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

A work by Tanya Harnett. Image: staffweb.uleth.ca

TANYA HARNETT PERSONA GRATA & JIN-ME YOON UNBIDDEN

At the Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge

September 28 - November 11, 2007

A member of the Assiniboine tribe and Carry-the-Kettle first nation, Lethbridge artist Tanya Harnett’s new series of photographic works explore her multi-faceted persona. The poignant images are marked by imanihan, an Assiniboian word that acknowledges the sense of spirit.

She says: “The works in Persona Grata…speak of the fragility of our existence.”

Jin-me Yoon, Fugitive (Unbidden) #2, 2004. Image: catrionajeffries.com

Jin-Me Yoon’s video performances and photographs make reference to the historical trauma of war. More specifically, but not exclusively, Yoon examines the Korean War and the ongoing military tensions that still exist between the two Koreas.

Mike Patten, Mondrian’s Garden, 2007. Image: newzones.com

1. Mike Patten: Mondrian’s Garden at Newzones, Calgary

September 15 - October 20

Mike Patten, Mondrian’s Garden, 2007. Image: newzones.com

In his installation, Patten uses green masking tape to mimic paint. His use of green alludes to the famous Dutch De Stijl artist Piet Mondrian, who famously taped his grid paintings to achieve perfection, and avoided the use of the colour green.

Here’s VoCA’s favorite painting by Mondrian:

Piet Mondrian, Broadway Boogie Woogie, 1942-3. Image: moma.org

2. FUZZ: Dionne, Goldman, Kubis, Lannoo, Rdest at Newzones, Calgary

September 15 - October 20

Aleksandra Rdest, Something Had to Give, 2007. Image: Newzones.com

Work by five Canadian painters is on view here, including Aleksandra Rdest, who is shortlisted for this year’s RBC Painting Competition.

Stay tuned for the announcement of this year’s winner - on September 26th.

Other artists included in the show are Marie Lannoo, Suzan Dionne, Nicole Goldman and Anda Kubis.

Aleksandra Rdest, Tandem, 2007. Image: newzones.com

1. Magenta, Canada’s art publishing house, will launch their newest book next week. The stunning book, Phantom Shanghai by Canadian photographer Greg Girard, documents China’s transition in otherworldly colours and with an elegant eye. Featuring a foreword by William Gibson and introduction by Leo Rubinfien.

Greg Girard, 600 Things, 2005. Image: monteclarkgallery.com

You can order it online HERE

Greg Girard, Fuzhou Lu Mailboxes, 2005. Image: monteclarkgallery.com

Greg Girard is represented by the Monte Clark Gallery, Toronto and Vancouver.

2. The Artcity 2007 Festival of Art, Design and Architecture takes place in the heart of Calgary from September 7-16. Artcity brings art and architecture into the spaces where the public lives and works. This year’s theme is “Rupture”.

The Festival aims to open possibilities in Calgary for conversations, debates and realizations about how and what artists, architects and designers do and how they see and shape the world around us.

“Not so much bent on audience development in the traditional sense, but rather concerned with the artistic zeitgeist, Artcity is indebted to contemporary artists who consistently provide citizens with new means of engagement,” says programming director Wednesday Lupypciw.

VoCA recommends some must-see installations:

-BOOM

WHO: The Arbour Lake Sghool: Andrew Frosst, John Frosst, Justin Patterson, Scott Rogers, and Aaron Sereda

WHERE: Roaming distribution on the Stephen Avenue Pedestrian Mall. Also available at Truck Gallery, Stride Gallery, 809, McNally Robinson Booksellers, Skew Gallery, the Alberta College of Art & Design, Triangle Gallery, the University of Calgary, ArtCentral, and the Glenbow Museum Discovery Room.

WHEN: Duration of festival

The Arbour Lakers will bequeath the city with thousands of free artist multiples in the form of balloons emblazoned with a custom ‘BOOM’ logo.

Collect your very own variety of deflated and helium-filled ‘BOOM’s on the streets and in conjunction with other Artcity-affiliated events.

Read more on VoCA’s favorite Calgary art collective right HERE

-FREE BOWL CALGARY INVITATIONAL

WHO: Michael Coolidge

WHERE: City Hall Lobby, 800 MacLeod Trail SE

WHEN: 9am-9pm daily

Michael Coolidge (Free Bowl Founder and conceptual artist) has organized a week-long prize tournament that will span the downtown core of Calgary.

