Author: artoronto

Laura St. Pierre, 07.31(detail), Urban Vernacular Series, 2010

March 2 – March 31, 2012
Opening: Friday March 2, 6-9pm | Remarks at 7:30 pm
Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography
401 Richmond Street West, Suite 120
Toronto, ON M5V 3A8
T: 416.979.3941
E: sojin@gallery44.org
www.gallery44.org

Constructing Space is an exhibition at Gallery 44, which pairs the work of two artists whose approaches to contemporary photography reflect the growing interdisciplinary nature of contemporary art. Immony Men’s project Taking Care of Business is a photo-based performance/installation. Men’s installation sees him set-up office in the gallery printing image sections on post-it notes and mounting them to the walls creating an encompassing life-size image. Visit the artist during his office hours, or set-up a lunch date with him.
Laura St. Pierre’s Urban Vernacular series consists of large-scale photographs that document the sculptural installations she makes in the urban environment. Items that we normally discard after a few hours or days are resurrected in a new form—as trash architecture in trashed spaces. Look for St. Pierre’s site-specific installation in the loading dock next to Gallery 44. (http://www.gallery44.org/ConstructingSpace)

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Immony Men is a recent graduate of the MFA Visual Arts program at University of Windsor. He has completed his BFA at Concordia, majoring in Interdisciplinary Studies within Studio Arts. He is a Canadian visual artist currently based in Toronto. Men has exhibited in artist-run-centres across Canada, and has worked with Broken City Lab research group in Windsor. His focus is on installation and working between the lines of fact and fiction. Labor intensity is a strong element
in his installation art practice. He is currently developing an artist apartment residency program titled Change in Plans.

Laura St. Pierre is a multi-disciplinary artist and educator. Her installations, sculptures, public works and photography have been exhibited throughout Canada, garnering critical attention in national and international publications.  St.Pierre earned undergraduate degrees at UBC and The U of A, and completed a Master of Fine Arts degree at Concordia University in Montreal. She has been the recipient of numerous fellowships and scholarships as well as major arts grants from the Conseildes Arts et Lettres du Quebec, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and the Canada Council. She currently lives, works and teaches in Grande Prairie, Alberta.

March 1 – March 31, 2012
Opening: Thursday, March 1, 7 – 9 p.m.
Gallery TPW
56 Ossington Ave.
Toronto ON M6J 2Y7
T: 416-645-1066
info@gallerytpw.ca
Hours: Tues – Sat, 12 – 5 pm

Gallery TPW is thrilled to present new work by Prairie-based media artist Linda Duvall. Duvall’s projects most often focus on how individual identities are formed and revealed within social contexts and constructs. Posited in contrast to more intimate and private narratives, she consistently addresses the formation of public knowledge through art and media representation. The Toss is a video and sound installation in which Duvall documents her process of learning to physically toss others. Born out of her personal experience during a police take down and an extensive material and sociological research process, The Toss puts Duvall in relation to diverse trainers — from Hollywood stunt experts to women’s self-defense instructors — from whom she learns to toss. She then enacts confrontations and tosses in various locations of perceived vulnerability. New to Duvall’s practice is the deconstruction of her own physical performance in the work while collaborating with camera operators who assert their own aesthetic vision in relation to filmic and narrative conventions.

Linda Duvall is a visual and media artist who works and presents within gallery contexts, on the web, and within defined public communities. She has degrees in Sociology and English (Carleton University) and Visual Arts (OCADU and University of Michigan) and is currently a Professional Affiliate at the University of Saskatchewan. She has exhibited internationally, including solo exhibitions at Art Gallery of Hamilton, Dunlop Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Mississauga, Museo Nacional de Arte Moderno Guatemala City, Custom House Gallery Westport Ireland, Box Hotel Gallery Barcelona and Thunder Bay Art Gallery.

February 23 – March 18, 2012
Opening: Thursday, February 23, 6–8 p.m
Fran Hill Gallery
285 Rushton Road
Toronto, ON M6C 2X5
Tel: 416-363-1333
Email: franhillgallery@bellnet.ca
Hours: Fri – Sun 11-6 p.m or by appointment

February 27 – March 10, 2012
Opening : Wednesday February 29, 6 – 9 p.m.
The Department
1389 Dundas Street West (at Beaconsfield)
Toronto, ON
E: www.womankingcollective.com
Hours: Mon – Wed  5:30-9,Thurs-Fri 1-9,Sat-Sun 10-7 p.m.

