ArtToronto

Category: LISTING ARCHIVE

  • Crossing Natures: Yvonne Housser, Janet Morton, Mélanie Rocan, Joyce Wieland

    Melanie Rocan  “Secrets”  2011,  oil on canvas.  60 x 84 inches

    October 14 – November 12, 2011
    Opening: Friday, October 14, 7-10pm
    Janet Morton and Mélanie Rocan will be present.
    Paul Petro Contemporary Art
    980 Queen St West
    Toronto, ON   M6J 1H1
    Tel: 416-979-7874
    info@paulpetro.com
    www.paulpetro.com
    Hours: Wed – Sat: 11–5

    Paul Petro Contemporary Art is pleased to present Crossing Natures, a group exhibition that explores a lineage in contemporary Canadian art originating in the work of Joyce Wieland (1931-1998) and found in the work of two younger generations of Canadian artists, Janet Morton and Mélanie Rocan. We are also pleased to present a painting from 1948 by Yvonne Housser (1897-1996) that embodies the spirit of this exhibition.

    Crossing Natures looks at the idea of thresholds, or liminal spaces, that convey aspects of our relationship to Nature. The exhibition also considers cross-generational influences and affinities.

    From Nell Tenhaaf’s text, Soft in the Head, August 2011:

    “The American ecofeminist Carolyn Merchant had published her landmark book The Death of Nature eight years earlier […] Merchant’s contribution to philosophy was to have a far-reaching influence and prove itself visionary in articulating how we have tamed, managed, objectified, atomized, and rationalized Nature […] Today it matters less which gender is responsible for the ever more rapid disappearance of Nature as a powerful and compelling force. It seems more important to reclaim that power in any way that we can.

    For this reason it is striking to see in Mélanie Rocan’s very recent painting Secrets images of being united with nature in the form of rituals that are definitely pagan and probably also pantheistic, invoking redemption through immersing in and conjoining with the natural world. And in Janet Morton’s She’s Come Undone the suggested ability to put back together what has come almost, but not entirely, asunder is as comforting as the pile of wool heaped on the floor. Interestingly, each of these artists leans toward abstraction in her own way. Rocan buries her figures within brushstrokes that speak to the Abstract Expressionists’ mantra of locating truthful experience in the paint itself, as both surface and gesture. Morton invokes AbEx painterly power in a similar way, for the authenticity of its rebellious energy…

    [With] Wieland’s large floppy painting, it seems to be asking how it is possible to still (even at that time) enter nature. And it proffers some answers to the question: by bird, by canoe, by identifying with the knowledge of aboriginals, by all of these intertwined […] This painting is so gloriously soft in the head in the face of a Nature that has been hyper-rationalized, that it has to have the last word.”

  • Marjorie Moeser: The Edge of Somewhere/new paintings

    October 13 – November 13, 2011
    Opening/ Artist Talk: Saturday, October 15, 2-5pm
    DAVID KAYE GALLERY
    1092 Queen Street West
    (entrance on Dovercourt)
    Toronto, ON M6J 1H9
    Tel: 416-532-9075
    www.davidkayegallery.com
    Hours: Mon – Tue: by appointment
    Wed – Fri: 11–6; Sat – Sun: 11–5

    This new body of paintings has come from an extended stay in the Mesilla Valley of southern New Mexico. Her morning walks take her through the pecan groves along levies that parallel the acequias (water ditches) where she could look out across vast open fields toward the Bishop’s Cap Mountains. The verdant landscape, the extensive swirls and brilliance of the sunlight, and the deep shadows made vivid impressions on Moeser, which subsequently fed the imagery captured here in her lush and extremely colourful paintings.

  • Faunamorphic (Figure #3) by David Hannan

    (polymerized gypsum, steel, polyurethane foam, wood)

    October 11 – November 11, 2011
    Daily until 12 am
    Roadside Attractions
    911 Davenport Road,
    Toronto, ON  M6G 2B7
    info@weseeinc.com”

     Métis artist David Hannan works with taxidermy-form sculptures to explore vulnerability, both in humans and in nature.  Hannan‘s taxidermic hybrids present tension and beauty in the merging of animals into sculptures and at the same time, suggest landscape in the gentle undulations of the forms.  Many of the themes in Hannan’s art derive from his aboriginal heritage, particularly his engagement with history and notions of territory.  His work utilizes taxidermy forms to make transformational sculptures that evoke responses of fear, aggression and endearment.

