My first impression, at this year’s emerging design exhibition at the Gladstone Hotel, which is titled Come Up To My Room, was that it wasn’t quite as strong as the past few years.

UA Collective. All photos: VoCA. Click on images to enlarge.

Looking through my photos, though I’m not sure that’s the case. The work is different, more conceptual perhaps. Overall, it’s more white so at first it all appears very similar. But really there is a broad range of intriguing beginnings of ideas that one hopes are pursued further by the artist-designers who created them.

Gareth Bate. Click on images to enlarge.

Gareth Bate. Click on images to enlarge.

There was promising young artist Gareth Bate, whose installation Jewel Net of Indra consisted of portraits painted on small silver mirrored discs. Figures as varied as Bob Marley and Terry Fox were featured – their only similarity being their celebrity.

Wendy Fok. Click on images to enlarge.

Wendy Fok. Click on images to enlarge.

Geo-Cognition by Wendy Fok was a spare installation of what looked like an exaggerated moulding curving around the floor and walls of one room. This was offered as a kind of riddle “There are 4 cities here – can you find them?” asked the designer. The answer is in the shadows, which depict the skylines of cities including Hong Kong and Manhattan. Interesting how closely the brain and the eyes are connected.

[R]ED[U]X LAB. Click on images to enlarge.

[R]ED[U]X LAB. (detail) Click on images to enlarge.

Two rooms – all white – by Ryerson’s [R]ED[U]X LAB and VAERY STUDIO, transform their spaces almost entirely. The first involves fabric stretched over a series of custom fabricated plastic bits bound together with elastic bands. When I was in the room, one of the designers was asked where they envision this piece being used in an interior. They don’t, they answered. It was more about experimenting with spaces, seeing things differently, which seemed to be a theme that ran throughout the show.

VAERY STUDIO. Click on images to enlarge.

The second room used the window as a focal point from which fabric stretched dramatically outward. The actual room was completed transformed. Very simple, very effective.

UA COLLECTIVE. Click on images to enlarge.

UA COLLECTIVE. Click on images to enlarge.

UA COLLECTIVE. Click on images to enlarge.

One installation, by UA Collective, featured a printing press of sorts. The walls were papered with printed kraft paper featuring fun, of-the-moment sayings like ‘LESS IS A BORE’ and ‘WHAT ARE YOU SUSTAINING?’

Interstice Studio. Click on images to enlarge.

Interstice Studio. Click on images to enlarge.

In the lobby was a neat idea for what I can only call ‘wall jewellery’. It was actually a ceiling installation made by Interstice Studio, a shimmering net of paperclips. Lovely.

Last but not least were two wildcard objects. In one room was a busy little installation by Tinsel & Sawdust, (below) but what I loved was how the painting and carpet seemed to be mirror images of one another. An idea with tons of potential, IMHO.

Tinsel & Sawdust. Click on images to enlarge.

Lost Nation Design. Click on images to enlarge.

And then there was this crazy piece (above) by Lost Nation Design. There were faint lights glittering inside the canvas sac. I have no idea what it was actually for, but it sat at the end of the hallway like an exotic creature. Huh.

One of Canada’s most important collections of vintage and modern photography will go on view at the University of Toronto Art Centre in the new year.

Peter Henry Emerson. A Stiff Pull, ca. 1886, photomechanical process, photogravure. Image:utac.utoronto.ca

The Malcolmson Collection, which I can tell you is a spectacular, very special selection of rare photographs,  is comprised of work dating from the mid-nineteenth century to the present and includes work by Gustave Le Gray, Eugene Atget, Man Ray and many others.

A Man Ray photograph from the Malcolmson Collection. Image:meandmymamiya.com

The exhibition, which will feature selections from the collection, is curated by Heather Diack to examine the relationships “that are created between individuals and photographs and between individuals within photographs.”

On top of that, it’s good to think about the earliest days of photography, long before digital processes and consider all that was involved for these artists to capture an image. There was a connection to the experience and an artistry that we just don’t see as much anymore. It’s as if they were in awe of their subject, and I guess they were. Today technology allows us to dominate nature – you can see it everywhere in contemporary art. I wonder what the effects of this will be. What would McLuhan say?

In any case, this should certainly be a show worth seeing. More information is HERE.

“Saint Helen,” says new gallery owner Daniel Faria of the name of his opening exhibition, “is the patron saint of new discoveries.”

A fitting choice then, for his gallery – a former auto body shop, and a place where, as he points out, collectors will discover new and exciting artists.

The beautifully scripted title of Daniel’s inaugural show. All images: VoCA

It’s a beautiful space and up to the high standard of Monte Clark, in whose gallery he previously worked (eventually going into partnership with Monte) and where I met him in 2003 when we worked together in the early days of Toronto’s Distillery District.

Although I missed the opening bash, Shinan was there and so were tons of others, apparently. Dan is an excellent dealer and I know he’ll be a big success, especially with the artists that he’s already representing.

