I came across the work of artist Julie Gladstone when I was perusing the aisles of the Artist Project for potential artists to showcase on Artbomb. Artist Julie Gladstone. All images: VoCA I immediately liked the unconventional colour in her work, lots of pale minty colours jolted alive with fluorescent spray paint and then brought together with strips of striped
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I visited artist Josh Malcolm in his studio this afternoon. His large oils on canvas were everywhere, and I found them very intriguing. They are very high energy – Malcolm says he’s inspired by European and American expressionist painting. But they’re quite different, and quite challenging. At first glance, they looked, to me very modern…but sort of unfinished. In the
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The other day, I stopped in at the studio of Toronto artist Francisco Gomez. A detail from Empire of Dust, Macca, 2009. All images: VoCA Born in Caracas Venezuela, he moved to Canada in 1991 and studied at OCAD. Gomez generally works in ink and pastel on mylar – an unusual combination that Gomez tells me is difficult, since the
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I stopped by the studio of young painter Rob Davidovitz the other afternoon. Rob doesn’t paint in the traditional sense, though. Instead he uses paint to create these textile/painting hybrids. A woven painting by Rob Davidovitz. All images: VoCA He mixes paint colours in a kind of pastry tube (more on that below) and squeezes it out in long lines,
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The Work Ahead of Us The Québec Triennial 2011 at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal 7 October 2011 – 3 January 2012 This review is by Kingston, Ontario-based VoCA contributor Catherine Toews. Claudie Gagnon, Tableaux (To Beauty) (video still), 2011. Vidéogramme, son, environ 20 min. Collection de l’artiste. Image: macm.org I had the good fortune of visiting and writing
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I came across a quote from the YBA godfather, Michael Craig-Martin in the Financial Times recently. Speaking about the practice of being an artist, he says, “What interests me is the part of you that you are stuck with, that you can’t control, and it comes out whatever. That’s infinitely more profound: you are who you are, even when you
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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
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A reader recommended to us this article about an art exhibit that was on view at Toronto gallery Board of Directors a few weeks ago. Wishing to explore the issues that artists face in regard to government funding, artist Maria Flawia Litwin wrote numerous rejection letters and sent them off to Canadian museums and even the Canada Council for the
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Chamber Music: Mixed media works by Kenny Lee August 12 – 23, 2009 Launch Projects, Toronto We’ve been noticing, over the past few years, that more artists are looking at objects from varying perspectives. Barbara Probst, “Exposure #34A: N.Y.C., Central Park, Umpire Rock, 06.14.05, 6:34 p.m. ,” 2005. Image: twi-ny.com Barbara Probst’s excellent photographs tackle an event from numerous points
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The RBC Canadian Painting Competition, a barometer of emerging painters from across the country, has announced this year’s shortlist. Eli Bornowsky, Untitled 2008. Image: front.bc.ca
Andrea Carson writes on contemporary art, architecture and design...