What would you do if only once every four years you could break any rule for just one day alone?

Join us for a series of events featuring the work of rule breaking female artists and designers this February! Brought to you by Toronto based Woman King Collective; Leap Year will be a series of community driven craft, art and design events that will ask this one simple question. The show will be hosted at the Department (www.thedepartment.ca) located at 1389 Dundas Street West in Toronto, Ontario. The show will open to the public on Monday February 27th running until Saturday March 10th with anLeap Year will involve not only a group show but also a related panel discussion on Saturday, March 3rd and a weekend workshop for the public on Saturday, March 10th. The focus will be on handmade theme driven work that asks questions and invites open discussion in a community driven environment, showcasing emerging work and confronting the implications of its making.

Featuring the work of 10 Canadian Artists and Designers including Erin McCutcheon, Marianne Jette, Ilana Van Zyl, Alexa Tamar Smith, Marta Chudolinska and the Artists of Woman King Collective, Megan A. Skyvington, Ange-line Tetrault and Tara Lee Towers. This exciting series of events will be an investigation of multidisciplinary work that will interrogate what it really means to break the rules in art and design.

Formed in 2010 Woman King is a group of female multidisciplinary artists and designers working in Toronto. The Collective is run by Megan A. Skyvington, Ange-line Tetrault and Tara Lee Towers.

Sharing a voice that is unapologetically feminine Woman King produces work both individually and collectively. This work is linked with the history of handmade objects, material practice and female-centric art making. The act of reclaiming is what connects the artists of Woman King in their individual practices. Whether that is the reclaiming of body as site, the history of women’s work or of the female identity as both a public and private experience.

Through an exploration into objects, materials and spaces this group of designers and artists will redefine the myth of womanhood. Our work looks into our interactions with industrial design, traditional craft and body as subject from an entirely female perspective. Woman King exemplifies the capacity for Canadian women in art and design, among other creative disciplines, to effect a change of perception and a message of empowerment through their work.
For more information on Woman King Collective please visit: www.womankingcollective.com
For more information on the Department please visit: www.thedepartment.ca

IAIN BAXTER& (Canadian, born 1936) LANDSCAPE WITH SAILBOATS (Digital Code Conversion Series), 2008,acrylic paint on plywood, 120.7 x 242.8 cm. Collection of the artist. Photo: Art Gallery of

March 3 – August 2, 2012
ART GALLERY OF ONTARIO
317 Dundas Street West
Toronto, ON M5T 1G4
T: 416.979.6648
www.ago.net
Hours: Tue & Thurs–Sun 10–5:30, Wed 10–8:30

For 50 years, Canadian artist IAIN BAXTER&:  has been radically redefining the role of the artist, integrating photography, installation, sculpture, painting, drawing and performative aspects into his work. An upcoming exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), IAIN BAXTER&: Works 1958–2011, invites visitors to become collaborators by engaging with the artist and his work. Special events that highlight the interactive nature of the artist’s brand will complement and activate the exhibition, which is on view from March 3 to Aug. 12, 2012.

Co-curated by David Moos, former curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the AGO and Michael Darling, James W. Alsdorf Chief Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IAIN BAXTER&: Works 1958–2011 brings the evolution of BAXTER&’s career to life for visitors. The exhibition travels directly to Toronto from Chicago, where it was recently on view at the MCA and was named a critic’s pick by Artforum International.

Liquid Detergent, Vancouver, British Columbia,1965, printed 2005, gelatin silver print, edition 1 of 10 76.8 x 102.2 cm Collection of the artist. Photo: Art Gallery of Ontario ©2012 IAIN BAXTER&

“BAXTER&’s thinking resonates today because his willingness to experiment remains undiminished,” Moos said. “It is here, between originality and the familiar, that one finds BAXTER&, raising our awareness that art is an experiment—an embrace one must experience.”

