Author: artoronto

December 16, 2011 – January 20, 2012
Opening: Friday, December 16, 6 – 8 p.m.
art Works art Gallery
238 Jane Street
Toronto ON M6S 3Z1
T: 416-766-0662
info@artworksartschool.com
www.artworksartschool.com

Curated by Lauren Renzetti

“Art allows me to attack my canvas without any preconceived ideas. I intuitively create while paying close attention to my materials and the relationships that develop between them. These different materials determine the various textures on the canvas; as a result, my art is not purely aesthetic but also a tactile experience.” – Corrie Burrows

Corrie has been making and teaching art for the last 15 years, having taught at such galleries as the MacLaren Art Centre, Art Gallery of Ontario, Art Works Art School and Todmorden Mills Museum and Art Centre.

She is fascinated by materials and enjoys watching the relationships that develop between them. She loves creating works that are not purely aesthetic but also a tactile experience. Her current obsessions are working with encaustics, textiles and knitting. To view more of her work please visit: www.corrieburrows.blogspot.com

The surfaces on all of Corrie Burrows paintings have texture, and depth; illusory or actual, with marks made from brush, knife, scraper and most importantly an electric palm sander. Burrows admits her strength in execution lies more in the scraping and sanding techniques she uses to develop her rich and varied surfaces than in the initial brush work.   Her methods are based on the paint having life. What will the paint do with thinners, with wax, with gravity, with some intervention, with none? Watching what will happen next and either intervening or deciding not to is key. Burrows paints in the moment and responds directly to the paint, watching, waiting, piling paint on, taking paint off, and having a visual, tactile, dialogue with her surfaces.

Many of her pieces are untitled. Some hold that name so the viewer can put their own interpretation on them.  These untitled works all invoke a sense of a place, mood, or memory.

About the Gallery:  Art Works art Gallery supports vital contemporary art practices and initiatives by emerging and mid-career artists. Art Works’ mandate is to provide a professional venue for exhibitions along with technical support and promotional resources. Art Works art Gallery is utilized by art Works art School, as well as by artists outside of the art Works community. All art exhibited in the gallery space will go through the submission process and approval by the gallery submission committee.

Friday, December 10, 2011, 8 – 11 pm
Stan Douglas Entertainment: Selections from Midcentury Studio
Coming After

 Paul Zingrone, Head of Installation at Power Plant with artist Adam Garnet Jones.

Jon Davies, curator of Coming After (in the middle), artist Adam Garnet Jones (right) and a friend

Stan Douglas: Malabar people, a series of sixteen black and white portraits, 1951, 2010

Stan Douglas: Dancer I and II., 1950 (2010)

Stan Douglas: Hockey Fight, 1951 (2010)

Susanne M. Winterling’s shadow readings

Pauline Boudry/Renate Lorenz, detail from No Future/No Past (still), 2011 Photo courtesy The Power Plant

Susanne M. Winterling: Untitled (with dice), 2009 and Jean Paul Kelly: Untitled, 2011 (on the wall)

Dean Sameshima: Gauntlet II. series, C-prints, 2003

James Richards, Untitled Merchandise (Lovers and Dealers), six cotton blankets, 2007/11

Christian Holstad: The Road to Hell is Paved, 2009

Glen Fogel: Glen from Colorado, 2009

Danny Jauregui: Hyperion Health and Basis Plumbing, 2010

Photo: Mauricio Contreras-Paredes

Passionate wreckage

 

December 6–23, 2011
Art Party: Thursday, December 15,  7–9 p.m.
WELLINGTON STREET ART GALLERY
270 Wellington Street West, Suite 105
(between John Street & Blue Jays Way)
Toronto, ON
T: 647-352-3463
wellingtonstreetartgallery.ca
Hours: Tues-Fri 12–6 p.m., Sat 12–4 p.m.

Toronto-born Gloria Green obtained a degree in Nutrition from Ryerson University and received her Master’s of Science from the University of Toronto.

Seven years ago, Green was inspired to draw upon her ever-present love of music and abstract art, emerging on the art scene as a painter. Inspired by an early training in classical piano and an interest in abstract artists such as Franz Kline and Rothko, she studied abstract painting under the direction of artist Lydia Parnat at the Avenue Road School of Art.