Similar to Bocce and Lawn Bowling, the objective of Free Bowl is to bowl closest to a marker ball. Free Bowl players, however, must negotiate and determine their own courts, selecting from a vast array of existing urban spaces. One match leads to another, as the game and its players traverse the various landscapes of the built environment.

-SWINTAK

WHO: The Urban Quicksand Association

WHERE: Stephen Avenue Pedestrian Mall, the Alberta College of Art & Design, and Eau Claire Shopping Centre

WHEN: Throughout the festival

Making appearances at trade shows, festivals, colleges, and shopping malls, the UQA will distribute goodies such as the “Do-It-Yourself Quicksand Kits for Condo Dwellers”, clear up the popular confusion between actual quicksand and so-called ’slow dirt’, and argue on interesting topics like “Why Solids and Liquids are Over-Rated: The Curse of Binary Thinking in Urban Planning”.

-THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A THINK IS MAINTAINED (?): PART II

WHO: Doug Scholes

WHERE: Olympic Plaza, 228 8th Avenue SE

WHEN: 24/7

Scholes will build towers that, by their very nature, will self-destruct. Onsite each day throughout the festival, the artist will manipulate thousands of hollow beeswax bricks in a futile attempt to maintain the towers as seemingly stable structures. Highly susceptible to sun, rain, wind, and outright vandalism, the constructions put into relief the ‘everything-proof’ standard that Calgarians have come to expect from concurrent architectural projects.

-YARNOVER CALGARY (YO CALGARY!)

WHO: Suzen Green

WHERE: Family of Man and Family of Horses

WHEN: Sep 7-16, 24 hours

During Artcity, a series of public monuments in the downtown core will be clad in custom designed scarves, socks, hats, and mittens. The temporary interventions are designed to encourage Calgarians to reconsider the innocuousness of the sculptures and what they stand for.

Suzen Green’s pieces will be located at the Family of Horses sculpture (City Hall, 800 MacLeod Trail SE), the Family of Man sculpture (West of the Calgary Board of Education building, 515 MacLeod Trail SE).

-KIND OF SORT OF YOURS BUT ACTUALLY MOSTLY MINE

WHO: Paul Atkins (Out Of My System), Noel Bégin (Cinemaphidic Obliviolution - beta 0.3, 2007), Aleesa Cohene (Why me? #1, 2007), Lee Henderson (Revelations, 2005), Deirdre Logue (excerpts from Why Always Instead of Just Sometimes, 2003-2005), Stacey Watson (The Icecave, 2007)

WHERE: Glenbow Museum

WHEN: Sep 14, 6:30pm (directly before the ArtTalk panel discussion)

Combining appropriated and original footage, silence and booming soundtracks, the works on view include everything from messy relationship endings to the goings-on in a backyard aphid invasion.

-GUIDED TOURS

WHERE: Art Gallery of Calgary (117 8th Avenue SW, Calgary

WHEN: Sep 8 & 15, 1pm

FREE guided tours of the 2007 Artcity festival. Please meet the tour guide outisde the main entrance of the Art Gallery of Calgary.

Find more info on Artcity Calgary 2007 right HERE.

1. Toronto’s CN Tower got an admirable facelift this summer, causing many residents to actually see the tower in years.

The CN Tower. Image: Vince Talotta/Toronto Star

Which reminds us of….

Andy Warhol, A Set of Six Self-Portraits, 1967. image: sfmoma.org

2. Will Kim Dorland win the RBC Painting Competition this year?

After being shortlisted in 2006, he has again made the list this year.
VoCA thinks his work is getting better every year.

The winner will be announced in September.

Kim Dorland, Green Blanket, 2007. Image: kimdorland.com

His surreal paintings are grounded in regional familiarity, small-town suburbia depicted using day-glo underpainting.

New work by the artist is on view at Skew Gallery, Calgary
from September 6 - 6 October.

Opening Reception: Tursday, Sept. 6, 6-9pm. The artist will be in attendance.

Kim Dorland, Crossing Elk, 2006. Image: kimdorland.com

Kim Dorland, Wolves of Chernobyl, 2006. Image: kimdorland.com

Kim Dorland is represented by Skew Gallery and also by Angell Gallery in Toronto.

1. Mike Cameron: The Unfiltered Gaze
Summit Gallery, Banff Alberta
September 1st - 23rd, 2007

Mike Cameron, The Panoptic Gaze, 2007. Image: courtesy Summit Gallery

Opening Reception: Saturday, September 1st, 6-9 pm

Victoria-based artist Mike Cameron elicits a comprehensive view that reflects a world of surveillance, paranoid political movements, and global uncertainty that is as relevant during the cold war and McCarthyism as it is today…

Mike Cameron, The End of a Dream, 2007. Image: courtesy Summit Gallery

Click HERE for more info.

