Author: artoronto

  • Dierlam & Dierlam

    October 30 – November 23, 2011
    Opening: Sunday, October 30, 12:30-2:30pm
    YORKMINSTER PARK GALLERY
    1585 Yonge Street,
    Toronto ON M4T 1Z9
    (at Heath, N of St Clair Avenue, on E side)
    Enter YP Centre door.
    T: 416-922-1167
    www.yorkminsterpark.com
     Hours: Mon  -Fri  10 – 2, Sat 12 – 4pm 
     
     
    Dierlam & Dierlam – A Legacy features the work of the late Howard C. Dierlam and his daughter Lois.

    Both artists have focused their works on traditional landscapes in oil, acrylic and watercolour. Mentored by her father, Lois typically works in acrylic, with smaller paintings in watercolour. Lois is well known as an artist and arts educator, as was her father, who served as the first Director of Art for the Toronto Board of Education. 

     The exhibition shows  of works by both artists. It is a sale of some works too.

  • ART TORONTO 2011

    Photo: Mauricio Contreras-Paredes

    Photo: Katherine Porter

    Ross Bell, Strip Cube, 2009-11. Georgia Scherman Projects. Photo: Mauricio Contreras-Paredes

    The 12th Toronto International Art Fair got off to a great start last evening (Thursday, Oct. 27) with the fundraiser gala for the AGO. The Art Gallery of Ontario in turn used the monies raised to add several pieces to its collection. All the galleries I talked to seemed to be thrilled at the success already of the Fair. Gallery owner Carrie Secrist of  the Carrie Secrist Gallery of Chicago said it was their first time at the fair and they had already sold over thirty small works . This was her first Toronto Fair and she has done many other art fairs and was pleased with the Toronto response to her artists.

    Angelo Musco at Carrie Secrist Gallery, Chicago. Photo: Mauricio Contreras-Paredes

    One of the unique offerings this year is the addition of the Next booths. These are for smaller up and coming galleries with works priced lower and artists who had not established themselves. Most of these young galleries were from Quebec and Toronto and paid roughly $6000 to get their booth. Artist Charlie Jones from L.A. has some colourful works in the exhibition. The printing making gallery, Open Studio was at the fair as was The Red Head Gallery a Toronto Co-op  gallery. MOCCA had sold out their Ed Burtynsky  Print Edition (sold all 25 prints) Dryland  Farming #13 as a benefit for MOCCA Programming. Canadian Art  Magazine’s Editor, Richard Rhodes had curated three special exhibitions for the Fair. The works will be changed in the space over a period of a day or two.

    Ed Burtynsky,  Dryland  Farming #13 Print Edition (sold all 25 prints)

    Another addition this year is a video screening room with 15 Canadian and international video titles being screened continuously in a loop. With the expansion of the actual space on the floor of the Convention centre (they have now section C as well as A & B) this allowed the Fair to display sculpture & installation in their OPEN SPACE section. Most of the works are from Toronto galleries but this is a great addition as well to the Fair. The Art Game by Kent Monkman is part installation part performance with a little tongue in cheek look at the art world. It was definitely worth waiting to catch this performance. There is so much to see you need more than a few hours to take it all in.

    Kent Monkman, The Art Game. Photo: Katherine Porter

    Director of the Fair, Linel Rebenchuk had reason to be happy with the opening success of the Fair. Wear some comfortable shoes and prepare to be amazed.

    Director of the Fair, Linel Rebenchuk. Photo: Mauricio Contreras-Paredes

    Photo: Mauricio Contreras-Paredes

    Photo: Mauricio Contreras-Paredes

    Derek Liddington, ( Part of Open Space ) Daniel Faria Gallery, Toronto. Photo:Phil Anderson

    Solo Artist Project: Larry Kagan at Lonsdale Gallery, Toronto.  Photo:Phil Anderson

    Andrew Smith, Galerie Dominique Bouffard, Montreal.  Photo:Phil Anderson

    Andy Warhol, BMW M1, 1979. BMW Art Car. Photo: Mauricio Contreras-Paredes

    Chuck Close, Roy, 2009; Alex, 1992. Galerie De Bellefeuille, Westmount. Photo: Mauricio Contreras-Paredes

