With the unprecedented circumstances of the COVID-pandemic, transitioning to viewing art online has been abrupt and experimental. Galleries must be more flexible and open-minded than ever, finding new variations and hybrid forms of displaying art in order to foster connections between artists, galleries, and the public. In light of new circumstances, Gallery 1313 combines online and in-person viewing in Art Parkdale Fair International.
Gallery 1313 relies on taking advantage of the time that galleries have to keep their doors open, allowing for online viewers of the art to come into the gallery and experience the works in their physical forms, or vice versa. This show features sculpture, photo based works, painting, mixed media, and drawing. The works are not done justice in their online form. The scale and materials which result in texture and depth are lost in photographs. The pieces that did not stand out to me online, grasped and held my attention in their physical forms. From this experience, I would advise the viewers to come into the gallery to view the artworks in order to appreciate them fully.
William Tyler, Self Study
Kaspian Kondrat, Obliteration, oil on canvas, 20″ x 24″
The show features Toronto-based artists and is ‘international’ as Toronto is a global city. The artworks span a wide range of topics including, but not limited to: community, physiological changes of the natural world, urban landscapes and the environment, Toronto’s constant flux, Canada’s efforts to sponsor refugees, and the essential contributions of frontline workers.
Connection Earth Collaborative (Ashlynn Doljac), The Pulse, 2018, acrylic on canvas, 56″ x 22″
Eva Lewarne, Make Good
Anne Winter’s The amaWal Cube is a grid composed of miniature cardboard boxes made from wood blocks connected to strips of metal and wood. The work resembles both an electronic grid and a city scape. The composition feels cluttered and overwhelming, with the artist stating that there is an “underlying perception of an ominous order that is unsettling”.
Anne Winter, The amaWal Cube, mixed media, 30″x 30″
The Beginning by Murat Yukselir immediately asserts its place in the room. The sculpture has a strong presence, with a non-descript female leaning backwards while touching her abdomen with one of her hands tenderly, giving the impression that she is a mother. Ripples originate from that spot. Yukselir reminds the viewer, “we are hurled into the world and we become waves. We grow, cross paths with others, and eventually disappear into the collective human experience.”
Murat Yukselir, The beginning, cast resin, mixed media, 56.5″ x 21.5″ x 12″
During this time of isolation, Alison Kruse states that she paints with the passing of time and magical thinking in mind. For the viewer, Sunday Stroll gives a sense of refreshment, of the lush green and the crisp scent of nature that cannot be fully replicated within one’s living space.
Alison Kruse, Sunday Stroll,
Mikael Sandblom encourages viewers to support organizations that aid refugees and those living in countries weighed down by war and famine. Sandblom’s aluminum paneled work, Departures, catches the light as the viewer walks past, mixing open sky with man-made structures. According to the artist, the work focuses on the destruction and displacement of people living in Syria and addressing the state of D. P. camps through the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mikael Sandblom, Departures. 2018, mixed media on two aluminum panels, 50″ x 20″
Gallery 1313’s fair is an eclectic group of works, with vibrant colors and eye-catching materials which overwhelm the viewer with sights. Every work demands attention, each featuring a different topic for the guests to deliberate.
Olivia Musselwhite
Images are courtesy of Gallery 1313
*Exhibition information: October 29 – November 8. 2020, Gallery 1313, 1313 Queen St W, Toronto. Gallery hours: Wed – Sat 1 – 5 pm, Sun 1 – 4 pm. Also online at http://g1313.org/8468/art-parkdale-fair-international-oct-29-nov-8-2/