Author: artoronto

 

“Secret Heart” by Dina Torrans

February 8 – March 2, 2012
Opening: Saturday, February 11, 1:30 p.m.
CANADIAN SCULPTURE CENTRE
500 Church Street
Toronto ON M4Y 2C8
Tel: 647-435-5858
Email: gallery@cansculpt.org
Hours: Tuesday–Friday 12–6; Saturdays 11–4

The Canadian Sculpture Centre takes pride in presenting…

Provocative approaches revealing the power of the passionate spirit.

Meet Artists:
Adrienne Alison
Andrew Benyei
John Clinton
Troy Coulterman
Camie Geary-Martin
Marina Guglielmi
Joyce Honsberger
Elaine Jaques
Saulius Jaskus
Shuhui Lee
Oleh Lesiuk
J. Mac
Dina Torrans

Featuring Guest Musicians: Peter Shoebridge & Aidan Todd-Parrish

February 2 – 26, 2012
Opening: Saturday, February 11, 2-5 p.m.
DAVID KAYE GALLERY
West Gallery
1092 Queen Street West
(entrance on Dovercourt)
Toronto, ON M6J 1H9
T: 416.532.9075
www.davidkayegallery.com
Hours: Mon., Tue. by appointment
Wed. – Fri. 11 – 6; Sat., Sun. 11 – 5 p.m.

In the West Gallery SUSAN LOW-BEER is presenting a new series About Face that developed from her last exhibition in the gallery State of Grace (2008). That installation dealt with full child-sized figures. Here just the head is the focus for her textural and psychological explorations. The heads form a community. Each head reads as a metaphor. They are made from the same mold but each is an individual. Their personalities inhabit our world and speak a language that is ambiguous and complex.

SUSAN will be present from 2:00 – 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 11th.

February 2 – 26, 2012
Opening: Saturday, February 11, 2-5 p.m.
DAVID KAYE GALLERY
East Gallery
1092 Queen Street West
(entrance on Dovercourt)
Toronto, ON M6J 1H9
T: 416.532.9075
www.davidkayegallery.com
Hours: Mon., Tue. by appointment
Wed. – Fri. 11 – 6; Sat., Sun. 11 – 5 p.m.

I am pleased to present two very strong and tactile exhibitions.

In the East Gallery REBECCA ANWEILER is exhibiting a stunning series of small-sized landscapes that pack a punch with prolonged viewing. The exhibition is aptly titled I Wish You Were Here. These “picture-perfect landscapes” are iconic images of Canada from coffee-table books and postcards that are rendered in her quick and competent impastoed style. This is ANWEILER’s second exhibition with the gallery.

REBECCA will be present from 2:00 – 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 11th.

February 1 – 17, 2012
Opening: Wednesday, February 1, 5 – 7 p.m.
EEL Gallery
1 Spadina Crescent,
Toronto, ON
Hours: Mon – Wed 12 – 5 p.m.

“The Hysterical Male” is the first solo exhibition by Matthew Purvis. Featuring photographs and sculptural pieces, the works explore issues of masculinity and but also seek to re-evaluate some of the aesthetic prejudices of modern art. Composed of fourteen distinct stations and more than forty elements, these aspects interact and play off each other in conflicting ways. Couched in styles that bridge classicism with folk art, the show smudges the distinctions between images and objects using the naked male body as a starting point.

Giovanni Cerri, Bob Dylan, 2011, oil on canvas, 50 x 50 cm.

February 11  – March 11, 2012
Opening: Saturday, February 11,  4 – 7 p.m.
R.S.V.P. to invite@delucafineart.com
De Luca Fine Art | Gallery
217 Avenue Road
Toronto, ON, M5R 2J3
T: 416-537-4699
E-mail: corrado@delucafineart.com
www.delucafineart.com.
Hours: Tues -Sat 11 – 5 p.m.

This is Giovanni Cerri’s second exhibition in Toronto at De Luca Fine Art. In 2010 he had his first personal exhibition entitled “Hurricane of Light”, presenting a cycle of works on the theme of the city, the main subject of his work.

This exhibition, entitled “LPortraits”, is a series of portraits of the most famous faces of pop-rock from the United States and Canada. Cerri, remaining faithful to his pictorial language, has interpreted famous “icons”: from Bob Dylan to Patti Smith, from Neil Young to Leonard Cohen, from The Ramones to Aerosmith. A gallery of faces where the artist tries to also communicate the expressive “atmosphere” of these musicians, trying to translate the spirit of their music in to images.

Giovanni Cerri  began his activity as a painter in 1987 and since then has had numerous exhibitions in Italy and abroad. In 2011, he exhibited at the 54th Biennale di Venezia, Padiglione Italia, curated by Vittorio Sgarbi.

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue in the same format of the LPs with texts by Alberto Figliolia and Bruno Milone.

