of the garden and capture sunlight: rooms reserved for use early in the day, such as the kitchen were built to capture the sunlight in the east; as the day passes, the sunlight moves to the sitting room typically reserved for evening use. Waisglass’s still life photographs shot inside the house also capture this light and include the period furnishings and draperies designed by William Morris.

Like the house, Waisglass’s entire garden was carefully planned to suit the Arts & Crafts philosophy. While daffodils and tulips scattered through the meadow may seem random to the unknowing eye, every bulb was carefully placed. Waisglass worked with gardener Cynthia McCarthy to turn the property into an extension of her home, a holistic outdoor living space. As the Arts & Crafts movement’s very prescriptive philosophy requires, the garden is ‘wild’ at the perimeter and formal at the house. An unclipped hedgerow encloses the garden, creating an outdoor room. Inside the space is divided into smaller ‘rooms’. Along with beautiful flowers, 200-year-old trees and thousands of plants, the landscape design includes a rose garden, a purple perennial garden, a cutting garden, and a kitchen garden, harvesting lettuce, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, herbs, strawberries, peas and more.

Waisglass studied fine arts and sculpture at the Ontario College of Art and Design before working as a producer and screenwriter for a variety of documentaries and television programs.

About the Gallery:
The Edward Day Gallery was established in 1992 and represents both Canadian and International award-winning emerging and  senior contemporary artists. The collection is comprised of sculpture, painting, drawing, photograpy, printmaking, and other media. Located in the heart of the Queen West Art District of Toronto, the Edward Day Gallery professionals are committed to advising both new and experienced art buyers about art acquisitions. For more information, please visit www.edwarddaygallery.com

Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival
Opening: Friday, April 27, 7–10 p.m.
MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY CANADIAN ART

The crowd with Darcy Killeen in the background (right). Photo: Mauricio Contreras-Paredes

The 16th CONTACT exhibition includes 200 venues, from small cafes to leading art museums, showing about 1000 artists all over the city with the help of many partners, artists and volunteers. “This is the largest photography festival in world, and next year we try to make it the best,” said  Darcy Killeen, Executive Director of Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival.

Baudouin Mouanda, from the series La Sapologie. Installation view. Photo: Nicholas Liang

Duncan Hannay, Senior VP of Marketing at Scotiabank, the title sponsor for six years of CONTACT, stylishly talked about richness at the press preview: “Photography really is a powerful medium that captures the richness of a single moment in time. Photographs give people a chance to see the world through their eyes and show the richness of the communities which we live and work in.” Scotiabank’s 2011 award of $50 000, along with the publication of a beautiful album, goes to Lynn Cohen, whose show, Nothing is Hidden, is on display in Design Exchange (May 3–June 30).

Michael Wolf, Compression, installation view Photo: Nicholas Liang

Installation view. Photo: Mauricio Contreras-Paredes

Bonnie Rubenstein, Artistic Director of CONTACT introduced the program for 2012: “Stimulated by the renewed global interest in street photography, this year’s festival explores the theme ‘Public’  in a series of primary exhibitions, site-specific installations, and events across the city. Drawing attention to social and political issues that are framed by photographic images, the works presented challenge the distinctions between our private lives and the public sphere. CONTACT 2012 highlights how photography shapes collective experience and makes things public.”

Bonnie Rubenstein, Artistic Director of CONTACT in front of Bill Sullivan’s Down. Photo: Nicholas LiangDavid Liss, Artistic Director of Mocca. Photo: Mauricio Contreras-Paredes

David Liss, Artistic Director of Mocca, thanked everyone involved, mentioned the many educational events and workshops  attached to CONTACT and wished the “best year ever” to all.

Philippe Chancel in front of his work Arirang. Photo: Nicholas Liang

Matthew Teitelbaum, Director of AGO (one of the partners for CONTACT 2012). Photo: Nicholas Liang

Installation view. Photo: Mauricio Contreras-ParedesInstallation view. Photo: Mauricio Contreras-Paredes

 For Album (exhibited in AGO, as well as in Waiting Room), Max Dean was at Mocca’s opening  and will travel in a VW Beetle to selected locations around Toronto to give away 500 family photo albums he collected over the past 10 years. He calls it, “public installation on wheels.”