A believer in collaboration, the recurring symbol in BAXTER&’s work is the ampersand, and he often refers to himself as “the &man.” The artist, whose surname is pronounced “Baxter-and” has worked under various monikers throughout his career, most famously N.E. Thing Co., a corporate-style organization he served as co-president of with his then-wife Ingrid Baxter. In 2005  BAXTER& legally added an “&” to his name, reflecting his collaborative approach to art and his fundamental belief that art requires a strong connection with the viewer. “Life,” says BAXTER&, “seems to be about ands. After we leave this life and this planet, only an & remains.”

IT Extended Noland, 1966,velvet ribbon on fabric, dimensions variable; fabric 105.5 x 105.5 x 7.0 cm. Gift of David P. Silcox and Linda Intaschi, 1988. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto Photo: Art Gallery of Ontario

Recognizing that communication goes both ways, the exhibition offers visitors an opportunity to interact and engage with BAXTER& and his work. Eighteen custom-designed QR codes populate the exhibition, letting smartphone users watch, share and comment on videos, audio and behind-the-scenes content in the Wi-Fi enabled Gallery. At the heart of the exhibition lies an ampersand-shaped interaction station where, through Twitter, visitors can share their answers to thought-provoking questions from the artist, including topics of environmentalism which figure heavily in his work.

Featuring some 100 photographic, sculptural and vacuum-formed works, including Inflated Blue Sky and Zero Emissions, the exhibition takes visitors on an often witty tour through some of the most important themes of contemporary art: the connection between art, business and everyday life; environmental issues; and the rise of photography as a vibrant and relevant art form.
Events and highlights for IAIN BAXTER&: Works 1958–2011 include:
AGO MEMBERS’ PREVIEW
Wednesday, Feb. 29, 10 a.m. – 8:30 p.m.
AGO members enjoy free admission to IAIN BAXTER&: Works 1958–2011 and are invited to attend a special members-only preview of the exhibition. Visit ago.net for more information.
CATALOGUE AND BOOK LAUNCH
Wednesday, Feb. 29, 6 p.m.
shopAGO
Featuring more than 200 reproductions, the exhibition catalogue IAIN BAXTER&: Works 1958-2011 includes essays by David Moos, Michael Darling, Dennis W. Durham, Christophe Domino, and Lucy R. Lippard, as well as original interviews with IAIN BAXTER& and Ingrid Baxter by Alexander Alberro. Edited by David Moos and co-published by Goose Lane Editions, the soft-cover, 224 page volume is available for $45 at shopAGO. To celebrate this publication, BAXTER& will be on hand to sign copies of the catalogue at the public book launch.
MEET THE ARTIST: IAIN BAXTER&
How I Became the &Man
Wednesday, April 4, 7 – 8:30 p.m.
Jackman Hall at the AGO
Members $17| Public $20 |Students $12
Follow IAIN BAXTER& on his journey from zoologist to conceptual artist. The &man will share his insights on the ecology of life and art &…. Visit ago.net for more information.
EARTH DAY WEBINAR WITH IAIN BAXTER&
Tuesday, March 27, 7 – 8:30 p.m.
FREE
In this live, online event educators can join in a conversation with BAXTER& on the topic of Earth Day. The artist will discuss his work and its relationship to the environment, the notion of working together in a participatory environment, and his art making process. He will also share his thoughts on Earth Day and how educators and students can get involved, and engage educators with four participatory questions from the exhibition.
Organized by the AGO, IAIN BAXTER&: Works 1958–2011 is generously supported by Leslie Gales & Keith Ray, Rosamond Ivey, the Steven & Michael Latner families and Philip B. Lind & Ellen Roland.

The AGO acknowledges the generous support of its Signature Partners:
American Express, Signature Partner of the Conservation Program; and Aeroplan, Signature Partner of the Photography Collection Program.

Contemporary programming at the AGO is generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts

February 24 – March 31, 2012
Opening: Friday, February 24, 2012, 6:30-8:30 pm
Open Studio Gallery
401 Richmond Street West, Suite 104
Toronto ON,  M5V 3A8
T: 416.504.8238
E: sara@openstudio.on.ca
http://www.openstudio.on.ca

Open Studio is pleased to present Invocation, an exhibition by Mankato, MN based artist, Erik Waterkotte from February 24 – March 31, 2012. The exhibition is accompanied by a text by Minneapolis, MN based writer Brandon Cooke.