She attended the Toronto School of Art, using acrylic paint as a medium, and her work took prolific shape. Her musical inspiration brings to life her artistic visions.  As a consequence working in the health care field, her artwork shines with feeling and sentiment.

July 30, 2011–January 1, 2012
ART GALLERY OF ONTARIO

The Art Gallery of Ontario is currently home to the exhibition Haute Culture: General Idea, which was first exhibited in Paris by French curator Frederic Bonnet. Located on the fourth and fifth floors, Haute Culture features work produced by a collaboration of gay male artists including AA Bronson, Felix Partz and Jorge Zontal. The works consist of a wide variety of practices and artistic media, many dealing with the artists’ sexual orientation. Ranging from paintings, installations, photographs, drawings and videos, the artwork, devised between 1969 and 1994, forecast aspects of today’s trends in art and media culture.

Baby Maker 3, 1984-1989, cromogenic print, 76.2 x 63.5 cm. Collection Fonds national d’art contemporain, France. Image courtesy the Estate of General Idea and the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Standing outside the doors of the Art Gallery of Ontario is General Idea‘s newly installed “AIDS” sculpture, acting as a representative for the exhibition inside. As one walks past this enormous sculpture saturated with coloured graffiti, it is evident that the design of the sculpture “AIDS” is directly imitating and responding to Robert Indiana’s red and blue “LOVE” sculpture, currently on the streets of New York City. The placement of the “AIDS” sculpture is an important and successful part of Bonnet’s exhibition strategy, allowing spectators to contemplate concepts and themes embedded in the exhibition prior to seeing it. Although this sculpture strikes an impression for viewers, its creation in the 1980’s must have been much more shocking and scandalous. Therefore, the historical time frame and context in which this sculpture is exhibited is an important part of how it is received by its audience. Presenting this sculpture in the year 2011 when the term AIDS is no longer alien to the public lessens the shock value.

Once inside, the fourth floor of the AGO’s contemporary and architecturally-savvy gallery houses a handful of rooms dedicated to exhibiting artwork generated by Bronson, Partz and Zontal. Each room is saturated with a variety of colourful artwork, including a Miss General Idea pavilion, heraldry, and installation pieces acting as mini exhibitions in and of themselves. The crisp white walls in this space intelligently bring the artwork and installations to life.  One of the rooms in the gallery space is eerily dedicated to the 1971 Miss General Idea pageant. The work titled Miss General Idea is composed of posters, letters, video footage and clothing from the 1971 pageant, exposed for the audience to see. Although this pageant did exist, “Miss General Idea” did not. There was no winner; it was a show put on by women for the amusement of themselves and men in the 1970’s.  Miss General Idea represents the intermingling of reality, fiction and parody, linking together thematic ideas embedded in works of art.   It would be wise for Bonnet to have devised written texts alongside the Miss General Idea piece, explaining in further detail the intention behind its existence in a more obvious and straightforward manner for viewers.

General Idea. No Mean Feet, 1973-74, photography, 27.9 x 43.2 cm. Image courtesy Galerie Esther Schipper

The works of art in Haute Culture: General Idea are not organized in a chronological manner; rather they are clustered together in groupings. The groupings may not seem obvious at first. However, after a second walk-through of the exhibition it becomes clear that  each is based on a concept or thematic idea.  These themes consist of glamour as an artistic tool, the mass media and culture, and sexuality and disease, specifically AIDS. The most successful rooms, in my opinion, are isolated works consisting of bright coloured wallpaper and paintings dedicated to AIDS, illuminating this theme and conceptual idea.

AIDS (Installation view), 1988, acrylic on canvas. Image courtesy The Art Gallery of Ontario, 243.7 x 243.7 cm. Collection of The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. Gift of Robert and Lynn Simpson, 1997. Image by Carlo Catenazzi, courtesy of the Art Gallery of Ontario

Other themes in the exhibition are less obvious, due to the large amount of grouped tightly together. It is unclear whether or not this was done intentionally by the curator. As one walks through the exhibition, the specific artist responsible for creating certain works remains anonymous. For many, this may seem like a curatorial catastrophe. However, when close attention is paid to the exhibition, it becomes clear that Bonnet does this purposefully.

