Author: artoronto

With so much choice, with well over 1500 Canadian and international artists and photographers exhibiting at more than 175 venues throughout the Greater Toronto Area, it isn’t easy picking exhibits to see.

We all look forward to seeing much more than the ones listed but these caught our interest and everyone is sure to have their own list as well.

Phil Anderson, publisher:

Discover Parkdale / Parkdale Collegiate Institute Students
May 1 – 31, 2015
Parkdale Village – Common Sort
1414 Queen Street West St

Christian C. (PCI Student), Interrupting Interaction, 2014

Proximos (2010-2014) / Russell Monk
May 1 – 31, 2015
Nikola Rukaj Gallery
384 Eglinton Ave W

Emese Krunák-Hajagos, publisher:

Dalston Anatomy / Lorenzo Vitturi
May 2 – June 27, 2015
Contact Gallery
80 Spadina Ave, Ste 205

Lorenzo Vitturi, Plastic Blue #1 & 2, from the series Dalston Anatomy, 2013, Courtesy of the artist

Everything will be forgotten / Frank Rodick
April 30 – May 30, 2015
Articsok Gallery
1697 St. Clair Ave W

Frank Rodick: Portrait, Frances Rodick (Time) 2012, Courtesy of the artist

Contacting Toronto: Expanding cities / Alejandro Cartagene, Owen Fernley, Julia Krolik
May 1 – 31, 2015
Warden Subway Station

Steve Rockwell, publisher:

Rise and Fall / Nicholas Pye
April 30 – May 30, 2015
Birch Contemporary
129 Tecumseth St

Nicholas Pye, The Fleeting I, 2014.

The New Gods / Alejandro Garcia Contreras, Josée Pedneault
May 7 – June 14, 2015
TYPOLOGY Projects
180 Shaw Street, Ste 302

Josée Pedneault / Alejandro Garcia Contreras, New Gods Series, 2013

Looking for Marshall McLuhan in Afghanistan/ Rita Leistner
April 15 – May 13, 2015
Dylan Ellis Gallery
1840 Danforth Ave

Brinae Bain, writer/photographer

Flesh + Stone / Robert Mapplethorpe
May 2 – 30, 2015
Olga Korper Gallery
17 Morrow Ave

Robert Mapplethorpe, Vibert, 1984, © Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. Used by permission, Courtesy of Contact

Lost Canoe / Curtis Wehrfritz
April 29 – June 6, 2015
Alison Milne Gallery
198 Walnut Ave

Marina Dumont, writer/photographer

So Be It / Chris Curreri
May 1 – 31, 2015
The Gardiner Museum
111 Queen’s Park

Chris Curreri, Untitled (Clay Portfolio), 2013

La Mirada en el Otro: Conexiones/ Confrontaciones The Spanish National Photography Prize
May 1 – 31, 2015
Edward Day Gallery
952 Queen St W

Ella Gorevalov, writer

Edouard / Edouard LeBouthillier
May 1 – 31, 2015
Union Station Vitrines – VIA Rail Concourse
65 Front St W

Mia Guttmann, writer/photographer:

Exhibition Narrative / Andrew B. Myers, Jakub Dolejš, Yael Eban, Tim Roda, Oli Sorenson
May 1 – 31, 2015
Angell Gallery
12 Ossington Avenue

Yael Eban, Jenkins, 2014

Tetyana Herych, writer

The Challenge of Abstraction / Elizabeth Zvonar
April 30 – June 6, 2015
Daniel Faria Gallery
188 St Helens Ave

Elizabeth Zvonar, We Play to Our Wishes Not To Their Rules, 2015

Part Picture / a group show
May 1 – 31, 2015
Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art
952 Queen St W

Elena Iourtaeva, writer/photographer:

Light Forms / Elzbieta Kurowska
May 1 – 31, 2015
Grasslands Restaurant
478 Queen St W

Elzbieta Kurowska, Venticulus #01, 2014

Surplus / Heidi Leverty
May 1 – 30, 2015
Walnut Contemporary Gallery
201 Niagara St W

Anthos / Chris Joakim
May 1–June 30, 2015
Industrial Storm
1106 Queen St W

Sunny Kim, writer

Tim Johnston: Chemical Compositions
May 1 – May 29, 2014
Arepa Café
492 Queen St W

Tim Johnston, #3 from the “Blue Series”, 2014

Mindset / a group show
May 25 – June 14, 2015
Artscape Youngplace
180 Shaw St N 2nd Floor Public Gallery

Emily Kovacs, write/photographer

Luminous Fields / Marie-Jeanne Musiol
May 2 – 30, 2015
Pierre-François Ouellette art contemporain Toronto
65 George Street