    Evan Penny, Old Self, Variation #2, 2011. TrépanierBaer Gallery, Calgary. Photo: Katherine Porter

    Julie Blackmon at Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago

    Left: John Massey, Casa 1, Malaparte, 2010/11. Georgia Scherman Projects, Toronto. Photo: Mauricio Contreras-Paredes

    Markus Linnenbrink, EVERYWHEREALLTHETIMEEVERYTHING, 2009. ftc. Berlin.Photo: Mauricio Contreras-Paredes

    Kathy Kissik, Chaos in London, 2008. The Elaine Fleck Gallery, Toronto. Photo: Mauricio Contreras-Paredes

    Dean Project, New York. Photo: Mauricio Contreras-Paredes

    Solo Artist Project: Attila Richard Lukacs, Installation. Windsor Gallery, Vancouver. Photo: Mauricio Contreras-Paredes

    418 Contemporary Art Gallery, Bucharest, Romania.Photo: Mauricio Contreras-Paredes

    Jonathan Cooper, London UK. Photo: Mauricio Contreras-Paredes

    Mike Weiss Gallery, Kim Dorland,Cabin, 2009-2011, New York. Photo: Katherine Porter

    The Collage workshop. Photo: Katherine Porter

    Art Gallery of York University. Photo: Katherine Porter

    Photo: Mauricio Contreras-Paredes

    Photo: Mauricio Contreras-Paredes

    Photo: Mauricio Contreras-Paredes

    Photo: Mauricio Contreras-Paredes

    Text: Phil Anderson

  • THE MESSAGE

    November 2 – 13, 2011
    Opening: Thursday, November 3,  7 pm  
    Panel discussion Wednesday, November 9, 7pm
    GALLERY 1313 Main and Process Gallery
    1313 Queen Street West,
    Toronto, ON M6K 1K8
    T: 416 – 536-6778
    E mail: director@g1313.org
    www.gallery13131.org
    Hours: Wed – Sun 1- 6

    Gallery 1313 is pleased to present, THE MESSAGE, an exhibition of new media artists who explore the effects of technology on popular culture and society. The exhibition is also a celebration of the legacy of Marshall Mcluhan.

    Curated by Gallery Director, Phil Anderson and is sponsored by Highland Park  Single Malt Scotch Whiskey. We would like to thank Highland Park Single Malt Scotch Whiskey for their generous support. 

    There will mix of installation, video works and  photo based works. The exhibition will take place in the Main and Process Galleries.

    They Live Small, photo based image from Daniel Borins and Jennifer Marman

    There will also be panel discussion Wednesday, November 9, 7pm which will address the future and effects of technology in artistic practise and society in general.  Panelists are to include Ed Slopek, Program Director for the New Media Option (Ryerson University), School of Image Works, Johanna Householder, Chair of Criticism and Curitorial Practice (Ontario College of Art and Design) and Judith Doyle, Chair of Integrated Media (The Ontario College of Art and Design) . The panel will be moderated by writer and cultural commentor, Russell Smith.

     Participating artists include:

    Zeesy Powers http://zeesypowers.com/   

    Jenn E . Norton http://jennenorton.blogspot.com/

    Myfanwy Ashmore http: http://www.myfanwy.ca/

     Robert Lendrum http://www.robertlendrum.com/index.php?/bio/

     Daniel Borins & Jennifer Marman http://www.marmco.com/

     Matthew Williamson http://www.matthew-williamson.com/

     Nicholas Stedman http://www.nicholasstedman.com/

  • Zora Anaya: Riconciliazione

    Senza Bussola (No compass), 2011, 3×4 feet, acrylic on canvas

    November 2 – 13, 2011
    Opening: Thursday, November 3,  7 pm  
    GALLERY 1313 Cell Gallery
    1313 Queen Street West,
    Toronto, ON M6K 1K8
    T: 416 – 536-6778
    E mail: director@g1313.org
    www.gallery13131.org
    Hours: Wed – Sun 1- 6

    Riconciliazione: molti anni di limbi (Reconciliation: many years in limbo)

    Works by Zoraida is a Colombian-born Canadian artist with little  formal art training. She has studied at Les Arts Décoratifs (Paris), and The Art Students League of New York (NY).

