explorations in toronto art.

I recently visited Erin Stump Projects to see my friend Vanessa Maltese’s new show, sum forms. I also wrote a profile on the space, for BlogTO.. read it here!

Anyone who knows me knows I’m a huge fan of Vanessa’s paintings. They’re a really great mix of geometric forms, curious perspective, pure colour and natural texture. I love seeing the wood show through in her work and I find it interesting to see how she is working with wood in new ways: for example, sum forms features a wood plinth with different types of wood inlaid at the top.. unusual and definitely beautiful.

The two galleries I’ve visited most recently to write profiles on, are not far away from each other physically, but they couldn’t be more different in spirit. While one is a low-or-no-budget experimental gallery housed in its co-creators’ dwelling, the other is a big, polished, gallery-slash-event-space with a catering partner.

The former, Butcher Gallery, has been around for a few years and recently moved from Queen East to Dundas and Lansdowne. The latter, Neubacher Shor Contemporary, is brand new, but one of its namesakes used to run another eponymous gallery at Yonge and Bloor in the mid-2000s. Both are interesting spaces that offer completely different experiences. Read my profiles on BlogTO, or better yet, visit them.

Some small changes are going on for me, with regards to the writing I do here. I recently started a part-time job that I’m loving, but with my new schedule writing weekly gallery profiles has presented a major balancing challenge. I’ve negotiated a less stringent schedule with my editors at BlogTO, which I’m really grateful for.

Hopefully at some point soon I’ll get back to posting more reviews on current exhibitions. There’s been a few things I really wanted to share and write about, but either never got around to, or abandoned drafts because the exhibition had ended.

It’ll continue to be a bit quiet around here while I sort out personal stuff (including celebrating my birthday! and moving to a new apartment! and going on a short holiday! eee!) but expect lots more updates by the time CONTACT rolls around…

Here is another gallery profile I wrote for BlogTO, on Galerie Lausberg, a Minimalist/Op-Art space with arms in Toronto, Düsseldorf, and Miami.

While I sort of wish I’d gotten to meet the gallery’s namesake, his partner, who helms the Toronto outpost, gave me a thorough story of the gallery’s history and its vision. Read it here!

Not strictly a gallery, but this community centre covers a lot of the bases when it comes to the arts. Though 918 Bathurst has been right under my nose in the Annex for entire near-three-year period I’ve called Palmerston Avenue home, I somehow overlooked it until my BlogTO editors sent me on assignment. Not anymore.. in addition to being an inspiring space with an awe-inspiring variety of activities and events, the fact of having one space where many different people go for their various classes, rehearsals, seminars, etc etc, is really valuable.

Worth mentioning, the centre had a little help from Lonsdale Gallery in getting the gallery portion going. While I couldn’t find an exhibition archive, it sounds like there has been a good mix of community-based exhibitions and solo shows from seasoned artists around town. I remember when I was at Ryerson and we were looking for space to house the end-of-year exhibitions, it seemed like the options for rental galleries were very sparse, so I’m glad to see another space with some flexibility.

The potential for cross-pollination is huge at 918 Bathurst, and as I watch various art forms set their sights on interdisciplinary activities, this can only be a good thing.

My profile went up yesterday—read it here.

I thought I’d seen all possible reasons for a gallery to re-brand or relaunch itself, but KWT Contemporary takes the cake: the main impetus, the way I understand it, is that proprietor Kirstyn Wong-Tam preferred to keep things transparent when she was elected to Toronto’s City Council in autumn of last year. It just proves that all kinds of people start art galleries, and some politicians do support the arts!

My profile on KWT Contemporary is went up yesterday on BlogTO. Read it here..

It was a real pleasure to visit Clint Roenisch Gallery a little while ago. Though I’ve peeked in the big front windows over the years (and seen some mighty eclectic work), I’m not sure if I had ever really taken the time to stop in for a more considered visit; sort of embarrassing since I’m often in the neighbourhood. Being neighbours with MoCCA must have some perks, and I bet one of them is the gallery-hopping bunch; Roenisch’s small, rather curious gallery would form a great counterpoint to the museum-y-ness of MoCCA.

I couldn’t help asking about the distinctive hand-lettered text that used to adorn the front window, and I’m glad I did— Roenisch told me a great story about commissioning a new font (Roenisch Regular, naturally) from designer Colin Bergh, who is known around the city for his distinctive posters, and around everywhere else for his great Final Fantasy album covers. I was a bit disappointed at first that the scribble had been wiped away, but when Roenisch gave me his card I saw the text had been immortalized in letterpress. Whew! And its replacement is just as distinctive. The bespoke font is just one of the quirks that make this gallery a fascinating place—the other, of course, is Roenisch’s vision.

My profile on the gallery was posted yesterday on BlogTO; read it here.

Lastly: This piece is my 13th profile for BlogTO. In honour of this auspicious number, I’d love to hear some feedback about the profiles. As anyone can imagine, it’s a challenge to continue writing similar pieces containing similar facts, and I want to make sure I keep the profiles interesting. So riddle me this: What would you like to know about any art gallery?

General Hardware Contemporary was one of the galleries I was really looking forward to visiting, and it didn’t disappoint. The space is stunning, and I enjoyed chatting with the director, Niki. Bonus: after I arrived, I found out that the main exhibition of paintings by Kate Wilson, was accompanied by some small works by the great Vanessa Maltese, a painter friend of mine. Neat!

The profile I wrote was posted yesterday on BlogTO. Read it here.

Not exactly from the same trip as the last profile, but certainly in the same neighbourhood: my profile on Christopher Cutts Gallery is up on BlogTO today. Read it here!

My first visit a week ago was sort of bad timing, so I ended up speaking to Christopher himself on the phone a few days later. I hope I get to meet him in person; he was really friendly, and genuinely interested in sharing his story with me. One of my favourite things about writing these pieces as regularly as I do, is that it keeps me on top of going to the galleries I want to go to. The other favourite thing is that I usually get to meet the gallerists, who are by and large a very gregarious and welcoming bunch. Which makes for good conversations, leads to interesting stories, and ultimately makes my task a little bit easier.

My profile of Meredith Keith Gallery is up today on BlogTO. Check it out here.

This place was of particular interest partly because I’m often in the Dundas West area and have been getting to know it more, and also because I had always wondered what happened to Landymore Keith Contemporary Art. Formerly at 800 Dundas West, I happened to be working at a café right next door just when the gallery was closing its doors.

At Meredith Keith’s new space, there is an opening tonight: the new show is an exhibition called “Forest” by Tania Love. It looks pretty charming and I hope I can make it. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow are a bit crazy in terms of the amount of exhibitions all opening up at the same time.. makes me wish it was bike season so I could make it to each one!

My visit to Roadside Attractions, earlier this week, was really pleasant. I can’t remember how long the place had been on my radar, but it’d been awhile since I’d been by, even though it’s not far from where I live. I met with the friendly artists Roy and Kate, who program the space under the collective name “WeSee Inc.”

The profile I wrote on the gallery is on BlogTO today. Check it out here.

As a sidenote.. I don’t know how I got so far into January without posting anything. I have a few more pieces in the pipeline right now, but for the most part January has been occupied with changing routines, catching up, reassessing, and organizing things for later. I promise to keep you posted!