Invocation is a word that connotes magic. It can be a prayer of entreaty or a formula for conjuring, or even a petition for help. Erik Waterkotte’s work is an exploration of popular culture, myth and fantasy as conveyed through print and mixed media. He is drawn to ideas and events in popular culture that blur the line between fantasy and reality, finding that these ideas and related imagery act as illustrations for the cultural fragmentation of contemporary society.

Waterkotte’s recent work alludes to fantastic, magical, and mystical spaces. Juxtaposed and submerged in the work are images from the films Woodstock and Gimme Shelter, heavy metal album art, the Mormon Tabernacle, alchemical symbolism and ancient ruins. Using appropriation, collage, mixed print media, digital applications and video projection, Waterkotte creates layered imagery that both elucidates and obscures. According to Cooke in the accompanying essay, the sensuousness of Waterkotte’s works draws viewers in before it is quite realized what we are seeing.

Working with collage and printmaking, layering imagery and media, Watterkotte references architectural spaces and landscapes. He sees collage as an act of destruction, building, distortion and reduction. Distortion and reduction are key to his process — he wants the viewer to experience imagery that is temporal, shifting and could easily be peeled apart. Waterkotte is interested in creating works that reference the beauty and terror of the sublime, that walk the line between representation and abstraction, form and formless.

Erik Waterkotte received his MFA from the University of Alberta and his BFA from Illinois State University. He has shown in many group exhibitions internationally, including THENOW Contemporary Prints/Historical Perspectives (University of Minnesota), the Hong Kong Graphic Arts Festival (Hong Kong City Hall),  (S)edition, Prints as Activism (Urban Institute of Contemporary Art, Grand Rapids MI), the 2009 China Sanbao International Printmaking Exhibition, and the Edmonton Print International  (SNAP Gallery). Recent solo exhibitions took place at Saltgrass Printmakers (Salt Lake City, UT, the Printmaker’s Gallery (Arkansas State University) and Hemingway Gallery (Boise State University, ID). His work is included in several university collections and he has participated in numerous print portfolios and residencies. He is currently Assistant Professor in the Department of Art at Minnesota State University.

Saturday, February 4, 2012 2 – 4 p.m.
MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY CANADIAN ART

February 4th ushered in 3 new exhibitions at Toronto’s MOCCA: Tasman RIchardson’s Necropolis, Spectral Landscape, and Daisuke Tak’s GOD Loves Japan.eya

Artist Daisuke Tak

Daisuke Tak’s GOD Loves Japan

Highly acclaimed, the three exhibitions kicked off MOCCA’s 2012 season offering an array of palatable aesthetic experiences which address a wide spectrum of themes and issues.

Spectral Lanscape

An interesting and exciting beginning to the year, the opening was well attended. Visitors crowded the foyer and spilled out into the yard as they mingled and sampled delicious fare.

Daisuke Tak’s GOD Loves Japan

Daisuke Tak’s GOD Loves Japan

Necropolis, which is in MOCCA’s main gallery space, creates an immersive multi-media experience which allows for visitors to enter in pairs. It is not easy to navigate the narrow corridors with the bluring TV screens on the site.

Artist Tasman RIchardson, creator of Necropolis

The slowed entrance added intrigue to the exhibtion, but also was the cause of a great deal of congestion, as the line-up snaked through the already crowded foyer.

An afternoon opening, this welcoming of MOCCA’s winter exhibitions was perhaps done with less raucous fanfare than their usual Friday night celebrations, but the family-friendly time encouraged the attendance of an interested variety of generations.

Text: Miriam Arbus. Photo: Mauricio Contreras-Paredes

February 22 – March 4, 2012
Opening: Thursday, February 23, 7:00 p.m.
GALLERT 1313 CELL GALLERY
1313 Queen Street West
Toronto, ON, M6K 1K8
T: 416.536.6778
E: director@g1313.org
www.gallery13131.org
Hours: Wed–Sun 1:00–6:00 p.m.