     This body of work attempts to deconstruct the negative nuance attached to the experiences felt in the unreal state and place called the limbo.  The structure of the limbo seems to be founded on the notions of directionless, nothingness and hopelessness. These, however, do not have to be bad encounters.  

    Does it not feel good to experience the reconciliation of opposing forces like the not here but not there …. not heaven but not hell…not right but not wrong?  These could be the points of reconciliation between oneself and the world.

    Thus these paintings hope to turn the limbo into a positive state and place where one can discover:  the free zone which is one’s own sacred space and it can be anywhere.    As well, the viewer could meet the still point which is known as the moment that changes us.

  • Dana Holst: Sometimes Rainbows are Black

    November 2 – 26, 2011
    Opening Thursday November 3, 6 – 9 pm
    THE RED HEAD GALLERY
    401 Richmond St. W., Suite 115.
    Toronto, ON M5V 3A8
    T:  416 504-5654.
    Email: art@redheadgallery.org.
    www.redheadgallery.org.
    Hours: Wed – Sat 12 – 5 pm

    Edmonton artist Dana Holst, in her solo exhibition, explores multiple feminine themes of ego, blossoming love, anxiety and self-loathing.   
    Sometimes Rainbows are Black is a retrospective exhibition including works from Prey and True Romance, two past Holst exhibitions.  As well there are new paintings, drawings and a fibre-based installation.
     
    The installation, Sometimes Rainbows are Black features a large rainbow rug in shades of mourning.  Made of antique wedding dresses painted black, then cut into thin strips, the silk was entirely hooked by hand using historical methods.  Monotonous, laborious, ominous, the black rainbow hangs on the wall flanked by June and April, two cut out drawings of girl heads, guardians of hope on a journey to the otherworld.
     
    Paintings in the show focus on fate as it befalls the lives of young girls caught in the transformation to womanhood.  For example, in Self-Loathing an adolescent girl stands with her back to the viewer on her stained and bare mattress, silently contemplating the wallpaper pattern, emanating feelings of loneliness and despair.
     
    Poignant and theatrical Holst’s new work looks at hope and desire as filtered through destiny and human cruelty/weakness.
     
    A catalogue for  Sometimes Rainbows are Black will be available the 1st of December 2011.  Contact Dana at info@danaholst.com to request a copy or visit www.danaholst.com for further information.

  • TRICHOPHILIA by Francis Luta

    Sunday, November 6, 2011
    starting at 7pm
    Wayla Bar
    996 Queen St East
    (Queen & Carlaw)
    Toronto, ON
    http://fmmlcollection.wordpress.com/

    An emerging Toronto artist, Francis Luta works in a wide range of media.

    He has developed a distinctive figurative style and his new works shows its refine version with a thematic focus on hair obsession and fetish.

    Please join us for a Sunday night at this fabulous venue with a great environment to view and celebrate the new work of Francis Luta.

    To learn more about Francis and his artwork, check out this link:
    http://fmmlcollection.wordpress.com/

  • ¡Patria o Libertad! Johanna Reich: ‘Monument’

    Johanna Reich, ‘Monument,’ 2009, video projection, 5:45. Courtesy of the artist

    September 9–October 30, 2011
    MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY CANADIAN ART

    Nationality has many faces in the show at Mocca. It can be tormenting, paralyzing, aggressive; it can overtake your life, turn you into a killer, make you a victim, or it can make you proud and happy.
    In Johanna Reich’s video installation, a young woman paints a wall with a huge brush, applying generous amounts of paint from large containers. She puts many layers of paint on it really quickly. She starts the painting at the bottom with yellow then moves up and applies a big area of red. Now the painting is getting larger and she has to reach up, even standing on a stool to continue. The next wide stripe she paints is black.
    That is the moment we recognize that the colors she is painting are of the German flag. We also start to grasp that her dress might not be as weird as it seems. There might be a reason she is wearing yellow plastic boots, red pants and a black sweater.
    She finishes her work as suddenly, as fast, as she started. She steps back, looks at it for a moment and then steps up on the stool and disappears into the painting.

    Watching the ending of this video, I couldn’t help envying anyone who was born into a democratic country, like Reich, who grew up enjoying freedom and the choice to blend in.