Optimism as Cultural Rebellion / Matthew Stone
May 1 – 31, 2015
Drake Hotel
1150 Queen Street W

Matthew Stone, Soul Retrieval, 2012-2015, Courtesy of the artist and The Hole, New York

Tree / Myoung Ho Lee
May 1 – 31, 2015
Brookfield Place, Allen Lambert Galleria
181 Bay Street

Katie Lawson, writer/photographer

A Person Who Disappears / Chih-Chien Wang
April 30 – June 21, 2015
Art Gallery of Mississauga
300 City Centre Drive

Chih-Chien Wang, Sleep Under Trees, 2014, Image courtesy of Pierre-François Ouellette art contemporain

The New Gods / Alejandro Garcia Contreras, Josée Pedneault
May 7 – June 14, 2015
TYPOLOGY Projects
180 Shaw Street, Ste 302

No One Says Anything, Everyone Remembers Everything
May 1 – 31, 2015
Ryerson Artspace
1214 Queen West Street

David Saric, writer

Scotiabank Photography Award / Mark Ruwedel
April 29–June 28, 2015
Ryerson Image Centre
33 Gould Street

Mark Ruwedel, Chocolate Mountains: A Ceremonial Trail. The Ice Age, 2001, Courtesy of the artist, Gallery Luisotti and Art 45 

Beaux Gestes  / Yto Barrada
May 22 – July 11, 2015
A Space Gallery
401 Richmond Street West, Ste 110

Canada By Rail and By Sea / Scott Conarroe
April 29 – June 28, 2015
Ryerson Image Centre
33 Gould St

Simon Termine, writer/photographer

Memory Unearthed: The Lodz Ghetto Photos by Henryk Ross / Henryk Ross
January 31 – June 14, 2015
Art Gallery of Ontario
317 Dundas St W

Negative Exposure / Randy Grskovic and Wil Murray
May 2 – 30, 2015
Katzman Contemporary
86 Miller Street

Wil Murray, Rotten Row 2, 2014

More Real than Reality: the Art of Canadian Composite Photography (1870-1930)
May 1 – 31, 2015
Campbell House Museum
160 Queen Street West

Vanessa Zeoli, writer/photographer

Looking for Marshall McLuhan in Afghanistan/ Rita Leistner
April 15 – May 13, 2015
Dylan Ellis Gallery
1840 Danforth Ave

Rita Leistner, Afghanistan, 2011, © Rita Leistner / Basetrack

Generations / Annu Palakunnathu Matthew
May 2 – October 18, 2015
Royal Ontario Museum
100 Queen’s Park, Centre Block, 3rd Fl

May – July, 2015 / Various locations in Toronto
Opening Reception: May 1, 2015 / 7 – 10 p.m.
Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art
952 Queen Street West

Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival is an annual event in May with well over 1500 Canadian and international artists and photographers exhibiting at more than 175 venues throughout the Greater Toronto Area. Founded as a not-for-profit organization in 1997 and now a charitable organization, the Festival is devoted to celebrating, and fostering the art and profession of photography, through a diverse range of programmes.

As a leading proponent of photography, the Festival increases exposure and recognition for local, Canadian and international artists and is committed to advancing knowledge, creativity and innovation in photography. It stimulates excitement and discussion among a diverse audience that has grown to over 1.8 million. CONTACT is the largest photography event in the world, and a premiere cultural event in Canada.

Breaking away from the framing of a specific thematic narrative, CONTACT 2015 celebrates photography as a medium without boundaries.

Scotiabank Contact Photography Festival, Opening Reception on May 2, 2014. Photo: Elena Iourtaeva

PROGRAMMES

Exhibitions

CONTACT’s Primary Exhibitions at major venues in Toronto showcase the work of Canadian and international artists, both emerging and established, as well as images from throughout the history of photography.

Our Public Installations of photography are presented in high profile public sites across the city that are accessible to a wide and diverse audience from all walks of life.

Reflecting a wide range of approaches to photography, approximately 30 Featured Exhibitions of works by artists from around the world at established galleries and cultural centres are selected through a call for submissions.

The foundation of CONTACT was based on an open call to participate, enabling emerging artists to show their work concurrent with exhibitions of works by leading professionals. Today the Open Exhibitions continue to encourage community involvement across the city at galleries, community centres, educational and international institutions restaurants, cafes, retail stores, and many alternative locations.

Events & Education

CONTACT organizes and co-presents numerous educational activities and events such as lectures, symposiums, film screenings, portfolio reviews and workshops. Catering to all levels of interest in photography, these initiatives stimulate discourse within the community and encourage participation.