    Traditionally taxidermy forms have been used as the basis of a hunter’s trophy: the skin of an animal is stretched over the form to be preserved.  In Hannan’s work, animal skin is replaced with packing tape and wool felt blankets evoking a sense of fragility.  The blankets suggest a need for warmth, protection, shelter, love and understanding.  They can also suffocate or allow us to hide from our fears.

    You can see more on the artist’s website: www.davidhannan.ca/

  • Chagall and the Russian Avant-Garde

    To Russia, Donkeys and Others, 1911 (  A la Russie, aux ânes et aux autres, 1911), oil on canvas 157.0 x 122.0 cm. Collection of the MNAM, Centre Pompidou, Paris  ©Adagpl Center Pompidou, Mnam – CCi/Dist. RMN.

    October 18, 2011 – January 15, 2012
    ART GALLERY OF ONTARIO
    317 Dundas Street West,
    Toronto, ON M5T 1G4
    T:416-979-6648
    www.ago.net
    Hours: Tue & Thurs – Sun 10 – 5:30, Wed 10 – 8:30
    The Art Gallery of Ontario is bringing the magic, whimsy and wonder of Marc Chagall to Toronto  with a major exhibition organized by the Centre Pompidou. Chagall and the Russian Avant-Garde: Masterpieces from the Collection of the Centre Pompidou, Paris on view from, features the lush, colourful, and dreamlike art of Marc Chagall alongside the visionaries of Russian modernism, including Wassily Kandinsky, Kasimir Malevich, Natalia Goncharova, Sonia Delaunay, and Vladimir Tatlin.

    Drawn from the collection of the Centre Pompidou, the exhibition examines how Chagall’s Russian heritage influenced and informed his artistic practice, illustrating how he at turns embraced and rejected broader movements in art history as he developed his widely beloved style. Chagall and the Russian Avant-Garde comprises 118 works from a broad array of media, including painting, sculpture, works on paper, photography, and film. The artwork is drawn entirely from the collection of the Centre Pompidou and features 32 works by Chagall and eight works by Kandinsky.

    Chagall Ball

    Saturday, October 15, 2011
    At the Art Gallery of Ontario

    Chagall’s Musical World

    Koffler Chamber Orchestra presents Chagall’s Musical World
    Sunday, November 20, 3:00pm
    Walker Court
    Included with admission to the AGO

    Past Present

    Past Present: Chagall Through Toronto’s Artists
    Wednesday, December 14, 8:00pm
    Weston Family Learning Centre
    $20.50 Members| $22.50 Public | $10 additional to visit the exhibition

    Past Present

    Past Present: Chagall Through Toronto’s Artists
    Wednesday, December 14, 8:00pm
    Weston Family Learning Centre
    $20.50 Members | $22.50 Public | $10 additional to visit the exhibition

     

  • Gordon Becker : Making a Spectacle

    October 19 – November 11, 2011
    Opening /Artist Talk: Saturday, October 22, 1:30pm
    CANADIAN SCULPTURE CENTRE
    500 Church Street
    Toronto ON M4Y 2C8
    Tel: 647.435.5858
    Email: gallery@cansculpt.org
    Hours: Tuesday – Friday 12-6; Saturdays 11-4

    The Sculptors Society of Canada is proud to present a solo exhibition by GORDON BECKER.

    Making a Spectacle…theft of movement explores the pain and exhilaration of dancers.

    Becker began (wood) carving the movement of dancers in 1984. Through his meticulous detailing of life-size dancers – the spirit of dance isenhanced by the directness, honesty and simplicity of his approach.  The purity of dance, the transformation of bodies, limbs and hands symbolize his dream of flying…his dream of eternal flight….

    Upon completing his studies at OCAD, Becker apprenticed with a mastercarver in New Zealand. Becker’s work has been included in numerous commercial films and commissions. His work has participated in numerous exhibitions in Canadaand Europe. In 2003 he was invited to exhibit at the Biennale Internazionale dell’Arte Contemporanea in Florence, Italy, where he was the recipient of the Gold Medallion in the Sculpture Category. Becker was elected into the sculptors Society of Canada in 2000.