    Emese Krunák-Hajagos

  • Troy Brooks: Colossus

    Originally published in Xtra:

    Troy Brooks’  Colossus / Taking inspiration from Sylvia Plath / Toronto / Thursday,
    October 13, 2011. Xtra.ca  (http://xtra.ca/

    “I have always loved loud women,” says painter Troy Brooks, “women who are authoritative, dynamic, bold, not a product of their time.”
    Troy Brooks, Lady Lazarus
    So when Brooks happened to stumble onto an online documentary about the famously defiant author Sylvia Plath, he knew he had found the muse for his next project. After spending his summer holed up in a Hickory Grove cabin in southern Ontario, he emerged with his series Colossus, which will open at Toronto’s Pentimento Gallery on Oct 27 and run until Nov 27.
    “I think a lot of gay men feel the way I do about loud women,” he continues. “When you spend part of your life repressing a big part of you, or your feminine side, you take pleasure in watching a woman act out.”
    And Plath is, in many ways, this kind of rogue. Her oeuvre, especially her well-known novel The Bell Jar, painfully unwraps the rigid social norms for women of her era and the severe damage that results from them. Having taken her own life at 30, Plath’s legacy is a dark one, marked by anger, depression and a struggle against chauvinism. She has been taken up posthumously as something of an icon for feminists and smart women everywhere.
    Troy Brooks, All The Dead Dears
    “[Plath’s] was a time when women were encouraged to be demure and uncomplicated, and she was the antithesis of that. She was dark, she was brooding, she was ambitious,” Brooks explains. “With this particular series, I was interested in the idea of a woman who is much bigger than her surroundings, much bigger than the definitions imposed on her.”
    Like Plath, the women depicted in the series do seem to have a sort of eerie magnetism. Long and pale faces with crimson lips look outward from simple, but often bizarre, surroundings. In Lady Lazarus, a vampy redhead stares emptily into space as she tightly grips a ceramic lamp to her cheek, oblivious, or perhaps indifferent, to the scorpion just behind her elbow. In Arrival of the Bee Box, a calm blonde looms upright in a generic bedroom and glares knowingly at the viewer through a veil covered in bees.
    Troy Brooks, Arrival of the Bee Box
    Although such spectral characters are primarily inspired by Plath’s work (each painting’s title is taken from different Plath poems), Brooks does not intend them to be definitive portraits of Plath or her work. “I had my peripheral knowledge about Sylvia Plath, but I didn’t want them to be manifestations of her and the poems,” he emphasizes. “I had my own impression of her and I built from that.”
    The paintings, thus, serve as a sort of translation of, even departure from, the texts they reference — projecting them onto a surreal yet strangely familiar time and space. Some of them contain imagery directly related to a single poem: Plath enthusiasts will immediately recognize the black shoe and telephone poles in Daddy. But others create whole new sets of symbols and stories. All of them invite interpretation from the audience regardless of their familiarity with Plath’s work.
    Troy Brooks, Daddy
    “I’m really only painting her archetypes,” Brooks explains. “I used pieces of her to make my own characters.”
    Jonathan Valelley
  • Janet Bellotto: “The Lure”

    View the video clip
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    November 3 –  November 27, 2011
    Opening: Thursday, November 3,  6 – 9 pm.
    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: Tuesday-Saturday 11-5pm

    The The Lure emerges from olfactory investigations borrowing from fact and fiction. Inspired by the mirage of aromas from perfume salons that attempt to seduce passers-by, Janet Bellotto entertains the gallery with an installation of illuminating and fragrant objects and scintillating video. At a time when illnesses travel instantaneously around the globe, scent emerges and vanishes like a mirage, and yet resonate memories and emotions. The objects in Bellotto’s work acts in the tradition of aromatherapy while entertaining how certain smells can conjure up memories of place. The Lure attempts to tap into the history of per fumum (Latin) – which translates as “through the smoke”, where aromatic smells have been used for medicinal and cosmetic purposes.

    Janet Bellotto is an artist from Toronto, who splits her time teaching in Dubai at Zayed University. She graduated from the Sculpture/Installation program from the Ontario College of Art & Design, Toronto, and received an MFA in Sculpture/Studio Arts from Concordia University. Her practice encompasses sculpture, installation, photography, video and performance. She continues to write and curate, while exhibiting both locally and internationally.