For more information please visit: http://scotiabankcontactphoto.com/

Challenge for Change / Societe Nouvelle: Documents in Participatory Democracy, a project by Jacqueline Hoang Nguyen, and Krista Bell Stewart’s solo exhibition, Seraphine, Seraphine share Mercer Union’s gallery space. These exhibitions are studies of imagined realities; they are exercises in examining the ways that we understand, feel, and express imagined histories, voices, subjects, and images of the past and present. Both examine the transformative power of the film medium.

Research-based artist Jacqueline Hoang Nguyen came across an activist documentary film project produced by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) between the years of 1967 and 1980 entitled Challenge for Change / Société nouvelle. The mandate of the program was to address universal topics of poverty, environmental degradation, and first nations and women’s issues. Uniquely, the films were participatory documentaries, media created by the people that they featured.  

Challenge for Change/Societe Nouvelle: Documents in Participatory Democracy, a project by Jacqueline Hoang Nguyen, 2015. Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid, courtesy of Mercer Union

The transformative power of the film medium was realised in this project as Challenge for Change / Société nouvelle  made it possible for the public voice to express criticism of the current state of affairs, giving the public voice a new potential to propagate shifts in discourse. An important goal of the NFB program was to maintain transparency and democracy. Knowledge, equipment, methods and production was controlled by the people. Through these utopian films, realities of Canadian multiculturalism and egalitarianism were portrayed and made real in 1967 to 1980.

Nguyen was interested in how this freshly spawned reality was expressed and recorded in the program. She began an examination of the NFB film archives to re-present the film program in her five works in the installation at Mercer Union.  

Challenge for Change/Societe Nouvelle: Documents in Participatory Democracy, a project by Jacqueline Hoang Nguyen, 2015. Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid, courtesy of Mercer Union

She discovered that the topics of Challenge for Change / Société nouvelle, relevant in 1967, are still unresolved and pertinent topics today and  prompts viewers to engage with the past in relationship to the present. Nguyen offers up her selection of films to instigate thinking about the continued romanticization of the imagined realities of true Canadian multiculturalism and egalitarianism. The art unpacks and questions imagination, inviting viewers to think differently about how the films articulate their positivistic ideas.

Challenge for Change/Societe Nouvelle: Documents in Participatory Democracy, a project by Jacqueline Hoang Nguyen, 2015. Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid, courtesy of Mercer Union

In 2009, artist Krista Bell Stewart viewed a scripted docu-drama film produced by CBC in 1967 featuring her mother, Seraphine Stewart. The film portrayed Seraphine Stewart as the first Aboriginal woman to become a public health nurse in British Columbia. Prior to this viewing, Krista Bell had no idea of the CBC docu-drama’s existence or her mother’s involvement. She was struck by the fragility of her then 27 year old mother’s voice as she spoke the lines the director had given her so as to construct Seraphine’s imagined voice.

Krista Bell Stewart, Seraphine: Her Own Story, 2014. Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid, Courtesy of Mercer Union

In 2013, Stewart witnessed her mother’s true and emotionally raw personal testimonial to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Vancouver, 2013. Seraphine’s 72 year old voice was steady and resolute as she spoke of experiences, rituals, and traumas from her childhood and early years. The scripted documentary of 1967 holds nothing of Seraphine’s true voice, yet the docu-drama was presented as a whole truth. Her personal testimonial presents Seraphine’s true voice and personal history. At this crossroads, Stewart was inspired to begin her project, Seraphine: Her Own Story (2014).

Krista Bell Stewart, Serpahine: Her Own Story, 2014. Digital two channel video, 38 min 57 s. Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid, courtesy of Mercer Union

The weaving action of these two films creates a connection between the past and the present and exposes a personal history left untold by film for 50 years. Viewing these clips side by side, our attention is drawn to the elements of the fictional and imaginary presented in the 1967 docu-drama film, a film style which proclaims true institutional history. Seraphine: Her Own Story (2014) juxtaposes video images of her mother from these two films, one institutional and one personal in content, both institutional in nature.  The interlacement of these two stories, and what is almost two separate women despite being the same subject, existing 50 years apart, is emotional and provoking. The project examines the concepts and understandings of truth and fiction when film is used as a mechanism to traverse spaces between truth and fiction.

Emily Kovacs

*Exhibition information: Jacqueline Hoang Nguyen, Challenge for Change /Societe Nouvelle &  Krista Bell Stewart’s solo exhibition, Seraphine, Seraphine, March 13 – April 25, 2015, Mercer Union, 1286 Bloor Street West, Toronto. Gallery hours: Tue – Sat 11 – 6 p.m.