  • Show Off @ the Junction

    On Display from October 18 -30, 2011
    Street Party on Friday, October 21,  7 – 11pm
    Dundas St W. West of Keele St.
    Please visit for  more information about
    Participating Retailers, Designers & Artists
    www.mason-studio.com/showoff
    Or contact: showoff@mason-studio.com
    T: 416- 453-5536

    Two designers found themselves wandering about Dundas West in the Junction. On that particular day, many of the retail shops were closed which left them clutching the glass of their spacious shop windows gawking at the merchandise from the sidewalks.

     This turn of events led Toronto-based design firm Mason to host Show Off @ the Junction; an event where local designers and artists are let loose on these awe-inspiring glass boxes to create jaw-dropping installations which showcase the amazing retailers and product the community has to offer.

     The event, which includes 12 retail shops and art galleries on the strip of Dundas St. W, west of Keele, unites over 20 design-professionals providing an opportunity to create conceptual spaces all the while supporting independent business owners and their unique product.

     The art galleries, eclectic home furnishing and fashion retail shops that have cropped-up in this neighbourhood are not the only unique feature of this area; the sense of community and pride that residents and shop owners have for their neighbourhood is what makes the Junction the perfect location for Mason to host the first, of what is expected to become an annual event which will take place in different neighbourhoods around town.

     Along with the parade of window installations which will be on display from October 18–30 the city can look forward to a Street Party on October 21st.

     Shops and galleries will keep their doors open until 11pm with unique offerings in support of the event. Owners will be on hand to chat about their unique goods alongside the artists and designers who will reveal the secrets and stories behind their installations

  • Days of Sakha-Yakutia Culture

    Tuayarima Kuo

    October 15 – 30, 2011
    Opening: Saturday, October 22, 12-3pm
    Bezpala Brown Gallery
    17 Church Street (Front and Church)Tuayarima Kuo
    For inquiries, please contact: Fariz Kovalchuk
    T: 416-907-6875 or 647-929-4878
    fariz@bezpalabrown.com
    http://bezpalabrown.com/ehhibitions

    Admission:$25.00 (includes music, Sakha culinary delicacies and alcoholic/non-alcoholic beverages

    As part of our continuing celebration of Days of Sakha-Yakutia Culture, Bezpala Brown Gallery presents:

    · Improvisations by Claudia & Herman Khatylaevs, performing on more than 15 traditional Yakutian musical instruments
    · A fashion show of celebratory Yakutian costumes designed by Avgustina Filippova
    · Traditional Sakha delicacies created by celebrity chef Innokentiy Tarbakhov
    · Ms. Filippova and Mr. Tarbakhov will be present at the reception to guide us along in our exploration of Sakha culture

    In addition to the music, garb and food that will be presented, we continue our exploration of northern art by presenting a unique opportunity to contrast Northern Canadian visual art and sculpture with that of the works of Sakha artists. Among others, the Sakha masterpieces of Mikhail Starostin (etchings and oils), Chikachev (prints) and Evgenia Arbugaeva (photography) will continue to be on display. The gallery contrasts these artworks with the work of 17 Inuit artists including Annie Pootoogook (etching and aquatint), Shuvinai Ashoona (etching and aquatint), Kavavaow Mannomee (lithograph) and Nuna Parr (sculpture). Mr. Starostin and Ms. Arbugaeva will be in attendance at the Reception to discuss their creations.

  • Don’t be Sentimental by Sarah Clifford-Rashotte

    October 7 – 30, 2011
    Opening: Friday October 7, 7 – 10 pm
    LE GALLERY
    1183 Dundas St.West
    Toronto, ON, M6J 1X3
    T: 416 – 532 – 8467
    E-mail: wil@le-gallery.ca
    Hours: Wed – Sun 12 -6 

    Sarah Clifford-Rashotte’s, fourth solo show at LE Gallery features drawings as well as photo and text-based works that explore the desire and disgust associated with romanticizing experience. Her new work addresses female identity, reconstructed memories and the poetic. She has evolved a distinct visual vocabulary that is at once personally descriptive, while at the same time, representative of an archetypal struggle for self-preservation and obliteration. In early 2012, she will be releasing her second publication, “Book of some Poems” a collection of text-based pieces and writing.

