explorations in toronto art.

On Friday I went to the openings of the new exhibitions at LE Gallery, “The Roving Iconist” by Bogdan Luca and “Sheltered” by Megan McCabe. Both young painters working mainly in oils, whom I’ve written about before and whose work seems to keep popping up around town, never cease to impress me. Given style and subject matter, they are an odd pairing, but it is mastery over the materials (a common theme at LE, and quickly becoming the surest way to my art-heart) that unites their oeuvres. Luca’s large-scale paintings had a certain news-photo-montage look, with helmeted figures building, labouring, and plotting away. The strict blue and magenta colour palette that Luca uses adds a separation of time, putting me in mind of tinted or monochromatic historical images. The lightness of his washes and bright drips sweeping down the canvases seems sinister, though. A sense of strategy pervades the exhibition and the figures seem caught in the cycles of creation and destruction.

McCabe’s oil paintings are a little more idyllic, mainly images of leisure or wandering in natural settings. Similar to her exhibition last summer (also at LE), the paintings held a nostalgic perspective, but this time the figures’ frolicking was tempered even more by a deep, dark colour palette and a certain distance afforded by the loose, active brushwork. One painting in particular, Waterfall, seemed like McCabe setting off in a new direction. The lines were more aggressive, the impasto thicker, and the situation more ambiguous.

To dismiss them as simply straight representations of upper-middle-class Canadian leisure activities would be missing the point. Most of the works featured a structure of some type or other—hence the title “Sheltered.” These ranged from the futuristic-looking domes of modern tents clustered together, to a crude lean-to made of sticks, the type often constructed and forgotten by kids at play. The human urge to build even the simplest hut, as a marker of civilization, conquest, or comfort, is an idea that underpins the exhibition, and reminds me how easy it can be to feel at home in the wilderness with just a tent, a backpack, and a few necessities. Good timing, since I am finally heading to the woods this weekend.

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!

The talk of the Toronto art world for some time now, The Power Plant has finally reopened after its two-month closure for renovations, which they dubbed the “Refresh” Project. Coupled with some staffing changes—the arrival of new curator Melanie O’Brian, and the much-speculated-over departure of director Gregory Burke—all this news and gossip almost overshadowed the exhibitions!

I interviewed Burke and assistant curator Jon Davies about the changes taking place, and of course, the exhibitions. Read the resulting piece here in Magenta Magazine.. and be sure to check out the Power Plant’s new website. It’s no Ciel Variable, but it sure is an improvement.

As for the exhibitions, my feelings are mixed, having now actually seen them (as opposed to when I wrote the piece in February). Phantom Truck and Always After (The Glass House) form a really nice minimalist counterpoint to the in-your-face Das Auge, which is overwhelming (although it left me underwhelmed.) Topping it off is To What Earth Does This Sweet Cold Belong?, an excellently curated, modest meditation on the mediated landscape. Definitely worth seeing.

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..

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!

One of my favourites of all the galleries I’ve profiled so far (this one is number 8, holy moly!), Telephone Booth is a small gallery in the Junction/Little Malta area. The space is focused on showing up-and-coming artists, and much of the work shown so far has reflected the growing popularity of fine craft, oil painting, and textile art.

My profile was posted yesterday on BlogTO— read it here.

Four Directions is a video installation featuring work by three established Canadian artists, Isabelle Hayeur, Val Klassen, and Dana Claxton. It also features a clip from Werner Herzog‘s seminal film, Lessons of Darkness. What do these have to do with each other? And why is the exhibition at the Evergreen Brickworks, a centrally located (yet appealingly isolated) eco-community centre? Though it’s most famous for its storied past as a relic of Toronto’s early industries, and then as a clandestine party spot, and now well-loved for its family-friendly weekend farmer’s market, it seems an unlikely place for a video installation.

I visited earlier in autumn, and wrote a review— out today in the winter edition of Magenta Magazine, found online here.

Though it’s a bit of a scattered viewing experience, the videos projected down the kiln tunnels are a singular sight, not to be missed. The exhibition continues until December 31, 2010. If anyone else visits or has seen it already, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Labspace is different than your average gallery. Actually, it’s almost a disservice to just call them a gallery, because their activities include a lot more than exhibiting art.

I visited them a while ago, but the profile I wrote is up today on BlogTO.

It was a real pleasure to visit the space and meet its directors, Laura Mendes and John Loerchner. Their enthusiasm, and their ambition to do carve out their own trail, was truly inspiring. Definitely one to watch..

My latest gallery profile, on the new incarnation of Whippersnapper Gallery, is out today on BlogTO! Read it here.

Whippersnapper and I go way back— I showed some 2nd-year work in their winter showcase, “Art for Chilled Hearts,” way back in January 2008. Ok, so it’s not THAT long ago.. but it feels like forever! Their new space is a huge change, and they’ve also been granted artist-run centre status by the Ontario Arts Council. Check out the new spot.. it’s in a category all its own.

(Please note, the profile on BlogTO is an update of a previous post, so there are some out-of-date comments.)