InART: A POP UP  Art Fundraiser 
IN SUPPORT of  PARC  & GALLERY 1313
Monday, April 27, 2015 / 6 – 10 p.m.
1313 Queen Street West, Toronto

For the past 17 years as an artist-run centre, Gallery 1313 has brought artists, critics, scholars, students and community organizations together by providing a much needed space for artists to show their work.  Our four unique exhibition spaces house over 70 exhibitions featuring both Canadian and International artists yearly. Our reputation for mounting challenging, high quality, contemporary art exhibitions continues to grow. Gallery 1313 is incorporated as a non-profit organization with charitable status.

The gallery has attracted over 170,000 visitors over the years. Gallery 1313 is currently partnering  with PARC (Parkdale Activity-Recreation Centre) for an upcoming event InART: A POP UP. Since 1977, PARC has been working with members on individual issues of poverty, mental health, addictions, homelessness and food security. PARC imagines a world where extreme poverty no longer exists; where everyone lives with dignity, safety, and enough resources, where people can achieve their potential. 

Gallery 1313 and PARC are excited to be presenting InART A POP UP fundraiser. On April 27th, 2015 at 6 p.m, we will present art works and silent auction items in support of Gallery 1313 & PARC. Everyone will have a great time bidding on art items. We’re pleased to once again be exhibiting a diverse and talented group of artists at this event.

The money raised will go towards assisting PARC & Gallery 1313 with its operations and exhibitions. A special Guest MC will be the host.

If you have any questions, please contact Phil Anderson, Gallery 1313 Director at (416) 536-6778 or director@g1313.org.

Thank you in advance for your support.

Installation view with Chris Curreri, “Bottoms”, 16mm film loop (front) and Luis Jacob’s “Without Persons” two-channel video (back). Photo: Elena Iourtaeva

Voices are an anomaly in the museum. Music may accompany an exhibition as a mood-setting device, when the artworks on display are strongly rooted in a remote historic or cultural context; sound and video installations, however, are routinely separated from the rest of the exhibition, isolated in a room with sound-inhibiting padding at the entrance or in a dark cinematic cube with a projector and some seats. Rarely does one encounter bold displays which fill the space of the museum beyond the visible area of the installation, as was the case with the soundscape installation Forty-Part Motet by Canadian artist Janet Cardiff at the AGO in 2013: music from the installation guided visitors through gallery halls, emanating beyond thematic boundaries of the exhibition space. Ever less present are ordinary voices, which are permitted to resound only in the context of public addresses by curators, guided visits with docents, and at receptions. Even then, the sounds of voices remain separated from the sounds of artworks. Not so at Scrap Metal Gallery.

 Samuel Beckett “Not I” (1972) performance for film by Billie Whitelaw, 1975. Photo: Courtesy of Images Festival

With Phantom Limbs exhibition, Scrap Metal Gallery presents a daring display of three video works by artists Samuel Beckett, Luis Jacob and Chris Curreri in a unified auditory space. While each video installation is limited by their individual visual boundaries, sound is not. The ensuing display is an interpenetrating soundscape generated by the three video installations, which penetrate and heighten each other’s presence with the muttering voice from Samuel Beckett’s “Not I” resonating with the mechanic sound of the Chris Curreri’s “Bottoms” 16mm film loop, across the central monumental presence of Luis Jacob’s “Without Persons” two-channel video installation. The acoustic interplay of these aesthetically similar works connects the three artistic vectors, otherwise separated by year of creation, from 1975 to 2015. The display was further homogenized at the opening reception, with voices of attendees mixing in the sounds from the videos in a surprisingly harmonious way. Alongside the mesmerizing effect that each video exerts on the viewer, the experience was absolutely unique and surely different from an individual visit at regular hours: as an attendee, I felt the fleeting intensity of each passing moment ever so sharply.

 Luis Jacob “Without Persons”, 1999-2008, two-channel HD video installation. Photo: Courtesy of Images Festival

Visitor in front of Chris Curreri’s “Bottoms”, 2015, 16mm film loop. Photo: Elena Iourtaeva

Heightened experience is a particularity of Scrap Metal Gallery: its location in an impasse behind a mix of residential houses and industrial warehouses makes finding the entrance a quest somewhat akin to going through a pile of rubble in search of that rare discarded gem. The gallery’s courtyard is surrounded by mounds of collected metal pieces, assembled in a deliberately randomized picturesque landscape. Scrap Metal Gallery is one of my favorite destination for its bold and playful choices.

Elena Iourtaeva

*Exhibition information: April 2 – 25, 2015, Scrap Metal Gallery, 11 Dublin Street, Toronto. Special hours: Tue – Sat 11 – 6 p.m.