    Clifford-Rashotte is based in Toronto, Ontario and holds an MFA from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. Currently, Sarah has a new billboard text piece featured in the Art Moves Festival in Torun, Poland.

  • After All

    October 5 – 27, 2011
    Opening: Wednesday, October 5, 7-10 pm
    Steam Whistle Gallery
    255 Bremner Ave
    (just south of the CN Tower)
    Toronto, ON
    416-362-2337 ext.246
    info@steamwhistle.ca
    www.steamwhistle.ca
    Hours: Mon – Thurs 12 – 6, Fri – Sat 11 -6, Sun 11 – 5pm

    After All is a colloquium of micro-disasters and subtle apocalypses, little mistakes and lonely wanderers, absences and distortions, created by eight young visual artists. Both melancholy and acerbic, the works speak to the aftermath of arbitrary and fictitious disasters. Darkness has already descended, and the sensation is one of being unsettled for goo…d, and yet, escape routes and alarm-bells appear to be built-in to each misfortune.

    Anouk Desloges’ work depicts airplane crashes and ship collisions with delicately embroidered threads on cold, transparent plastic. The unfinished lines are simultaneously intimate and dispassionate, leaving us unsure how to feel about these calamities. Clare Samuel’s photographs create an ambivalent relationship between the figure and landscape, and a sense that ‘civilization’ is something long forgotten. Allison Rowe’s recycled quilt pieces constrast bright fabric colours with urgent words: ‘The Time to Try and Convince Them is Over,’ speaks one; and ‘Save Yourself,’ warns another. Alisha Piercy presents large-scale drawings of excessive fountain scenes in unnatural colours, a kind of post-apocalyptic alchemy that is both enticing and intimidating. Leanne Eisen’s ‘Scan’ project pushes technology beyond its limits, tricking, bating and teasing the machine to produce beautiful shapes. The outcomes bear scant relation to the objects they should represent, and instead become sublime errors. April Maciborka’s distorted sea imagery brings to mind tidal waves of biblical proportions, pertinent to recent events in our climate. Candice Purwin’s dense ink drawings illustrate childhood terrors, dark worlds ever present in individual memories. Marcy Chevali’s tiny crocheted figures hang together, yet are isolated from each other, little grey creatures who have lost their way in the storm.

    About Steam Whistle Gallery:Steam Whistle Brewing hosts monthly art exhibitions in their Retail & Hospitality area to showcase local creative talent. Although many exhibitors are established artists, some are showing for the first time. Steam Whistle does not charge rent for their gallery space, nor is a commission earned on any works that are sold. At the close of each show, one piece from the show (of the artist’s choice) is donated to their permanent collection bringing further profile to artists through the thousands of visitors to the brewery annually.

  • SpeakEasy’s 16th Annual Illustration Show

    Hello SpeakEasy friends.  Please join us for the first show of our Fall session.  
     
    Thursday, October 6th, 7 – 11pm 
    The Gladstone Hotel,
    1214 Queen West
    Second Floor Lobby + Studio Room
    Cover: Pay What You Can ($4.00 Donation Suggested) 
    For more information contact: David Brown
    T: 416-533-1374
     
    Participating Artists:
    Ken Turner, Graeme Maitland, Gavin McCarthy, Marta McKenzie, Carmen Mok, Anthony Brennan, Nicole Mandelis, Maihyet Burton, Wilfred Wong, victoR gad, Alexei Vella, Candace Sepulis, Deena Pagliarello, Cristina Gardeazabal, Jacob Rolfe, Daria Smirnova, Lida Lajevardi, Freyda Goodman, Tony Sid, Pamela Marjatta Murray.
     
    Take a peek inside the collective imaginations of 20 talented illustrators whose work features original styles, techniques and media. SpeakEasy has a reputation for showcasing the talent of Toronto’s best illustrators. This colourful event is sure to be a myriad of fun in typical SpeakEasy Fashion.