    Recent exhibitions include: 2011 Untitled Original, CDA Projects, Istanbul Contemporary Crosscurrents: Portraits and Electronic Arts, Streaming Museum in Dubai  (www.streamingmuseum.org); A Cozy Lie, Redhead Gallery, Toronto; 2010 – 12th Cairo Biennale, Cairo, Egypt; Drowning Ophelia, Stratford Gallery, Stratford; 2009 – Point of Encounter, Tashkeel, Dubai; 2008 – In-Situ, The JamJar, Dubai; WAVE, The LAB, New York City; 2007 – Dehisce, kkprojects, New Orleans, USA.

    De Luca Fine Art | Gallery, established in 2004, is now located at 217 Avenue Road. The gallery represents and introduces Italian and International Artists to Canadian audiences. In collaboration with select Italian Galleries, De Luca Fine Art | Gallery introduces established and emerging Canadian Artists to Europe.   For more information regarding this event and/or our services, consultation, and art rental program please visit www.delucafineart.com

  • Black & White Fundraising Gala


    Saturday, November 12th, 2011
    VIP RECEPTION: 6:00PM
    VIP Dinner: 7:00-9:30PM
    BINARY PARTY: 8:00PM – 2:00AM
    Design Exchange

    234 Bay Street,TD Centre,
    Toronto. ON
    dx.org/gala


    DESIGN EXCHANGE (DX) TO HONOUR CANADIANS BEHIND TWO UNIQUE GLOBAL PRACTICES, DESIGNER KARIM RASHID AND ASYMPTOTE ARCHITECTURE: HANI RASHID AND LISE ANNE COUTURE AT ANNUAL BLACK & WHITE GALA NOVEMBER 12th, 2011 

    Design Exchange (DX) is proud to announce its 2011 Canadian Honourees, Karim Rashid, Hani Rashid and Lise Anne Couture, whose works and achievements will be celebrated at Binary, the Design Exchange’s annual Black & White Fundraising Gala being held on November 12, 2011 at the DX. Each year the Design Exchange honors exceptional Canadian designers who are advancing the world of design.

    Karim Rashid is recognized as one of the most accomplished Industrial Designers in the world. Karim has over 3,000 projects in production in over 35 countries and his work is featured in 20 permanent museum collections. In addition to being a prolific industrial designer, Karim has participated in various design fields including interior, fashion, exhibit and urban design, and has published many successful books including I Want to Change the World (Rizzoli 2001.) Karim has been profiled in thousands of articles and was named the most famous industrial designer in the world by Time Magazine. He has received over 300 prestigious awards for his creativity and innovation in the design field.

    Architects and professional partners Hani Rashid and Lise Anne Couture founded Asymptote Architecture (ASY), and have produced powerful and innovative architecture around the world. Projects range from experimental spatial installations and digital architecture, to some of the world’s newest iconic buildings such as the HydraPier in the Netherlands and the 85,000 sqm YAS hotel in Abu Dhabi. Hani Rashid and Couture have also explored art installation, object design and master planning. Works include master plans for the center of Prague and the Yongsan district in Seoul, Korea, as well as special edition art and design works for Knoll, Meta (London) and Phillips de Pury and Company in New York.

    “Design Exchange has chosen to honour these three Canadian designers for their individual and collective achievements that have propelled them to international acclaim and helped brand Canada as a design-led nation,” says Design Exchange Chairperson, Tim Gilbert. He also notes that “Karim, Hani, and Lise Anne are role models for all aspiring young architects and designers, but especially to young women and newcomers to Canada.”

    The Design Exchange opens its doors to four lavishly decorated rooms inspired by the word BINARY and the works of the Honourees. The gala will also host the Ontario launch of Dan Aykroyd’s much anticipated Crystal Head Vodka, known for its trademark skull bottle design.