General Idea. P is for poodle, 1983-1989, lacquer on vinyl, 200 x 160 cm. Image courtesy Galerie Frédéric Giroux, Paris

Quoting Bronson, Partz and Zontal, Bonnet writes, “General Idea broke with the concept of the author by adopting a generic title that freed the artists from the tyranny of the myth of the individual genius.” As part of the artists’ motive of being “freed of individual genius,” it is only fitting that specific artworks exist mysteriously and uncredited throughout the exhibition.

Throughout the exhibition, beginning outside the doors of the AGO, the theme of AIDS is embedded within each group of work. The word appears in paintings, on walls, and even as an accessory in the Miss General Idea installation. Its purpose is, of course, to bring awareness to this disease, which ultimately claimed the lives of two of the three artists who collaborated on the artwork displayed.

General Idea. Playing Doctor, 1992, chromogenic print, 76.2 x 53.3 cm. Image courtesy the estate of General Idea.

However, the use of this disease throughout Haute Culture: General Idea is as much metaphorical as it is literal. The exhibition itself becomes a virus inserted into each viewer’s mind in the world of glamour and mass media.

Amanda Pignotti

The Bloordale Area around Bloor West and Lansdowne is fast becoming a haven for new art galleries, several of which have just opened.

SCRAP METAL
11 Dublin St., Unit E
www.scrapmetalgallery.com

Read All Over
December 9, 2011–May 1, 2012

Scrap Metal is a new art gallery opened by co-founders Samara Walbohm and Joe Shlesinger. They have a large collection of art works that they wish to make accessible for public viewing.

co-founders Samara Walbohm and Joe Shlesinger.

Read All Over is an exhibit , developed by Scrap Metal  cofounders Samara Walbohm and Joe Shlesinger, that considers the state of language in books and visual art . Though the world is bombarded by words – Flickering across LCD displays – they are barely there.Have they become mere ephemera without lasting impact ?  Read All Over poses the question : Is visual art a refuge for words, a place where text can achieve some permanence?

The exhibition is an impressive collection of works both local and international that address the subject of language in a thoughtful and delightful way. The first work to view would be Micah Lexier’s wonderful sign over the exterior entrance to the gallery. If the sign’s light is on, then the gallery is open and that is the text on the sign. There are a few clever variations on this text used by Lexier.

Micah Lexier’s sign

There are works from local artists, such as Lois Andison, Dave Dyment, Derek Sullivan, Laurel Woodcock, Ken Nicol and General Idea, just to name a few. There are several works by Graham Gillmore who has been a favourite artist of mine who uses text in his works.

The venue and exhibition are both excellent and the owners are warm and receptive.

DANIEL FARIA GALLERY
188 St. Helens Avenue
www.danielfariagallery.com
info@danielfariagallery.com

Beside Myself, works by Chris Curreri
November 17, 2011–January 7, 2012

This is another great exhibition in another great industrial space. The gallery is in a former auto body shop, kitty corner to Scrap Metal. In fact, Daniel Faria, the owner, helped Scrap Metal owners Samara Walbohm and Joe Shlesinger find their space. Rumour has it other galleries are considering this area now that people are discovering it to provide large accessible spaces.

Daniel Faria, the owner

The exhibition Beside Myself by Chris Curreri is a series of male portraits with the figure naked from the waist up and the head draped in bread dough. The works are strong and command attention. The next exhibition at the gallery will feature works by Douglas Coupland.

Other Galleries in this area include the artist run centre, Mercer Union, the Toronto Free Gallery, the Robert Kananaj Gallery and, at 1226 Bloor West, another project gallery.