Michelle Montague uses the visual queues of story-telling to explore the idea of Nature as an active participant of a micro-universe. With overlapping gestured lines, the artist intuitively creates a world immersed in fantasy. In this series of drawings and paintings, images of strange creature inhabitants try to balance a delicate relationship with their “mother” – Nature. The work depicts a series of events, where the creatures find themselves in a world where the forces of “mother” are ever so present; they are physically “caught” in the process. Much like ourselves, the creatures are both loved and scorned by their well-being “mother” as they get jostled about like goldfish in a tiny bowl of water. Through this body of work the artist attempts to further her understanding of Nature, the life energy and its ever lasting process of rejuvenation.

 

February 22 – March 4, 2012
Opening: Thursday, February 23, 7:00-10:00 p.m.
by invitation – please contact the gallery
GALLERT 1313 MAIN GALLERY
1313 Queen Street West
Toronto, ON, M6K 1K8
T: 416.536.6778
E: director@g1313.org
www.gallery13131.org
Hours: Wed–Sun 1:00–6:00 p.m.

Acclaimed Edmonton Artist captures power and beauty of turbulent Prairie skies in his new book, Storm Chaser: Canadian Prairie Skyscrapes, which presents 83 of Ian Sheldon’s vibrant, highly dramatic storm paintings. His work provides a direct experience of the vast space of both land and sky on the Canadian prairies. Sheldon’s stylized representation of the energetic turbulence of the storms that often sweep the prairies adds a new dimension to the artistic dialogue about the raw nature of our nation.

Sheldon is a storm junkie, obsessively monitoring Environment Canada’s online radar, which he crosschecks with satellite information to figure out when and where major storm fronts might form. When a big front develops, Sheldon grabs his camera and races to the scene in his car. The photographs he takes form the inspiration for his paintings.

Sheldon’s storm paintings, in their complexity of colour, texture, light and shadow, serve as the centrepiece to Storm Chaser, but by combining them with his own captivating writing and selected excerpts from other exceptional writers and poets, Ian offers us a layered book that is a paean to the joy and beauty of living on the prairie.

Opening the book will lead you to enter a portal to a land and a journey — Ian Sheldon’s world of wind, grass, sky and spirit.

About Ian Sheldon

Ian Sheldon was born on the Canadian prairies and raised in other lands, including South Africa, Singapore and England. In returning to his birthplace, he applies that global influence to his landscapes and defines a new dimension in prairie art. Ian’s diverse works have been shown in San Francisco, New York, across Canada and in England. He is best known for his bold and iconic prairie skyscapes, works that have earned him the moniker “Storm Chaser”.

February 18 – April 8, 2012
Opening: Saturday, February 18. 1 p.m.
Artist’s Walk & Talk: February 18. 1:30 p.m.
Curator’s Walk & Talk: March 15, 7 p.m.
STATION GALLERY
1450 Henry Street
Whitby, ON L1N 0A8
T:905.668.4185
E: art@whitbystationgallery.com
Hours: Mon-Fri 10-4:30, Thurs 10-9, Sat-Sun 12-4 p.m.

This show journeys to a space between worlds. Meryl McMaster is a photographer who draws on more than one cultural repertoire. She self-identifies as a bi-cultural artist who borrows from both her First Nations and European ancestry. Her images and sculptures generously contribute to conversations surrounding hybrid identities.

McMaster is an early-career artist to watch. Her works summon a profound spirit. A spirit of exchange and affinity inhabits the heart of this project.

Sunday, February 19, 2012, 2 – 4 p.m.
ANTIX – Centre for Art Crime and Neoism
276 Crawford Street, Toronto
through drive way towards garage
www.istvankantor.com
http://home.interlog.com/~amen/
http://www.hungarianpresence.ca/Culture/Media/kantor

 

STRIPBOTS – a series in progress

Dont miss this opportunity to closely admire the ANTIX Depot that is Istvan Kantor’s storage space and summer gallery, archive of Kantor’s life and crimes, a meeting place for secret conversations, future projects, conspiracy plans, also amazing deals on bloody canvases and many other beautiful Neoist Monty Cantsin artifacts! It is “the Vatican of Neoism”, the secret emergency exit to Neoist eternity… an archive of over three decades of works, from mail-art to machinery, anti-drawings, re-mixed-media paintings, stolen information, broken sculptures, hypersex-manifestos, flaming banners, burned flags, 1001 broken irons, … a spot for revolutionary ideas, conspiratorial gatherings, great deals, mind blowing conversations with Neoist Genii.