VoCA has long said that when it comes to Toronto, it’s all about the regional galleries.

Oakville Galleries, the Art Gallery of Hamilton and the Albright Knox in Buffalo all have regular, excellent exhibitions. Click on the links above to find upcoming shows at each gallery.

Closer to town, the AGYU, the the U of T Art Galleries and the Art Gallery of Mississauga are also all excellent.

1. The Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery is showing work by Belgian artist Wim Delvoye from September 14 – January 6, 2008.

Delvoye has become internationally known for his work Cloaca, a machine which simulates the human digestive system, and his work has been included in the Venice Biennale and the prestigious art exhibition in Kassel, Germany, Documenta.

Wim Delvoye, Artfarm China. Image: wimdelvoye.be

Pig Brother is a riff on the popular Big Brother reality TV show franchise. One part is a video projection entitled Art Farm that shows views of Delvoye’s pig farm just outside of Beijing, China. Delvoye’s farm houses 24 pigs tattooed with everything from luxury logos to Disney heroines, and the staff dedicated to caring for them.

Wim Delvoye, Cloaca, 2000. Image: blogs.usyd.edu.au

A Cement Truck sculpture also brings together a hybrid of industry and ornament. Delvoye’s sculpture is a scale model of an actual cement truck rendered in filigreed steel.

Delvoye is represented by Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto.

2. Vik Muniz: Reflex at the Musee d’Art Contemporain, Montreal.

The exhibition runs from October 4, 2007 to January 6, 2008

Vik Muniz, Marlene Dietrich (Diamond Divas), 2004. Image: balticmill.com

Brazilian artist Vik Muniz makes photographic pieces from peanut butter and jam, chocolate, sugar, wire, dirt and diamonds, all of which makes his work familiar and enigmatic at the same time. His work is often copied in these unconventional materials from early masterpieces – like his ‘cloud’ pictures, inspired by Alfred Steiglitz’ cloud studies – here re-made with lumps of cotton.

Alfred Stieglitz, Equivalent, 1923. Image: bampfa.berkeley.edu

Vik Muniz, Equivalent Series, 1993-98. Image: bildmuseet.umu.se

His Pictures of Diamonds from 2004 channel Andy Warhol. They are portraits of Hollywood stars like Elizabeth Taylor, made out of diamonds.

The New York Times described Muniz’ work as “an idea wrapped up in surprise and laughter”.

3. David Urban: Time Machines at Trepanier Baer Gallery, Calgary.

The exhibition runs from October 4 to November 3, 2007

David Urban, The Mountain Climber, Set of six paintings, 1997-2007. Image: trepanierbaer.com

One of Canada’s best known abstract painters, in this exhibtion, Urban returns to his original interest in pure abstract painting. “In abstraction there is a particular pressure that is put upon the very basic elements of painting, which are line and colour and volume and shape,” says the artist.

David Urban, The Cloud and the Tree, 2007. Image: trepanierbaer.com

David Urban, The Eye as Dove, 2007. Image: trepanierbaer.com

View the gallery website HERE