Mercer Union

Text and Photo by Phil Anderson

December 3, 2011 – January 28, 2012 Opening: Saturday, December 10, 2:30–5:30 p.m. GALLERY ARCTURUS 80 Gerrard Street East Toronto, ON M5B 1G6 T: 416 977 1077 F: 416 977 1066 E: info@arcturus.ca www.arcturus.ca Hours: Tues-Fri 12- 5:30; Sat 11-5:30pm                                                                       How does real change begin?   You may have seen starlings, gathered together in one place. They are full of agitation, each bird expressing itself individually. Then, suddenly, they rise up and fly as one, an agreed departure, a movement like the breath, expanding out and in, a murmuration of starlings.   Now we are a murmur of uncertainty. We know we have lost our way.   What does it mean to be human? Perhaps we are looking for the question that will release us from the prisons we have created, to fly as one, an agreed departure, a new direction. murmurs of uncertainty                            a deep persistent hum                            the flutter of a thousand wings                            summoning a question

works which somehow reflect these words by

jason ford

deborah harris

R.M. Vaughan wrote in Saturday’s Globe: “Chock full of spectral figures and haloed after-images, this sensual group show looks exactly the way late afternoons in January feel – haunted and striving to hold the light.”

 

---

Limited Edition Posters by Artists
+ Archival Posters from the Collection of Michael Parke-Taylor

December 15 – 17, 2011
Opening: Thursday, December 15, 7 pm
MERCER UNION,
A Centre for Contemporary Art
1286 Bloor Street West
Toronto ON, M6H 1N9
T: 416.536.1519
E-mail: sarah@mercerunion.org
www.mercerunion.org
Hours: Tues–Sat 11–6

Mercer Union is happy to release a sneak peek of works in PIN UP and the opportunity to purchase posters before the public opening next Thursday. All posters are printed in editions of 5 (+1 AP) and are being sold for $75 each. All sales support Mercer Union’s programming. To view and purchase a selection of works in the show, visit http://pinup.mercerunion.org

We invite you to attend the PIN UP opening reception Thursday, December 15, at 7 p.m. for a chance to see the works in person and to join Mercer Union in some holiday cheer. Posters will be available for takeaway at the opening party, which will feature sets by DJ San Tron, spun from our indoor beer tent. The exhibition will continue through to Saturday, December 17, at 6 p.m., with all editions available until inventory is exhausted.

During  PIN UP, Mercer Union is also featuring a special exhibition of Toronto gig posters drawn from Michael Parke-Taylor’s extensive collection. This show provides a rare opportunity to peek into the former AGO Curator of Modern Art’s personal archive of paste-up print design. The selection offers an eclectic index of posters for famous and not-so-famous musical acts who have performed in Toronto over the last fifteen years.

Opening: Thursday, December 2, 7 p.m.
GALLERY 1313

An Exhibition of Work by Cindy Blazevic and Pascal Paquette is extended until December 11.

Pascal Paquette , Cindy Blazevic, & Sarianna Mileski

This exhibition is an epilogue to the artists’ project, The Culture  Lobby, which took place in the Balkans 2007–2010.

The Grey Area is a site-specific installation of post-war documentary photography and painting about the shared post-war experiences,  symbols and culture of the Western Balkans.

The reception was fun, and visitors were intrigued with the exhibition.

Artists Christopher Arnoldin and Dorian Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald has an exhibition currently on at Roenish Gallery.

There was Croatian Beer, Ožujsko, and the conversation flowed throughout  the evening. Artists Cindy Blazevic and Pascal Paquette were on hand to greet visitors and friends and guide them through their exhibition.

Text and Photo: Phil Anderson

The upper level

Opening: Saturday, December 3, 3 – 6 pm
DE LUCA FINE ARTS /GALLERY

The third exhibition at De Luca Fine Arts / gallery at its new location at 217 Avenue Road was a very well presented group show of  22 gallery artists from all over the world. It was a first show occupying both the upper and lower level of the new gallery. The interior itself is beautiful with new walls and an opening to a spacious backyard, a potential sculpture gallery.

The higher level had mainly large paintings By Toni Calzetta, Flavio Belli and others.

Transform your smartphone with coque telephone logicom le swipe – the ultimate second skin for your device. Elevate your style and protection, catered to phone accessory enthusiasts seeking quality and innovation.