    Proceeds from the annual gala raise funds for DX youth programs. For more information visit www.dx.org/gala

    ABOUT THE DESIGN EXCHANGE
    Design Exchange (DX) is Canada’s Design Centre and Museum with a mission to promote the value of design. We are an internationally recognized non-profit educational organization committed to promoting greater awareness of design as well as the indispensable role it plays in fostering economic growth and cultural vitality. We improve communication between various design disciplines, educators, businesses and the general public through programs, exhibits, lectures, and workshops. For more information visit www.dx.org

    INFORMATION TO THE PUBLIC
    Event: 2011 DX BLACK & WHITE FUNDRAISING GALA
    VIP RECEPTION: 6:00PM
    VIP Dinner: 7:00-9:30PM
    BINARY PARTY: 8:00PM – 2:00AM
    Location: Design Exchange, 234 Bay Street, TD Centre, Toronto Canada
    Date: Saturday, November 12, 2011
    Honouring Karim Rashid, Hani Rashid, Lise Anne Couture
    Proceeds Support Youth Programs

    GALA WEBSITE
    dx.org/gala

    TICKETS
    Exclusive VIP Reception and Dinner
    Platinum Tables – $7,500
    Gold Tables – $5,000
    Individual Tickets – $500
    DX Members receive a 10% discount

    BINARY PARTY
    DX Member – $150
    Non-Member – $175

    TO PURCHASE TICKETS
    dx.org/gala, 416.216.2119 or tickets@dx.org

    SPONSORSHIP and DONATION INFORMATION
    Cindy Grenke
    Director of Development
    cindy@dx.org
    416.216.2134

  • Get Contemporary

    Saturday, October 5, 6 – 10pm
    The Hoxton
    69 Bathurst St., Toronto

    On Wednesday October 5th, the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (MOCCA) celebrated the launch of its new advertising campaign at Toronto hot spot, The Hoxton. The new campaign — created by Cossette with Mark Zibert — presents a vibrant, engaging, and visually simplistic celebration of the human form. In a series of photographs and video installations, the beautiful subtleties of human interactions become visible through the uniform application of colour. Individuals drenched in pepto-bismol-like-pink paint perform simple actions like holding hands or hugging which, against a stark white background, creates an effect that is visually simplistic, satisfying, and oh so very contemporary.

    Text and Photo: Katherine Porter

  • Art for Tibet

    Saturday, October 15, 6 – 10:30pm
    Gallery 1313
    1313 Queen St. West, Toronto
    Gallery Show: October 5-16, open to the public
    www.artfortibet.com

    Photo: Phil Anderson

    The evening was successful in raising funds and awareness for the organization and its cause. Bidding was online as well as at the event. The organizer Teuzin Nawang Tekan got the idea for the Toronto event after attending a similar event in New York. The group is looking at a larger event in 2012. This year’s event managed to attract a lot of the local Tibet community in Parkdale as well as others interested in the cause.

    Photo: Phil Anderson

    More than 20 acclaimed and emerging artists exhibited artworks together for the first ever Art for Tibet (A4T) Canada, annual art show, cultural exhibition and fundraiser at Gallery 1313 in Toronto. Art for Tibet featured leading contemporary Tibetan and international artists, including Tenzing Rigdol, Chungpo, Ang Tsherin Sherpa, Brian Harris, UIla Djelweh, and many more.

    Photo: Phil Anderson

    Since protests swept across Tibet in March 2008, the Chinese government has arrested and imprisoned numerous Tibetan writers and artists for criticizing its policies in Tibet. Despite this escalated repression, we are witnessing a cultural renaissance in Tibet, with an endless stream of poems, essays, songs and paintings flowing out from beyond the Himalayas. Over 50 Tibetan artists and writers have been arrested, tortured and imprisoned in the past two years. This year’s Art for Tibet drew attention to their persecution by honouring Tibetan artists in Tibet and in exile for their contribution to Tibetan contemporary culture. All proceeds from the event will benefit SFT Canada, a non-profit organization with international headquarters in New York.

    Photo: Mauricio Contreras-Paredes

    Photo: Mauricio Contreras-Paredes

    Photo: Mauricio Contreras-Paredes

    Photo: Mauricio Contreras-Paredes

    Photo: Mauricio Contreras-Paredes

    Photo: Mauricio Contreras-Paredes

    Photo: Mauricio Contreras-Paredes

    Text: Tenzin Nawang Tekan, Art For Tibet Canada Coordinator