Photo: Elena Iourtaeva

Opening Night / Private view: Thursday,  April 16, 2015 / 7 – 10 p.m.
Heritage Court, Direct Energy Centre

In a crowded hall of Exhibition Place, Love Art Fair held the opening night of its second appearance in Toronto. With several international galleries, and many from the city, Love Art Fair provides a unique experience for viewers. As fair director Nicole Milkovich noted, the fair has an eclectic mix of works that hopefully anybody would be happy to enjoy. Milkovich explained that she had high hopes for this weekend, a notion seconded by several of the gallery owners.

Mayberry Fine Art, Toronto, Winnipeg. Photo: Elena Iourtaeva

Eye Buy Art, Toronto. Photo: Elena Iourtaeva

Eyestorm, London, UK. Photo: Elena Iourtaeva

Evan Lurie Gallery, Carmel, USA. Photo: Elena Iourtaeva

Anthea Baxter-Page representing the Alison Milne Gallery from Toronto was excited for their second appearance at Love. Reflective of Alison Milne’s interior design practice, the booth is showcasing several photographs, and works of artist Nissim Ben Aderet who created a ‘live’ painting near the fair’s entrance.

Anthea Baxter-Page with the work of Nissim Ben Aderet of Alison Milne Gallery, Toronto. Photo: Brinae Bain

Artêria, Bromont, Quebec. Photo: Elena Iourtaeva

The Recent Graduate Exhibition booth features a collection of works from recent graduates, curated by Arianne Di Nardo. Her mission was to create an exhibit that highlighted young female artists and their emerging role in the art world. For artist Stephanie Flowers, an OCAD graduate of 2013, the fair is her first, but she was excited to show her pieces. Annyen Lam, an OCAD graduate of 2012, was showing three lithographic prints, meticulously hand cut to create a three-dimensional effect. The Recent Graduate Exhibition booth offers a slightly different experience to viewers, one that speaks to the ever-changing world of contemporary art practice.

Annyen Lam, an OCAD graduate of 2012, with her lithographic prints. Photo: Brinae Bain

With all of the different styles, it would be difficult not to find something to love at Love. The event is also hosting interactive workshops, a Print and Kids Art studio ran by Matthew Del Degan, that allow guests to participate in art creation. Participation is a big aspect of Love, from the intertwining paths to the hands-on production, Love’s success depends on the guests, and their acceptance of the welcoming invitation that Love provides.

BBAM! Gallery, Montreal, Quebec. Photo: Elena Iourtaeva

Colorfield Gallery, Paris, France. Photo: Elena Iourtaeva

MJG Gallery, Toronto. Photo: Elena Iourtaeva

Text: Brinae Bain. Photo: Elena Iourtaeva and Brinae Bain

*Exhibition information: April 17 – 19, 2015, Heritage Court, Direct Energy Centre, 100 Princes’ Boulevard, Exhibition Place, Toronto. Hours:
April 17, Friday 12 – 7 p.m. and 7 – 10 p.m: Art After Dark, April 18, Saturday 11 – 7 p.m, April 19, Sunday 11 – 6 p.m.

Perennial optimists beware: Elaine Whittaker’s newest multimedia solo exhibition Shiver explores how contagions and viruses can significantly alter human’s biological framework with the potential to destroy hordes of vulnerable targets without warning. With the onslaught of global health epidemics of the last decade, from SARS to the more recent calamities of the Ebola virus, Whittaker reveals how these microscopic pathogens pose a much larger threat to the well being of societies worldwide.

Elaine Whittaker, Screened for Ebola, 2015, Digital print, 16 x 16 inches. Courtesy of the Red Head Gallery

Elaine Whittaker, Screened for Rotavirus, 2015, Digital print, 16 x 16 inches. Courtesy of the Red Head Gallery

A recurring leitmotif throughout her exhibition is the appearance of a petri dish, a reminder of the sheer invisibility of these often deadly and silently invasive biohazards. Whether hung en masse in a chandelier-like installation piece, or accenting the artist’s photographic visualizations of separate historically catastrophic epidemics, these petri dishes emphasize the artist’s scientific preoccupations. Furthermore, the seamless white walls within the gallery space have an antiseptic appearance that recalls the interiors of research laboratories.

Elaine Whittaker, Shiver, 2014-2015, Petri dishes, monofilament, pipette tips, grown salt crystals, various sizes. Courtesy of the Red Head Gallery

In contrast to the more scientific subject matter, Whittaker takes an artistic approach to visualizing and presenting the information dispersed throughout the exhibition. A series of images depicting genetic mutations that are painted onto surgical masks are illustrated in a painterly style with a complimentary colour palette. Statistical charts showcasing the increasing monthly death toll of countries affected with Ebola are handcrafted with wire and other craft-like materials, giving the data a less clinical appearance. It is as though Whittaker uses her artistic capabilities to speak to an audience who may be less interested in scientific discourse and the harrowing truths of global health crises.