Max Dean’s “public installation on wheels,” the Album. Photo: Nicholas Liang

Indeed, there are photos everywhere, in subway stations, at Pearson Airport, on billboards, on street walls, everywhere! So open your eyes, put your shoes on and get out there! You will surely need the whole month of May, and in some cases beyond, to see all!

Scott McFarland in front of his mural at Mocca, Corner of the Courageous, Repatriation Ceremony for Sergeant Martin Goudreault, Grenville St., Toronto, Ontario, June 9th, 2010.

 Text by Emese Krunak-Hajagos

May 3 – 13, 2012
Opening: Friday, May 4, 7 – 10 p.m.
GALLERY 1313 Process Gallery
1313 Queen St. W.
Toronto, ON, M6K 1L8
T: 416.536.6778
E: director@g1313.org
www.g1313.org
Hours: Wed. – Sun. 1 – 6 p.m.

Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival

 “I wanted to capture the light reflections of tall, modern buildings in glass through my lens with Toronto’s skyscrapers.” “Man made design is symmetrical and nature is asymmetrical in design”.  Bill Filiou

Bill Filiou is a Toronto based photographer originally from Antartiko , Florina , Greece . He has exhibited around Toronto and has work in several collections . Filou has been influenced by photographs of Edward Weston & Newton as well as others.

May 16 – 27, 2012
Opening: May 17, 7 – 10 p.m.
GALLERY 1313 Process Gallery
1313 Queen St. W.
Toronto, ON, M6K 1L8
T: 416.536.6778
E: director@g1313.org
www.g1313.org
Hours: Wed. – Sun. 1 – 6 p.m.

Building Art is exhibition of artwork that uses a variety of media to capture the architecture of Toronto. Works will be on display in Gallery 1313’s Process Gallery during regular Gallery hours.

This exhibition gives artists a unique opportunity to explore the influences of local architecture in their artistic practice. It allows the public an opportunity to make a further connection with city architecture by viewing the creative process that has inspired these artists.

May 2 -13, 2012
Opening: Thursday, May 3, 7 – 10 p.m.
GALLERY 1313 MAIN & CELL Galleries
1313 Queen St. W.
Toronto, ON, M6K 1L8
T: 416.536.6778
E: director@g1313.org
www.g1313.org
Hours: Wed. – Sun. 1 – 6 p.m.

Members of Toronto’s Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography are pleased to announce their presentation of two group shows at Gallery 1313 in conjunction with CONTACT 2012 Photography Festival.

Structured around the theme of Acts of Exposure, each photographer has evoked his or her own individual perception of the theme. Among others, these include the use of portraiture as a means to examine the multi-faceted relationship between the subject and the photographer; documentation of public spaces and their human-inflicted deterioration; and exploration of the effects of corporate branding on the social landscapes of non-western cultures. The photographers present a diverse range of expression of ideas with imagination, passion, talent and knowledge of the medium.

Acts of Exposure captures light, strips away facades, reveals truths, discloses untruths, airs emotions, bares souls, exposes confusion, uncovers patters, risks ridicule, leaves vulnerable, but braves risks. The acts may be born of an instant, but the images will last a lifetime.

Artist talks will be held on Saturdays at 2 pm during the show. Selected works from the show may be viewed at www.actsofexposure.com.

Participating Artists:
(Act 1)
Nelly Akerman Singer, Nicole Croiset, Jack Martin,
Laura Horne, Shelagh Howard, Kelly Lamorie,
David Faltenhine, Lisa Murzin, Paul Osadchuk,
Annie Sakkab, Giovanni Senisi, Laurence Siegel,
Barbara Staulus, Fateh Vaziri

May 2, 2012
Workshop: Wednesday, May 2, 7 – 9:30 p.m.
Gallery 1313 Main Gallery
1313 Queen St. W.
Toronto, ON, M6K 1L8
T: 416.536.6778
E: director@g1313.org
www.g1313.org
Hours: Wed. – Sun. 1 – 6 p.m.

