It’s that time of year again, and among all the exhibition openings, parties (I swung by the Canadian Art Foundation‘s annual fundraiser was last week) and festivals (Nuit Blanche is next week-eek! More on that coming soon…) Toronto’s art scene is back in full swing.

The invitation. Courtesy Business for the Arts

Relatively new on the scene is ArtsScene‘s annual Arnold Party.  It’s the afterparty for the Business for the Arts gala, and it’s happening October 6 at the fabulous 1920-style Carlu. Appropriately, this year’s theme is Boardwalk Empire and the party is full-force fancy dress, so get your game on, people!

(disclaimer: I sit on the board of ArtsScene, a Canada-wide young professionals arts group.)

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I came across a quote from the YBA godfather, Michael Craig-Martin in the Financial Times recently. Speaking about the practice of being an artist, he says, “What interests me is the part of you that you are stuck with, that you can’t control, and it comes out whatever. That’s infinitely more profound: you are who you are, even when you don’t wish to be – you can’t not do it.”

Still from whiteonwhite:algorithmicnoir, by Eve Sussman. Image courtesy redartprojects.com

His quote echoes an issue that I’ve had for some time with much of the emerging art that I see; the idea that the artist must maintain control over it. Of course, ultimately we can never get away from ourselves, so it’s true that all art is self-portraiture, but generally speaking, I much prefer art that leaves open what Craig-Martin identifies – that part that can’t be controlled.

Speaking of control, we saw the newest work by Brooklyn-based artist Eve Sussman and her collaborative team Rufus Corporation at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it was screening as a part of Future Projections, the festival’s artistic programme.

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Patriotism is defined as a “love of one’s country.” Nationalism is a more complex thing, referring I suppose to one’s nationhood, as distinct from one’s homeland. It’s a topic explored in the new show at MOCCA in Toronto, which opened on Friday, days before the anniversary of September 11, 2001.

ANTUAN, Left or Right, (detail). Image: mocca.ca

Titled Patria o Liberdad! On Patriotism, Immigration and Populism, it is a collection of video art that aims, according to curator Paco Barragan, to address “the complexities of the concept of “nationalism” in a moment in which national identities are being either severely put into question or impetuously vindicated.”

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With all the condo development going on in downtown Toronto recently – the good, the bad and the embarrassingly ugly (hello there, Bohemian Embassy – what is with that sign?!) has come a smart new wave of Toronto’s downtown art scene.

Hunter & Cook, the magazine. Image: hunterandcook.com

Little galleries – The Department, Tomorrow, Erin Stump, General Hardware, the Feminist Art Gallery – and others – have popped up, anchored by stalwarts like the beloved Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (MOCCA) Clint Roenisch, MKG127, Jessica Bradley and Jamie Angell, not to mention the now nearly ancient artist-run space Whippersnapper.

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