David Saric

*Exhibition information: April 1 – 25, 2015,  The Red Head Gallery, 401 Richmond Street West, Toronto. Gallery hours: Wed – Sat, 12 – 5 p.m.

700 Queen St. W., Thursday, March 23, 1995 © Dr. Dermot McCarthy (left), 20th Anniversary Reception, March 23, 2015, (from left to right) Scott Poborsa, Christine McLean, Robyn Zolnai, Stephen Bulger, Sarah Burtscher and Allison Hitchcock.

When you think or talk about photography in Toronto, Stephen Bulger‘s name comes up right away. He opened the first photography gallery in the city on March 30, 1995 at 700 Queen Street West, moving to 1026 Queen Street West in 2004. Since that time the gallery has featured over 130 solo exhibitions, 40 group shows, represented numerous Canadian and international photographers, hosted book launches and special events, and participated in many North American and European art fairs. This anniversary exhibition features a photograph from every artist for whom the gallery hosted a solo exhibition. Stephen Bulger is also a founding member of all the institutions and organizations that have anything to do with photography. He is Past-President of the Board for the Association of International Photography Art Dealers (AIPAD), Washington, D.C.; a member of the Canadian Cultural Property Review Board; a member of the Advisory Board for the Ryerson Image Centre; and also a co-founder of CONTACT, Toronto’s photography festival.

Benoit Aquin, L’envolée, Port-au-Prince, Haïti, 2010 © Benoit Aquin, Courtesy of Stephen Bulger Gallery

Stephen Bulger is a dedicated collector and curator, a gallery owner with a vision and a passionate dealer. In an Artoronto interview in 2014, he said this about his methods: “Sometimes I bought groups of photographs, and other times just one at a time. In terms of selecting them I am looking for fascinating images. I like artists who are different from the main stream, and if I am interested in their point of view and I see a consistency and a dedication in their career, then I represent them.”

Tomasz Gudzowaty, A Thousand-Mile Trip Begins With the First Step, 2003 © Tomasz Gudzowaty, Courtesy of Stephen Bulger Gallery

Robert Frank, Isn’t It Wonderful Just To Be Alive, 1971 © Robert Frank, Courtesy of Stephen Bulger Gallery

Photography, as a medium, has changed dramatically throughout the last 20 years. “I think it has been changing all along. Initially most photography was black and white and no bigger than 16 x 20 inches. I am interested in a documentary approach, or what I now call information-based photographs. Over the years the approach changed. People started using colour, digital instead of film, and making sizes that are much larger than we were used to dealing with twenty years ago.”  He is always integrating these new approaches in photography and will soon introduce a black box space in the gallery.

Elliott Ervin, Colorado, USA, 1955 © Elliott Erwitt / Magnum Photos 

Sarah Anne Johnson, Bambi, 2003 © Sarah Anne Johnson, Courtesy of Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto and Julie Saul Gallery, NY

Stephen Bulger guides the collectors and buyers of photographs with patience and passion. He makes sure that they get the pieces they like but not just for their graphic qualities and design but also for their narrative and emotional value.

Daniel & Geo Fuchs, Conserving Animals, Ursus Maritimus, Eisbär, 1998 © Daniel & Geo Fuchs, Courtesy of Stephen Bulger Gallery

He summarised his practise for us, “The most important thing is to be committed to what you show. Galleries that are interesting are the ones that have a personality. I think the personality of the gallery should reflect the owner—the one person making all the decisions, like selecting the artists and artwork. Good galleries have a point of view, and if you’re interested in their point of view then you’ll be interested in what they present.”

He also added that sometimes at art fairs or shows, “I may not sell anything at the time but I want to impress upon them how important photography is.”

*Exhibition information:  March 24 – April 25, 2015,  Stephen Bulger Gallery, 1026 Queen Street West, Toronto. Gallery hours: Tue – Sat 11 – 6 p.m.

Love Art Fair 2014. Photo: Mitch Billinkoff

April 17 – 19, 2015
Heritage Court, Direct Energy Centre
100 Princes’ Boulevard, Exhibition Place, Toronto
Hours:
April 16, Thursday 7 – 10 p.m. Private view
April 17, Friday 12 – 7 p.m. and 7 – 10 p.m  Art After Dark
April 18, Saturday 11 – 7 p.m. 
April 19, Sunday 11 – 6 p.m.

We are excited to be returning to Toronto for our second edition of Love Art from April 17 – 19 (Preview April 16)! We invite everyone to join us in discovering incredible new artists, thousands of contemporary artworks, experiencing hands-on workshops, talks, and conversations with fellow art lovers. With over 45 galleries exhibiting, we expect our spring edition to be better than ever!

