Saturday, September 26, 2015 / 4 – 5:30 p.m.
Dundas West / Ossington Tour
The Toronto Gallery Hop was a wonderful and inviting experience. It is a comfortable and welcoming opportunity to develop new interests and share opinions, open to both the new and the seasoned enthusiasts. During the entire tour, the group freely questioned and interpreted the artists’ works; the artists and curators themselves were more than happy to share. Though there were presentations, overall it felt more like a friendly chat. Even between galleries, everyone was talking about the galleries, other artists, anything.
LE Gallery, artist Scott Waters (right) talks about his work
The first gallery was the G Gallery, exhibiting Carnival of Sorts: a joint show featuring artists Jennifer Chan, Adrienne Crossman, and Lorna Mills, who explore the proliferation of different themes in popular culture through video art. Yaoi, GIFs, and the 1980/1990 workout videos are among the key focuses.
G Gallery, exhibiting Carnival of Sorts
We then ventured to see the Scott Waters’ exhibition, How To Disappear Completely, at LE Gallery, displaying luminous and highly realistic night paintings – that expertly imitate the effects of flash photography and lighting – to represent the “flag-flying endeavor, an ongoing dream of ‘not-being’.” As much as a notion of “nothingness” is approached with skepticism, there is also a certain admiration and desire for it, as touched on by thinkers like Thomas More and Thom Yorke which serve as some of the literary inspirations for Waters.
Scott Waters, We are tragic men
The joint exhibition at the Loop Gallery – Linda Heffernan’s Are We There Yet? and Kim Stanford’s Trichotillomania – are two very captivating shows. Heffernan’s paintings cleverly combine acrylic paint, wire mesh, and other unconventional mediums to mirror the digital aesthetic of satellite imaging. Meanwhile, Stanford’s sculptures recreate banal routines into surreal objects, drawing inspiration from the basic act of removing unwanted hair.
Loop Gallery presentation by tour guide, artist Adam David Brown
Kristiina Lahde’s From a Straight Line to a Curve at the MKG127 Gallery shows several geometric experimentations that transform otherwise linear elements into new curvaceous forms. Micah Adams’ accompanying exhibition, Selected Coin Studies, consists of drawings, prints, and sculptures that give a lively new perspective to an otherwise mundane object.
Artist Kristiina Lahde in front of her work From a Straight Line to a Curve at the MKG127
The final stop was the Xpace Cultural Centre, which works closely with the OCAD student union, as well as other independent artists, to show off new talent. Swallowed by Alexandra Mackenzie is an extremely vibrant show, with walls covered with handcrafted wallpapers and projected illustrations. Simultaneously, Nyssa Komorowski’s –nuhsawvhtat- to add a room, to extend a house emphasizes the Aboriginal rights’ movements that the artist herself participated in: a politically charged display of banners, video, and signs aimed at bringing awareness to the cause.
Nyssa Komorowski’s installation at the Xpace Cultural Centre
Text and photo: Simon Termine
Canadian Art Magazine Fall Launch
Saturday, September 26, 2015 / 6 – 8 p.m.
Angell Gallery
1444 Dupont St.
The Canadian Art Gallery Hop came to an end at Angell Gallery in time for Canadian Art Magazine’s Fall issue launch. A talk about the front gallery exhibition by Bradley Wood was just ending as I arrived. The new space was bustling. MPP Davenport Cristina Martins presented Jamie Angell with a plague welcoming him to the neighborhood and commenting that she has been to many such gallery openings in her riding as galleries have made the move to the area. She mentioned that MOCCA also moved to the area. Sadly the Jessica Bradley Gallery closed as she has decided it was time to move on. It seemed that the 74 Miler Street location had not been open that long.
MPP Davenport Cristina Martins with Angell Gallery Director, Jamie Angell
CEO and publisher of Canadian Art Magazine, Jill Birch introduced Richard Rhodes who is stepping down after 20 years as editor of Canadian Art. Rhodes remised he remembered the first day he and partner Dyan Marie had walked into Jamie Angells first Gallery on Queen Street West when he was just starting out and still cutting hair in the back of the Gallery. The gallery and Jamie have come a long way.
Canadian Art editor, Richard Rhodes
Talking with Rhodes he was looking forward to other projects though he still has another 1.5 issues to finish before he leaves. He will have an office nearby on Dupont and was talking about going to Los Angles to revisit the art scene there.
Not sure who the new editor will be but they will have big shoes to fill.
Text and photo: Phil Anderson
King East / Distillery Tour
Sunday, September 27, 2015 / 2:30 – 4 p.m.
The Toronto Gallery Hop is an annual event that offers a walking tour of Toronto’s art galleries. Divided into ten different neighbourhoods, each ‘Hop’ covers four to five galleries. Offered by the Canadian Art Foundation, these tours are great for beginners who needs a quick introduction to current Toronto’s art scene.
The Distillery District tour began at the Beauchamp Art Gallery, arguably the most commercial out of the five galleries in the tour. The space was filled with moderately sized canvases of traditional paintings – lots of figures, cityscape, and flowers. Each painting offers various payment plans, ideal for novice collectors.
Beauchamp Art Gallery
Second in our stop was Julie M. Gallery, featuring Shai Kramer’s solo Exhibition: Connecting Narratives. Kramer’s photographs are defined by reflections. Reflection exemplified by diptych photographs, as well as the reflection of the audience from the glossy framing. Embedded in Kramer’s political photographs dealing with the relations between Israel and Palestine are our own faces looking, both into the picture and back at ourselves, allowing us to study our own reaction in the reflection.
Shai Kramer’s solo exhibition, Connecting Narratives at Julie M. Gallery
Compared to the common white gallery space, the Thompson Landry stands out with its distinct architecture. It is very representative of the aesthetics of the district, featuring large exposed metal pipes. At times, however, the decor is so strong that it shadows the actual exhibition. Even though Juxtapositions by Jean-Pierre Lafrance showcases enormous gestural abstract paintings that are full of movement, texture, and colour, it fails to overpower the interior of the gallery, as well as the small porcelain sculptures.
Juxtapositions by Jean-Pierre Lafrance at Thompson Landry Gallery
Our fourth stop is a change of pace with Proof Studio Gallery. In a tight crowded space, the gallery displays art works in both affordable prints and in framed originals. There is a lot of maple leaf motif in the photographs, formerly in anticipation of visitors of Pan Am games. Aside from photographs, the studio sells numerous nick-knacks as well, such as little notebooks and tiny sculptures.
Proof Studio Gallery
Last and arguably the most impressive stop was at the Corkin Gallery. All the gallery space in the district seem to be highly individual and gorgeous, and Corkin Gallery was not an exception. Featured was Barbara Astman’s I as Artifact – disturbing series of images that resemble faces. Created by applying a mask on her face then peeling them off, Astman experiments with questions of identity and representation. Each mask was presented in a clinical manner, increased in size and photographed in a black background to highlight its texture and transparency. In these masks we see emotion, topography, and according to Astman, the universe.
Presentation at Corkin Gallery
Although the nature of the neighbourhood prompted works that were quite different in styles and purpose compared to those in Queen West area, the tour was nonetheless an effective introduction that, because of short duration spent during each gallery, prompts the visitors to return for a more detailed experience.
Text and photo: Sunny Kim