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ATTENTION ARTISTS: I’m thrilled to announce that I’m looking for artists for a brand new art project that I’m involved with. It’s called Artbomb and it’s a daily online art auction delivered to your inbox.

Patrick Hughes, Colour Process, 1984. Image: wonderboygraphics.com
I have one of these prints for sale, incidentally.

Here’s how it works. People subscribe for free and receive a single email from us everyday from Monday to Friday. Each day a new work of art is featured, and subscribers can bid on it. If they like it, they bid and if they don’t, they don’t.

It’s simple.

It will be launching in about one month and I’m looking for ‘emerging’ artists to potentially participate. By emerging, I mean less established artists, although some established artists are welcome.

If you are are Toronto-based artist and are interested in showing your work to thousands of potential buyers, please contact me at carsonandrea@hotmail.com. I’ll answer any questions you have and send you a copy of the contract.

Send me your phone number and we’ll go from there. Our website will be up soon.

Artbomb. Buy what YOU love.

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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While it’s clear that Canada has some thriving art scenes in Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto and Winnipeg, the issue continues to be the comparatively weak market for contemporary art. We have Nuit Blanche in Montreal and Toronto (which is a good start) and we have art fairs for collectors, but the question is how to get the average non-art person visitng gallieres and purchasing work by local artists?

Darren Stebeleski, $400.

An idea to bring the gallery to the people will launch at Winnipeg’s popular Fringe Festival (July 13 – 24, 2011). Conceived by Martha Street Studio, RAW:Gallery of Architecture and Design, and Golden City Fine Art, the idea is to increase exposure and appreciation of Winnipeg’s outstanding artists. “We felt it was unfortunate that people are not able to find local contemporary artists as easily as in other markets,” say the organizers. “Thus, over some drinks we hatched POST NO BILLS temporary commercial gallery. We hope that this event, in conjunction with the Fringe Festival will help both artists and patrons to meet one another.”

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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 Human Rights in Winnipeg, and previously from Montreal’s wonderful McCord Museum.

“My goal in coming to the McMichael,” said Dickenson, “is to make the institution stronger – locally, provincially, nationally and internationally – to reach our local communities, the tourists that come to the GTA and the visitors that we reach virtually, so that more people can experience for themselves what an outstanding institution the McMichael is and what an important part it plays in our Canadian history and heritage, today, tomorrow and for decades to come.”

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I’m happy to report that VoCA is featured in this month’s issue of ELLE Canada. The article on art collecting, subtitled ‘How to turn your living room into un petit Louvre’, is by Katie Addleman.

The March issue of ELLE Canada. Image: hotmags.net

In the article, she says: “A better bet is to spend on the established by still young: Though out of reach to some, they remain accessible to many others. Carson’s blog, the indefatigable art-world guide View on Canadian Art, vibrates with the names and news of such types. Among her favorites are Sarah Anne Johnson, whose photographs figure in permanent collections at the National Gallery of Canada and the Guggenheim Museum in New York; multidisciplinary artist and recent Grange Prize-winner Kristan Horton; and Shary Boyle, for whom the Art Gallery of Ontario cleared out four rooms’ worth of European art last fall, the better to accomodate her dynamic solo show.”

Full article after the jump…

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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 Bern (or Showing Colors), 1970. Self-published with Dieter Roth. Signed and numbered by Iannone (431/500 copies).

Dorothy Iannone’s colourful and boldly erotic paintings from the 1960s and early 70s seem to be gaining recognition lately. Her work was included in the revealing (in all senses of the word) “Women Pop Artists” show that toured the U.S. last year. Iannone met the artist Dieter Roth during a trip to Iceland in 1967, and they remained together until 1974. Drawn by Iannone in the format of a graphic novel, this book tells the story of the removal of Iannone’s work from an exhibition in Bern, Switzerland in 1969 because the gallery director, Harald Szeemann, felt that the sexual content would draw the attention of police. Roth stood by Iannone, threatening to withdraw his work from the exhibition if hers was not shown. Iannone’s work was removed, and this book documents the strained friendships, including Roth’s with Fluxus artist Daniel Spoerri (who sided with Szeemann), that resulted.

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Although I stopped going to art fairs a while ago, after having been to many over the years both as a ‘gallerina’ and as a critic including Art Basel, Basel Miami, Art Chicago and Frieze, they remain popular venues for collectors, curators and, of course dealers and artists to hang out and do business.

Kristine Moran, Sidestep. Image: modto.com

New York’s Armory Show is one of the most prestigious and it takes place from March 3 – 6 in Manhattan.

Canada’s Art Dealers Association is – as per usual – organizing some programming around Canadians participating in the fair, but this year they are celebrating Canadian expat artists in New York with a series of discussions and tours of the show.

It’s a pretty good list of artists that I thought I’d share with you.

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