 Artist Tony Calzetta in front of his painting

Artist Flavio Belli with his mixed media painting

Artist Michael Toke and visitors

The lower level has a nice shadowbox with Abraham Anghik Rubin inuit influenced sculptures, Janet  Bellotto’s lightbox with a playful tranparency, photgraphs by Vincenzo Pietropaolo among many other  interesting art pieces.

The reception was well attended with many artists are disputing each others’ works and visitors from the beautiful condo neighbourhood and from all over the city.

Artists Jiri Ladocha and Yuri Doic

Photo: Corrado De Luca

Rafael Ochoa, digitally altered found image, 2011

December 10 –  23, 2011
Opening: Saturday, December 10, 2-5 pm
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.

Loop Gallery is pleased to announce a group exhibition by York University MFA students entitled Temporary. Temporary includes work by Andreas Buchwaldt, Jon Claytor, Patrick Cull, Matthew Gardiner, Phil Irish, Thea Jones, Braden Labonte, Rafael Ochoa, and Luke Siemens.

These current York MFA artworks are temporarily exhibited together, on the condition that they adhere to a guiding rule: they must continue the original artistic intent of the work while playing nicely with others. Each piece is either bent, creased, folded, re-mediumed or re-considered to fit in by pulling back the original number to about 33%. Think of the frame surrounding content in a blog or print publication—or patterns in the selected visual content, like an image of a person attending a kind of symposium. Although there are thematic utterances internal to the works, these are not a reading stricture on the total statement. This framework is only a phase that has run its course and viewers will value works realized through sincerity most.

This exhibition is part of a series of programming by part of YU Special Projects. YU Special Projects is a special initiative of the Visual Arts Department of York University. Focused on making connections between the art community in downtown Toronto and York undergraduate and graduate students, YU Special Projects provides various exhibitions, professional development/exchanges and opportunities towards the enrichment of student experience. Temporary and YU Special Projects are generously supported by the York University’s Provost’s Office through the Academic Innovation Fund. For more information on YU Special Projects, please contact Jessica Thalmann at jessica.thalmann@gmail.com.

Please join the artists in celebrating the opening reception on Saturday, December 10th from 2–5 p.m.

Thursday, December 8, 6-9 p.m.
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
1 Spadina Crescent

University of Toronto’s annual Eyeball is the Fine Arts/Architecture Department’s exhibition, showcasing the work of graduate and undergraduate students.

Come and celebrate the end of the semester – join students and friends for the art (and food, cash bar and music!).

Live Auction: Thursday, November 24, 2011
PARK HYATT HOTEL
4 Avenue Road
4:00 p.m. EST, Canadian Post-War & Contemporary Art
7:00 p.m. EST, Fine Canadian Art

David K. J. Heffel, president of Heffel Fine Art Auction House

AUCTION BREAKS WORLD RECORD FOR A CANADIAN CONTEMPORARY PAINTING, TOTAL SALES REACH $16.73 MILLION – Heffel’s Fall 2011 Auction is now the fifth highest grossing live auction.

The Canadian post-war and contemporary art session, which commenced at 4 p.m. EST, had sales totalling $6.95 million, making it the second highest post-war and contemporary Canadian sale ever conducted by Heffel. The fine Canadian art session began at 7 p.m. EST and had a sales total of $9.6 million.

November 24, 2011, opened the Heffel Fine Art Auction House Fall 2011 Canadian Auction season with a record-shattering sale of masterworks from prominent estates, placing it within the top 10 grossing auctions of Canadian art of all time. The auction, held in Toronto, attracted more than 400 attendees and resulted in $16.73 million in total sales (all prices are in Canadian dollars and include a 17 per cent buyer’s premium) and is now the fifth highest grossing live auction in Canadian history. Of the 190 lots, three sold for more than $1 million dollars and more than 30 works sold for more than $100,000.

David K. J. Heffel, president of Heffel Fine Art Auction House auctions off Jean Paul Lemieux’s Nineteen Ten Remembered.

