If You’re in the Hood….

Scott Massey, Two Yellow Lines, 2006. Image: Helenpittgallery.org

In Vancouver, I just got word of a video projection exhibition that will happen on March 18 at W2 Storyeum, 151 W. Cordova.

The show is the work of a new not-for-profit called Drop Out Video Arts that has brought together artists, artsworkers and musicians to create this one-off event. Expect 30 projections, alongside installation and interactive artworks.

And if you’re an artist, submissions are still being accepted until Monday. Check out their website at the link above and the submission form HERE.

Continue reading →

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.

Continue reading →

Big congratulations to the 2011 Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts!

Robert Fones, Can-D-Man, 1971. Image: ccca.ca

They are: Photographer Geneviève Cadieux, visual artist Robert Fones, performance and visual artist Michael Morris, filmmakers David Rimmer and Barbara Sternberg and painter Shirley Wiitasalo, each for distinguished artistic achievement. Metalsmith Kye-Yeon Son won the Saidye Bronfman Award for excellence in fine crafts.

Continue reading →

As some of you probably know, I do the publicity for the Reel Artists Film Festival, which is put on each year in Toronto by the Canadian Art Foundation.

Shooting the film Picture Start, showing artist Rodney Graham. Image: courtesy Helen Yagi.

This year, four days of films on art and artists take place at Toronto’s TIFF Bell Lightbox, and will feature some of the world’s greatest artists, including:

Sol Lewitt – Canadian premiere
William Kentridge – Canadian premiere
Wanda Koop – WORLD premiere
Carl Beam – Toronto premiere
Shuvinai Ashoona
Ai Weiwei – North American premiere
Pipilotti Rist – Canadian premiere
Jenny Holzer – Toronto premiere
Olafur Eliasson – Toronto premiere
Damian Ortega – Canadian premiere
Christian Boltanski – Toronto premiere
Nam June Paik – WORLD premiere
The Chinese art market – Toronto premiere
John Baldessari – Canadian premiere
The Vancouver School (Picture Start) – WORLD premiere
Andreas Gursky – Canadian premiere

Last night, I previewed William Kentridge: Anything is Possible, about the famous South African artist. It is a must-see for artists, particularly anyone interested in drawing, animation, theatre or opera.

The film offers incredible insight into Kentridge’s artistic process, which is complex and encompasses many different approaches and ways of working. He also describes how his childhood experiences and the history of South Africa have influenced his art.

Continue reading →

I recently became aware of two interesting charities in Toronto, both of which use art and artistic practice to encourage people in quite different ways. Interesting, because making art is a great way to get outside of one’s own head and creative expression is an important skill to learn, or re-learn as the case may be.

The first charity is called Art City in St. James Town and provides after school art programs to elementary school children. It acts as a place for kids to be between school time and when their parents come home from work.

Continue reading →

The third biennial national portrait competition, the Kingston Prize, is accepting submissions until April 29, and this year, the prize is being doubled to $20,000.

Marina Dieul, Le défi, oil on panel. Image: kingstonprize.ca

The prize is a wonderful project of the Kingston Art Council (and by the way, it’s supported by the W. Garfield Weston Foundation.)

Andrew Valko of Winnpeg won last year’s Kingston Prize with this piece, titled Personal Surveillance. Acrylic on panel.
Image: kingstonprize.ca

Portraiture is interesting for many reasons. Portraits are a true document of the times. It’s certainly not the most hip kind of art being made today – that’s what the Sobey Art Award is for – but it’s a lot more accessible to audiences than some of the cute conceptualism out there.

And when the works of 30 finalists goes on display at the Royal Ontario Museum from November 10, 2011 to January 2012, audiences will have an opportunity not only to see some outstandingly skillful works, but will also learn a lot about artists from across the country. As Oscar Wilde recognized, “Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter.”

Gerard Kuehl, Martha Otuk. Graphite. Image: kingstonprize.ca

Prior to the ROM, there will be a preview exhibition of the works in Gananoque, Ontario and in February 2012, the show will travel to Drummondville Quebec.
Looking back at submissions from past years, it’s clear that Canada boasts some astounding portrait artists.

Click HERE for the Kingston Prize website.

There’s an interesting exhibition on at Toronto’s Christopher Cutts Gallery, of works by the late, famously prolific Harold Town.

Town was a member of Canada’s Painters Eleven (more HERE), Canada’s best known group of abstract painters – circa 1953.

The exhibition is of Town’s Snap paintings from the 1970s. The works definitely have that 70s vibe, with textured earth tones in oil with Lucite on canvas and were made by snapping a string that had been drenched in paint, onto a canvas.

Many of them are, to my eye, quite unattractive, but here are some of the better ones:

Harold Town, In Memory of Emilio del Junco. Image: Cuttsgallery.com

Continue reading →

There’s a lot of movement in the Canadian art scene, with galleries opening (and closing) regularly in Toronto alone, so here are three from across Canada that I think are worth a visit.

One of Nicholas Galanin’s book sculptures. Image: nippertown.com

1. In Vancouver, Trench Gallery has recently opened – in the former Helen Pitt Gallery space – with a small, eclectic roster of artists: Jen Aitken, Nicholas Galanin, Dougal Graham (whose work I remember from Artcore in the early 2000s), Amy Mukai, Sara Robichaud, the late Vancouver painter Ron Stonier, Carrie Walker and Max Wyse.

Continue reading →

The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia will celebrate the life and art of Canada’s best known living painter with an exhibition of selected works that will showcase his prints and sketches – an important part of Colville’s practice.

Alex Colville, Family and Rainstorm, 1955. Image: cybermuse.gallery.ca

Alex Colville
Through February 20, 2011
The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia

Continue reading →

There was quite a good vibe at the art fair in Toronto this weekend. While Toronto’s fair pales in comparison to those in Miami or London or New York, it’s less useful to compare them, and better to focus on the fantastic young Canadian talent to be found.

Mike Bayne, Untitled, from the series God, Shelter, Oil Painting and Hockey, 2010. Oil on panel. Image: VoCA

The fair was divided into new, young contemporary (to the west side) and more established (and less cutting-edge contemporary, it seemed, to the east.) Among a lot of average work, there were some really good pieces on view, some of which I’ve featured here.

The dealers whom I spoke with sounded positive, particularly those in the less expensive Next section (for younger galleries). There were plenty of red dots, indicating sold works.

Continue reading →