Jimmy (Detail), 2011, polymer clay and concrete, H. 27″ x W. 8″ x D. 5.5″

February 9– March 24, 2012
Opening: Thursday, February 9, 5-8 p.m.
2 of 2 Gallery
254 Niagara Street, Toronto, ON, Canada, M6J  2L8
T: 416.591.6464
info@2of2gallery.com
www.2of2gallery.com

2 of 2 Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition of sculpture by Toronto based artist Sarah Farndon.

In her second solo exhibition “Prison and Plinth” at 2 of 2 Gallery, Sarah Farndon explores the relationship between city dwellers and the man-made environment in which they find themselves.  For Farndon, the relationship is tenuous and contradictory.  While always threatening to imprison and immobilize, this consumer-driven contemporary culture also offers its inhabitants a myriad of opportunities for ‘freedom’ of self-expression.  The same culture that seems to elevate us will inevitably trap us.

The title of the show refers to her recent works in a literal sense, as her busts are cemented right into their concrete plinths.  Are the plinths symbols of city life and the culture that one is imprisoned by, or are they props used to display the creative self-expression of the characters?

Born 1987 in Toronto, Canada, Farndon has a BFA from OCAD University (Toronto, Canada). She has been exhibiting her work since 2007.   Farndon’s sculptures are included in a number of collections in US and Canada.

Eco Art Exhibition 2012
January 25 – February 5, 2012
Opening Reception: Thursday, January 25, 7 p.m.

The weather didn’t stop gallery goers from making the trip to catch the ECO Art 2012 reception March 26. With 27 artists in the exhibition visitors had a wide range of works to experience.

Artist Michael Stecky’s work, Nauk, dominated the gallery with its checkerboard painted panels with gunshot holes. The accompanying video told the story of the art work’s process. The work was at Scope Basel in 2011. Stecky also had a smaller work in the exhibit, Lawren Harris Lake and Mountains, made of puzzle pieces.

Michael Stecky, Nauk

Artist Cassandra Marie Wittman’s video work, Snow, was timely and captivating. She was seen performing in the video, lying naked in the snow in her parents’ backyard.

Artist Cassandra Marie Wittman

Artist, Sarah Boothroyd’s sound work, Forest In The Desert, worked effectively. Boothroyd  lives in British Columbia.

Tara Krebs’ acrylic on canvas work, Transmissible,

Tara Krebs, Transmissible. acrylic on canvas

and  Ian Alter’s sculptural piece, Tangled, added to the mix of media.

Ian Alter, Tangled

The scope of art works was wide but together seemed to please the crowd of visitors .

Montreal artist, Amelie Brindamour

Christos Damianos in front of his work, Reclaimed Village

Well known artist, Charles Pachter was represented as was artist Adam Break, whose work uses wasp paper. The evening was a welcome success as many artists met new colleagues and shared their love of art and their concern for the environment.

Text and photo: Phil Anderson

Messiah(untainted), 2011, inkjet print on ragpaper, 72″x44″

February 9 – March 24, 2012
Opening: Thursday, February 9, 5-8 pm
Pari Nadimi Gallery
254 Niagara Street
Toronto, ON, M6J 2L8
T:416-591-6464
E-mail: parinadimigallery.com
info@parinadimigallery.com

MESSIAH is Michael Dudeck’s second solo exhibition at Pari Nadimi Gallery, and centers around a fictive prophet in an elaborate queer mythology Dudeck has spent the last 3 years developing. Focusing on the moment of Death of the Prophet, Dudeck explores the loss of subjectivity involved in being iconic. The Messianic figure must accept the projections of it’s public and correspond to, or retaliate against the invention that accompanies his/her own existence. MESSIAH explores the propaganda, the consecration and ceremonial aftermath of the life of the messianic figure through the lens of a queer science-fiction/fantasy blurring prehistory and futurity in a hybrid museological installation.

The exhibition includes large-scale photographic prints on ragpaper, which Dudeck has carved into, maimed, and painted over, a stylized video of the prophets death ceremony, excerpts from an invented sacred text displayed on the walls of the gallery as didactic information, as well as the mummified prophet encased in a plexiglass tomb.

MESSIAH is the sixth installment of Michael Dudeck’s RELIGION project following Parthenogenesis (Pari Nadimi Gallery, Toronto, 2009), Cathexis (PLATFORM Center for Photographic and Digital Arts, Winnipeg, 2010), WombTomb (Center for Performance Research, New York, 2011), Amygdala (ace art inc., Winnipeg, 2011), and Pharmakos (The Glasshouse, Tel Aviv, 2012). In addition to these projects, Dudeck has delivered performances, group and solo exhibitions and launched publications nationally and internationally including John Connelly Presents (NYC), The Watermill Center (New York), Art Metropole (Toronto), and Gallery Connexion (Fredericton, New Brunswick). His work has been featured in the New York Times, the Village Voice, View on Canadian Art, Fuse Magazine, and he was one of 500 young artists featured in the New Museum’s Younger than Jesus Artist Directory by Phaidon Press.  In fall of 2012, Dudeck is one of 12 artists selected to participate in The Winnipeg Art Gallery’s banner exhibition Winnipeg Now, which will feature the seventh installment of Dudeck’s Religion project : The Baculum Cosmogony, curated by Robert Enright and Meeka Walsh.

