Your Cultural Concierge! VoCA offers critical commentary on the Canadian art scene, with a focus on Toronto. Featuring exhibition previews, critics picks, interviews and in-depth articles on art in Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Ottawa and Halifax.
January 3rd, 2008 — Architecture, News: International
Ettore Sottsass. Image: nyt.com
VoCA is saddened to hear of the passing of one of our favorite designers, Ettore Sottsass. He was 90 years old. The influential designer, photographer and founder of the Memphis design group had an exceptionally creative mind and outrageous design sensibility.
December 18th, 2007 — Architecture, Exhibitions, Toronto
BIG: Renzo Piano has been announced as the winner of the 2008 Gold Medal award from the American Institute of Architects.
The Centre Pompidou, Paris. Image: greatbuildings.com
The Italian architect is best known for some of his museums, including the Pompidou Centre, which he designed with Richard Rogers and for the Menil Collection in Houston.
December 17th, 2007 — Architecture, News: Canada
Philanthropist Michael Audain. Image: protocol.gov.bc.ca
1. From the Globe and Mail: Vancouver philanthropist Michael Audain donates $2 million to endow an Indigenous Art Curatorial Chair at the National Gallery of Canada:
Read the full article HERE
Mr. Audain recieved the order of British Columbia in 2007. He has a long history of activism and generous support for visual arts and culture in British Columbia. As an art collector, past-president of the Vancouver Art Gallery and chair of the Vancouver Art Gallery Foundation, Mr. Audain has dedicated himself to ensuring the success of major exhibitions and programs at art galleries in Vancouver and Victoria.
September 4th, 2007 — Architecture
A sketch for Daniel Libeskind’s addition to Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum. Image: torontohispano.com
In the current issue of Nuvo magazine, the 80-year-old grande dame of architecture, Phyllis Lambert (C.C., G.O.Q., M.Arch., O.A.L., F.R.A.I.C., F.R.S.C., R.C.A., LL.D), founder of the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal, former Bronfman and early Mies van der Rohe champion, calls ’starchitect’ Frank Gehry seriously overrated.
August 30th, 2007 — Architecture
There’s an excellent article on former Montrealer, Habitat ’67 designer and increasingly world-famous architect Moshe Safdie in the Wall Street Journal.
Moshe Safdie’s Habitat 67. Image: 248am.com
He designed the National Gallery of Canada, you know. With Louise Bourgeois’s 35-foot tall bronze spider, Maman (1999) outside.
August 24th, 2007 — Architecture, Loved & Loathed
Bruce Mau. Image: guardian.co.uk
Designer Bruce Mau on CBC Radio’s This I Believe:
“It is art that sings to us and opens up our hearts to one another. It is art that gives meaning to things that would otherwise go unnoticed. It is art that connects us to our past. It is art that cracks a smile and laughs at our limitations, that speaks to us of the darkness we cannot say out loud. It is art that proves our worth, that demonstrates our capacity as inventors and lovers and wild untamed beings. And in the end it is art that allows us to understand and express science.
August 4th, 2007 — Architecture, Artists, Books, News: International
David Adjaye’s The Dirty House, Shoreditch, East London. Image: flickr.com
1. David Adjayeis the London-based architect who made his name through the London art scene, working with Tim Noble and Sue Webster on their East London home The Dirty House in 2002 as well as with Chris Ofili and Jake Chapman. Have a look at some of Adjaye’s recent projects HERE, courtesy of the New York Times.
October 27th, 2006 — Architecture, News: Canada
National Post picks up on VoCA story! (Finally)
This morning’s font page of Canadian newspaper the National Post asks if Daniel Libeskind’s crystal for the Royal Ontario Museum is a copy of the one in Denver.
The Denver Art Museum. Image: pbs.org
The Royal Ontario Museum. Image: telegraph.co.uk
VoCA asked the same question back in January 2006:
Andrea Carson writes on contemporary art, architecture and design...Read full bio