2. Dean Drever: Big Guns
Udell Contemporary, Calgary Alberta
September 6 - 22, 2007

Work by Dean Drever. Image: courtesy the artist

Dean Drever, THIS IS NOT GOING TO BE OK. Image: othergallery.com

Click HERE for more info.

3. As it Seems: a group exhibition
Susan Hobbs Gallery, Toronto
September 6 - 20 October, 2007

Roy McMakin, Chest of Drawers, 2000. Image: art-word.com

This exhibition takes its starting point from the slippery state of ‘seeming to be’. Sentiments like ‘nothing as it seems’ or ‘exactly as it seems’ apply to all of the works in the show, sometimes shifting from one to the other with sustained viewing or a change in perspective. These perceptual complexities can apply to the truthfulness in the imagery, the instability of media, enigmatic processes or the precariousness of affect. ‘Seeming to be’ doesn’t indicate truth, or artifice either – it’s a personal response to something nuanced and enigmatic.

Axel Lieber, Min Konstruktiva Vardag, 2003. Image: omkonst.com

Click HERE for more info.

**VoCA IS NOW POSTING DAILY UPDATES - PLEASE CHECK BACK!**

VoCA is already looking towards the fall - here are a few exhibitions to look forward to:

1. MONTREAL: Marc Quinn at DHC Art

October 5, 2007 - January 6, 2008

Marc Quinn, Selma Mustajbasic, 2000. image: artregister.com

Click HERE for more info.

2. TORONTO: Greg Girard at Monte Clark Gallery

September 22 to October 14, 2007

Greg Girard, Fuzhou Lu Mailboxes, 2005. Image: monteclarkgallery.com

Click HERE for more info.

3. WINNIPEG: Edith Dekyndt at Plug-In

September - February, 2007

Edith Dekyndt, A is hotter than B, B is hotter than C, C is hotter than D, 2006 (Video still).
Image: edithdekyndt.be

Click HERE for more info on the artist.

4. CALGARY: Alex Janvier at the Art Gallery of Calgary

August 31, 2007 to January 5, 2008

Alex Janvier, The Insurance on the Teepee, 1972. Image: artbank.ca

Click HERE for more info.

5. VANCOUVER: Douglas Walker at the NEW Jennifer Kostuik Gallery

September 13 - 30, 2007

Douglas Walker, Untitled #851, 2006. Image: douglaswalker.ca

Click HERE for more info.

PLUS: VoCA will preview the best of Nuit Blanche Toronto, September 29, 2007 and of Mois de la Photo Montreal, September 6 - October 21.

**VoCA IS NOW POSTING DAILY UPDATES - PLEASE CHECK BACK!**

MONTREAL
MICHEL DAIGNEAULT at GALERIE TROIS POINTS
APRIL 28 – MAY 26

Michel Daigneault, Deux Bleus. Image: galerietroispoints.qc.ca Continue reading →

1. ERIC GLAVIN at Birch Libralato, Toronto

Eric Glavin, Ossington Ave P.S. Image: Birch Libralato Gallery.

RCNT/WRKS
March 24 – April 21, 2007

Known for photographically documenting the façades of post-war buildings and using these photographs as a basis for constructing computer-rendered abstracted images, Glavin’s interest lies in the facades’ reference to grids and geometric patterns in modernist, hard-edge painting.

Eric Glavin, Springburn 4a, 2000. Image: Birchlibralato.com Continue reading →

VANCOUVER

Upgrade! Vancouver is launching a series of outdoor art video screenings. The videos will be local and international – and will “appropriate the functional model of online videosharing sites”. The event will be promoted through flyers at each screening, encouraging word of mouth promotion.

Upgrade! is an international network that collaborates to produce publications, exhibitions, happenings at the intersection of art and technology. There is also Upgrade! Montreal, but sadly, those are the only ones in Canada.

CALGARY

Keep your eye out for Curtis Cutshaw, who will present new photographic work at Skew Gallery in May. Cutshaw developed his practice at the Alberta College of Art and Design, at NASCAD - the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design’s New York residency and at the Skowhegan School in Maine.

Curtis Cutshaw, Bloom Version 2, 2006. Image: Skew Gallery Continue reading →