This year’s CONTACT photography festival kicked off with a bang at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (MOCCA) in Toronto. I was pleasantly surprised by this year’s show, Collected Shadows: Archive of Modern Conflict (AMC). An arrangement of images on the deep purple wall at MOCCA: Image: VoCA I had never heard of the AMC, even though it is Toronto
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Among Leonardo da Vinci’s writing and journals, one note in particular reveals his genius: his desire to paint “Man, and the intention of his mind.” Da Vinci’s constant search for new ways to reveal the world through art defined the Renaissance and set an artistic standard for centuries to come. Ross King’s excellent examination of one of da Vinci’s undisputed
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Micheal Laverty writes about his soon-to-be-published satirical first novel, about a “21st century troupe of court jesters – a collective of artists dubbed Apollo’s Army.” Micheal Laverty graduated with an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Windsor and completed the School for Writers program at Humber College. His writing has appeared in various journals including The Fiddlehead and
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I recently reviewed a new book about the famed portrait photographer Yousuf Karsh. Karsh’s portrait of Georgia O’Keefe. Image:lalumiereetlobscurite.com Karsh arrived to Canada from Syria in 1925 and eventually set up in Ottawa, where he worked his connections in politics, eventually photographing Sir Winston Churchill, which made him world famous. For the last 18 years of his life, he lived
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Jeremy Deller, “The Battle of Orgreave” (2001), in which original participants in a 1984 miners’ strike reenacted the events. Image: hyperallergic.com Buzz Hargrove or Lee Iococca: The Search for Business Models in the Arts By Robert Labossiere For decades now, everyone from artists to arts organizations to public and private galleries and arts councils has been under pressure to operate
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Over the past ten years, artist Max Dean has collected other people’s photo albums. He’s got about 500 of them, which are being used as part of his latest project at this year’s CONTACT Photo festival in Toronto. Artist Max Dean. All images (except Google map) by VoCA. The project is called Album, and it involves Dean loading up his
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Last weekend, we went up to a friend’s cottage on Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park. You may recognize the name – it’s well known as the lake where Group of Seven painter Tom Thomson mysteriously died at age 42 in July, 1917. He had left to go on a fishing trip, but after only a few hours his canoe was
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Did you know that UK-based Canadian author Sarah Thornton successfully sued a critic from the Daily Telegraph for a “spiteful” review of her book Seven Days in the Art World? Author Sarah Thornton, and her book. Image: inforrm.com I haven’t read the book, though I know many who have and who thoroughly enjoyed it. Her lawsuit resulted in Thornton winning
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The McMichael Canadian Art Collection – famous for its works by members of the Group of Seven – has hired Dr. Victoria Dickenson as it’s new Executive Director and CEO as well as President of the McMichael Canadian Art Foundation. Lawren Harris, Afternoon sun, Lake Superior. Image: blindflaneur.com Ms. Dickenson comes fresh from 18 months at the Canadian Museum of
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VoCA contributor Bill Clarke, a collector of art and artist books (see previous VoCA posts HERE and HERE) has come back once again with a wonderful post in honour of International Women’s Day. Here is his blog post on a number of artist books by women artists that he has in his increasingly envy-inducing collection: Dorothy Iannone: The Story of
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Andrea Carson writes on contemporary art, architecture and design...