February 3 – April 21, 2012
Closing reception: Saturday, April 21,  2 – 5 p.m.
PREFIX INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART
401 Richmond Street West, Suite 124
Toronto, ON M5V 3A8
T: 416 . 591.0357
E: info@prefix.ca
www.prefix.ca

Prompted by specific historical events and locations, Orlow couples archival research with his own audio-visual materials. By offering new entry points for those events that have been excluded, overlooked or otherwise lost from “official” history, the result is a contemplative multi-media installation that examines the construction of history and the obscured nature of historical representation.

Specifically, the exhibition examines the failed passage of fourteen international cargo ships through the Suez Canal in 1967 by interweaving vintage films and photographs taken by the crew members with the artist’s own footage captured years later on location.

 

February 4 – 26, 2012
Opening: Saturday, February 4, 2-5 p.m.
Q&A Session: Sunday, February 12, 2 p.m.
LOOP GALLERY
1273 Dundas Street West
Toronto, ON, M6J 1X8
T: 416.516.2581
E-mail:loopgallery.patricia@gmail.com
http://loopgallery.blogspot.com
www.loopgallery.ca
Hours: Wed–Sat 12–5 p.m., Sun 1–4 p.m.

To show the development and migration of ideas, Libby Hague’s exhibition shifts between the model of a curated show and a studio visit. By cross-referencing work with its generative sources, it tracks the excitement of parameter shifts, sharing the logic behind the hybrids. Demystifying the process says “This is how I think” and “This is what I thought”.
Libby Hague is a Toronto-based artist and graduate of the fine art program at Concordia University in Montreal. She will show in the IPCNY exhibit as it travels to the University of Texas, Austin in January. Her recent solo exhibitions include Sympathetic Connections at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 2011; We were young and still believed in heaven, Galerie Circuaire, Montreal, 2010; tiens-moi très fort, La Centrale, Montreal, 2010; and being natural at the Durham Art Gallery, 2010

February 4 – 26, 2012
Opening: Saturday, February 4, 2-5 p.m.
Q&A Session: Sunday, February 12, 2 p.m.
LOOP GALLERY
1273 Dundas Street West
Toronto, ON, M6J 1X8
T: 416.516.2581
E-mail:loopgallery.patricia@gmail.com
http://loopgallery.blogspot.com
www.loopgallery.ca
Hours: Wed–Sat 12–5 p.m., Sun 1–4 p.m.

In her 2012 exhibition at loop Gallery, Maria Gabankova presents a suite of drawings and paintings that contrast lush marks of oil sticks and oil paint on mylar with stark visualisations of Memento Mori. These images offer a reflection that can be used to put one’s life in a larger perspective.
Images of female figures oscillate between sorrow and hope, life and death, in silence or in a scream. Their inner enigma and tensions compel a gleam of hope, a light to disperse the darkness. The foot of a smiling female sculpture stands victoriously on a human skull – subjugating death.

Maria Gabankova lives and works in Toronto, where she also teaches figure drawing, painting and portraiture at the Ontario College of Art and Design University. In addition to being a founding member of the loop Gallery, Gabankova has also been invited to sit on juries, panel discussions, conferences, and work in film and theatre. Her work is represented in private and corporate collections in Canada, the United States, South Korea and Europe.

February 1 – 12, 2012
Opening : Thursday, February 2, 6 – 10 p.m.
Propeller Centre for Visual Arts
984 Queen St. W.
T: 416.504.7142
www.propellerctr.com
Hours: Wed – Sat 12 – 6p.m., Sun 12-5 p.m.

A Juried Exhibition of Work by Past & Present Teachers from the Toronto District School Board

Propeller Centre for the Visual Arts is an artist run centre on Queen Street West in the heart  of the Gallery District in downtown Toronto. Founded by students from the Ontario College of Art in 1996 to help art students propel their career into the art world, Propeller has been a welcome site for students from Universities, Colleges and Secondary schools to showcase their work alongside professional artists from the collective, whose mandate includes guiding emerging artists through the various stages of their career paths. To date, Propeller has juried and shown the work of students from Ryerson, OCADU, York, Queens.Toronto School of Art as well as the Claude Watson School for the Arts at Earl Haig.

One of my longtime wishes as a member of Propeller and as a Visual Arts teacher with the TDSB, recently retired, has been to organize such a juried exhibition by staff members of the Toronto District School Board as an acknowledgement and appreciation for their tremendous work with and dedication, encouragement and inspiration to their students. Many TDSB teachers in the elementary and secondary panels are themselves artists, trained in art colleges and universities. This show will demonstrate their talents and creativity for the whole city of Toronto, to my knowledge the first ever to take place in a professional gallery.

Above all, this exhibition will give TDSB teachers the opportunity to not only share their talents with their colleagues and the general public but also with their students; it will give instructors the chance to take the students down to see the work or to encourage the senior students to go see and review the exhibition on their own. This show is designed to be an excellent learning experience for all.