Social Media Tools for Your Tools

A workshop with Sue Edworthy about social media for artists.

Who’s Sitting Where and Why Are You Here? – Introduction to know which artists are participating, and what they hope to get out of it.
What Are These Tools and Why Are We Using Them? – Overview of social media tools from Facebook to Flickr to Pinterest, video sharing, blogging and how to best use them for marketing art.
Tools for Your Tools – Twitpic, bitly, hootsuite, tweetdeck – Tools to make using your social media marketing quicker and easier to save you time.
New Marketing vs Old Marketing and How They Go Together – Determining how your current supporters connect with you, and how new ones will while trying not to alienate anyone without substituting one type of marketing for another.
Group Work – discussion and description of which examples of New and Old Marketing are currently working for your business. Sharing of ideas with others at the table to help their businesses and sharing three good ideas that came up in the session.

May 11 – June 9, 2012
Opening: Friday, May 11, 7 – 10 p.m.
PAUL PETRO CONTEMPORARY ART
980 Queen St. W.
Toronto, ON, M6J 1H1
T: 416.979.7874
E: info@paulpetro.com
www.paulpetro.com

Paul Petro Contemporary Art is pleased to present  Ged Quinn’s Utopia Dystopia , a new portfolio of seven etchings with lithography and watercolour that are based on his paintings.

“Quinn’s paintings combine landscapes in the vein of Claude Lorrain with fragments of history, art history, and mythology. The works are awe-inspiring in their combination of painterly skills and provocative conceptual strains. In Quinn’s work, sublime backgrounds meet broken-down foregrounds, and at all turns utopian ideals are acknowledged and critiqued. Death, deceit, and decay are also dragged into the frame.” -from the web site of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, where Quinn’s latest paintings are featured April 22 – June 17, 2012

May 11 – June 9, 2012
Opening: Friday, May 11, 7 – 10 p.m.
PAUL PETRO CONTEMPORARY ART
980 Queen St. W.
Toronto, ON, M6J 1H1
T: 416 979 7874
E: info@paulpetro.com
Hours:  Wed – Sat  11 – 5 p.m
www.paulpetro.com

A series of paintings by Sadko Hadzihasanovic, in which the artist uses motifs from Jouy, reminds us that the moderate doses of reason were infused into freedom in order to tone it down in the course of turbulent epochs of radical social changes. Sadko Hadzihasanovic uses wallpaper adorned with pastoral scenes full of pastime and lethargy as his painting surface, and then he paints in scenes from the French Revolution in order to remind us of the very quintessence of social conflicts that took place in that epoch. But, by adding several contemporary details, such as a pair of sunglasses or an electric razor, he indicates that the clash between bourgeois conformism and modern aspiration towards social changes exists even in our time.

Opening: Thursday April 26, 6 – 10 p.m.
Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography

PHOTOPIA opened to the public on Thursday April 26 with the hottest party of the year, featuring an exciting lottery raffle, fantastic food, signature cocktails, special guest DJ, beautiful people and artwork for everyone.

 This is a fundraising event for Gallery 44 and encouraged the visitors to add a new work to their collection, or buy their first piece at PHOTOPIA. The gallery walls are adorned with a stunning selection of photographs created by talented local artists, both members and friends of Gallery 44. With many pieces priced below $500, there is artwork in every price range.

Gaye Jackson with her work Untitled from the series “Northern Landscape” (upper right)

Cindy Blazevic and a visitor with her work Fisherman, Bosnian–Croatian Border

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 the collectors own home.

The Lottery

The Lottery

The Supporters Preview on Wednesday April 25, from 6 to 8 p.m, was exclusive to friends of Gallery 44 who have contributed, or would like to contribute $50 or more to the gallery. It featured a wine & cheese reception, director’s exhibition tour, and advance sale.

Saturday April 28th is the last day of the exhibition. Gallery hours are 11-5. Stop buy and check out the amazing selection of collectible artwork for sale! Most pieces are priced below $500.”

Photo: Nicholas Liang