Love Art is the sister fair of global brand Affordable Art Fair. The concept is simple, yet unique: an inspiring and friendly atmosphere in which you can find thousands of paintings, original artist-made prints, sculptures and photographs all under one roof, ranging from $100-$10,000, with more than half priced under $5,000.

Love Art Fair 2014. Photo: Mitch Billinkoff

As well as the fabulous art, there will be fun, free, creative and informative activities for everyone to take part in – from workshops and talks, to tours of the fair. And when you’ve had your fill of art you will be able to revive and relax in the café or bar with a delicious lunch or chilled drink.

So come along, bring the whole family or a bunch of friends, and have a grand old arty time at the fair!

For more information please check http://www.loveartfair.com/toronto/.

As I make my way into Daniel Faria Gallery to see the solo exhibition My Life by Montreal artist Valérie Blass, I quickly realize that my perception and even my understanding of reality is going to put to the test. With eleven works consisting of mostly sculptures, My Life is a disarming show where viewers are left with the perplexing task of untangling the powerful dialogue Blass created between her pieces.

With every new angle of Blass’ sculptures, my initial interpretation is challenged. A good instance of that are the works “Sois gentil” and “Sois gentille” (Be Nice). Entering the gallery, they simply appear as two pieces of rod, a few meters apart, with a small mass dangling at the end of each rod. But as I gradually get closer, I realize that these masses are in fact intertwined bodies. I can’t help but stare at the explicit sexual scene at the end of each rod, and that from every possible angle, trying to understand the mechanics of their twisted embrace. I don’t know if I find the works vulgar, awkward, or even violent, but I am both hooked and puzzled. Is the rod a body, a penis, a bed? Why did the artist install them this way? And above all else, why are the titles gendered differently (gentil-gentille)?

View of Valérie Blass, Sois Gentil, 2015 (front) and Sois Gentille,2015 (back)

Close-up view of Valérie Blass, Sois Gentille, 2015

With her titles, Blass further distorts our understanding of her work. The work “Je suis une image” (I am an image) is another prime example. Both a clue and a challenge, the title adds another layer of complexity to the work. Hanging horizontally from a rod are blond hair extensions and just below, also standing with the help of a rod, is an arm taking taking off a pair of pink underwear from a leg. Discussing the work with Blass, she tells me that she often looks to the past as a source of inspiration. Using marble looking material for the arm and leg, the artist mixes antiquity and contemporary, and by doing so, creates an unsuspected dialogue between the two periods. She shares with me that while creating the work, she had Renaissance depictions of the Birth of Venus in mind.

Valérie Blass, Je suis une image, 2015

It is clear however that we are witnessing a very different kind of Venus. In his famous book Ways of Seeing, John Berger [1] defines the gaze as something inherently masculine. As he writes: “the surveyor and the surveyed… One might simplify this by saying: men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at… [and] the surveyor of woman in herself is male” [1]. More than forty years after the publication of the book, Blass manages to turn Berger’s theory on its head, and that, perhaps more successfully than any female artist before her. With this work, Blass reclaims the female body and redefines both the politics and dynamics of the gaze. Her Venus is one that is full possession of her sexuality. She is the sole proprietor of her gaze and as such, this distorted Venus represents a new kind of sexuality, a new kind of empowerment, and an embodiment of the clever statement made by Artspeak director Kim Nguyen who described Blass’ art as “dangerously female” [2].

Gazing, the act of looking, is an integral part of My Life. Along with “La méprise” (The Contempt), “Dr. Mabuse psychanalyste” is the second work of the exhibition to have a mirror. Looking at the mirror is a seated life-size blond woman in her underwear. Just as with “La méprise”, I was left with no other option but to move around the work in order to try to understand what I was seeing in the curved mirror. But this time around, instead of seeing a disproportionately large nose, I discovered a small face inside the head of the seated woman. Going back to the title of the piece, “Dr. Mabuse psychanalyste”, is the artist sharing with us her views of psychoanalysis and its theories on childhood and sexuality? Once again, the title only leaves the viewer more puzzled.

Valérie Blass, Dr. Mabuse, psychanalyste, 2015

Close-up view of Valérie Blass, Dr. Mabuse, psychanalyste, 2015

With this exhibition, Daniel Faria Gallery offers us a glimpse of Valérie Blass’ world. It is a world that is simultaneously surreal, filled with tensions, and sexually charged. Nguyen described her art as slipping in and out of fiction. I would rather say that with Blass, it’s not so much about slipping in and out of fiction, but rather about catching her reality. However, I believe that just as it is the case with her Venus, we can never fully catch the Blass’ gaze.

Text and photo: Marina Dumont

[1]John Berger, Ways of Seeing (London: British Broadcasting Corp, 1972), 40-41.
[2]Kim Nguyen, My Life, exhibition essay, January 24-March 7, 2015, Artspeak, Vancouver.