Highlights

Jean Paul Lemieux’s Nineteen Ten sold for $2.34 million, breaking the international auction record for a Canadian post-war and contemporary work. The record was previously set by Jean-Paul Riopelle (sold in May 2008 in NYC for CDN $1.89M), and this sale crowns Lemieux as the new reigning champion of post-war and contemporary Canadian art. In May 2011, Heffel sold another major work by Jean Paul Lemieux ushering him into the rarefied group of “million-dollar” Canadian artists, explains David K. J. Heffel, President and Auctioneer. “Tonight he becomes the first-ever contemporary Canadian artist to be crowned a two-million-dollar man.”

Jean Paul Lemieux, Nineteen Ten, oil on canvas, 42 x 57 1/2in

Lawren Stewart Harris’s Rocky Mountain Sketch CXXI (Mount Robson) was estimated to sell for $300,000~$500,000. After an intense bidding war, the notable piece exceeded the estimate, selling for $1.81 million. This was one of two works for which the consignee generously agreed to donate proceeds to Toronto’s Women’s College Hospital.

Lawren Stewart Harris’s Rocky Mountain Sketch CXXI (Mount Robson), circa 1929, oil on board, 12 x 15 in

Along with Harris, the auction also featured pieces by Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven, who are all enjoying renewed international interest given the current UK exhibit at London’s Dulwich Gallery.

William Kurelek’s Return to Camp in Winter sold for more than double the estimate at $210,600 (estimate was $60,000 ~ $80,000). There is currently a large exhibit of his work at the Winnipeg Art Gallery

Emily Carr’s War Canoe, Alert Bay sold for $1.22 million, breaking the record for most valuable Canadian watercolour sold at auction.

Emily Carr,  War Canoe, Alert Bay, 1908, watercolour on paper, 10 5/8 x 15 in,

The François Dupré Collection, among the most significant private collections of Canadian impressionism to ever be auctioned, was conservatively estimated to yield between $1 million and $1.5 million. These works were of particular interest as they had been hidden away in a bank vault for nearly 25 years. The collection surpassed estimates, selling for $2.27 million in the end, more than twice the low estimate. Highlights of this collection included Gagnon’s Environs de Baie-Saint-Paul ($315,900) Maurice Galbraith Cullen’s Lower Town, Quebec ($280,800), J. W. Morrice’s Régates à Saint-Malo ($526,500) and M. A. Suzor-Coté’s Winter Sunglow: Arthabaska ($269,100).

“From works found lying in barn to hidden treasures that have been unseen for more than 20 years, many of the paintings consigned to us for this sale carry a fascinating past and are just outstanding,” said Mr. Heffel. “The resulting sales are a testament to the quality of works we were offering and we are very pleased with the results.”

Other highlights:

Jack Hamilton Bush’s Sing, Sing, Sing – New Record: $234,000

Jack Hamilton Bush:  Sing, Sing, Sing, 1974 acrylic on canvas, 68 x 114 3/4 in

Michael Snow’s Sideway – New Record: $175,500

Anne Douglas Savage’s Paradise Lost – New Record: $64,350

Robert Davidson’s Copper with Eagle Design – New Record: $52,650

Kathleen Frances’s Daly Pepper Catskill Mountains – New Record: $40,950

Adrien Hébert’s Stevedores Unloading a Ship, Montreal Harbour – New Record: $40,950

Lise Gervais’ Les sentinelles – New Record: $38,025

Lise Gervais, Les sentinelles, 1964, oil on canvas, 48 1/4 x 60 1/4 in,

Kent Monkman’s Miss Chief: The Emergence of a Legend – New Record: $10,530

David K. J. Heffel, president of Heffel Fine Art Auction House auctions off Paul-Émile Borduas

About Heffel Fine Art Auction House: Heffel has sold more Canadian art than any other auctioneer worldwide, with over $275 million in art auction sales since 1995, and has conducted the most valuable live auctions of Canadian art.  Heffel is led by the most experienced team of fine art specialists in Canada. With offices and representatives in Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Calgary, Heffel provides superior client services to both sellers and buyers nationwide.  In addition to full-colour printed catalogues, Heffel publishes its entire live auction online at www.heffel.com <http://www.heffel.com/>, from initial promotion and illustrated lot listings, to the auction’s live multi-camera webcast.

Text by Maricel Dicion