*Exhibition information: Valérie Blass, My Life, March 26 – April 25, 2015, Daniel Faria Gallery, 188 St Helens Avenue, Toronto. Gallery hours: Tue–Fri 11–6, Sat, 10–6 pm.

A discussion of the current challenges and changes that writing for the arts present

April 22, 2015 / 7 – 9 p.m.
Gallery 1313
1313 Queen Street West, Toronto

Admission: Free

PANELIST:

Gabrielle Moser is a writer and independent curator. She regularly contributes to Artforum.com, and her writing has appeared in venues including ARTnews, Canadian Art, Fillip, n paradoxa, and Photography & Culture. She has curated exhibitions for Access Gallery, Gallery TPW, Xpace and Vtape. Moser holds a PhD in art history and visual culture from York University and teaches at OCAD University.

Sky Goodden is the founding editor of MOMUS (www.momus.ca), an international online art publication that promotes art writing and journalism, and stresses a return to art criticism. It has been hailed by the Tate, the LA Times, Art F City, and Artnet News, and attracted a strong readership since its inauguration in October 2014. Before this, Goodden was the founding editor of BLOUIN ARTINFO Canada from 2011-2014. She regularly writes for Modern Painters, Art + Auction, Canadian Art, The National Post, and C Magazine, and was the 2010 Editorial Resident at Canadian Art. She holds an MFA in Criticism & Curatorial Practice from OCAD University.

Alison Cooley is a critic, curator and educator currently based in Toronto. She holds a BA in Studio Art and Art History from the University of Saskatchewan, and an MA in Art History from York University. Her research deals with art and the nature-culture divide, socially-engaged artistic practice, epistemological tools such as Google search and internet memes, and experimental critical and curatorial practice. She was the 2014 recipient of the Middlebrook Prize for Young Canadian Curators. Her writing has recently appeared in FUSE, Canadian Art, Blackflash, and the Journal of Curatorial Studies. She is the host and producer of What it Looks Like, a podcast about art in Canada.

Moderator:

Phil Anderson, Executive Director of Gallery 1313, Co Publisher of artoronto.ca and occasional arts writer.

In honour of their 10-year anniversary, The Gallery at the J’s has invited artists from past shows to exhibit their work and highlight the gallery’s eclecticism. Established in 2005, the gallery has brought over 80 exhibitions to the community, including Faces of Aliyah by Aviva Auerbach; the one that started them all. An excellent addition to the community, the Gallery at the J’s, located within the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre, has managed to maintain a welcoming allure that has sparked art into the everyday mundane.

Harry Enchin, Bay and College. Courtesy of  The Gallery at the J’s

The small venue creates a space for intimate engagement with the artworks, breaking the harsh boundary of spectator and high art. Providing plenty of seating, viewers are encouraged to spend time encountering new works and perhaps, new thoughts. Exhibiting works in a multitude of mediums ranging from painting to textile art, the gallery has worked towards exposing its visitors to thought provoking exhibitions.

Esther Simmonds-MacAdam, Dancers I, 2009. Courtesy of  The Gallery at the J’s

The broad-range in media is complementary to the gallery’s exploration of different themes, cultures and geographical locations. This provides a large palette with which we are asked to not only engage, but to carefully consider. While the pieces on view are by no means revolutionary, they are a testament to the gallery’s commitment to engage with diverse works, representative of their diverse community.

Shelly Grimson, Michael Ondaatje. Courtesy of  The Gallery at the J’s

The exhibit coordinator, Deanna Di Lello, wrote in her curator’s statement “we don’t always sell, but we always make an impact.” This is a refreshing statement in a market overrun with gluttonous dealers churning art for profit. As the gallery is run with the Jewish Community Centre, their goal is different than that of a normal commercially run gallery. This translates into the décor, which lacks the usual white walls and void spaces. It is a gallery made to service the people of the community, an altruism that is oft hard to find in the hustle and bustle of a metropolitan city such as Toronto.

David Trautrimas, Micro Re-Instigator. Courtesy of  The Gallery at the J’s

The show, only open until April 12th, exhibits the works of Aaron Vincent Elkaim, Bernice Eisenstein, David Trautrimas, Esther Simmonds-MacAdam, Harry Enchin, Harry Tiefenbach, Irit Epstein, Jason Schwartz, Judy Singer, Mark Loren Freedman, Myriam Nafte, Rafael Goldchain, Rob Croxford, Roman Elinson, Shelly Grimson and Sheree Rasmussen.

Mia Guttmann

*Exhibition information: March 12 – April 12, 2015, The Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre Gallery, 750 Spadina Avenue, Totonto.