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Archive for the ‘galleries’ Category

along the St. Lawrence

Posted: July 7, 2025 in galleries, history
Tags: 401 Richmond, albumen, Alexander Henderson, Artspace TMU, Dawson Cox, history, photographers, photography, photos

In 1869, Canadian photographer Alexander Henderson (1831-1913) was commissioned to take a series of photos along the route of the new Grand Trunk Railway between Montreal and Toronto. These images were for a travel book, “All-round Route Guide” to sell to tourists and settlers along the route. This Montreal to Toronto section followed the north shore of the St. Lawrence for most of its route. The railway had opened in 1856 and more routes had been added (to Portland Maine! to Sarnia!) or were planned.

below: Lumberer’s Shanty, Lievre River, Quebec, before 1865

A recent exhibit at Artspace TMU (at 401 Richmond) showcased albumen prints of some of Henderson’s photos along with photos taken by Dawson Cox. All of Cox’s images were mounted on particle board. The exhibit was titled, “Like the Seams of a Coat”.

below: Camera store, corner of Clark and St Antoine, Montreal.

below: Victoria Square, Montreal, about 1872

below: Group shot

below: Group shot, 1870s style – G. Company of 78th Highlanders, taken by Alexander Henderson

Coat seams are usually hidden but they are essential to holding everything together. Important yet unseen.

below: Cox’s photo of torn graffiti on an old brick wall

below: Lake, Saint Bruno Mountain, Quebec, before 1865

old photo of a lake and st Bruno Mountain in Quebec, 1860s

photo of a stuffed fox, mounted standing on all fours and seeming to walk

below: L’Anse a l’Eau, Saguenay River, Quebec, 1868

old black and white photo, a lone scrawny pine tree on a rock overlooking the Saguenay River in Quebec, with village below, village of L'Anse a L'Eau

oak trees and pin holes

Posted: July 6, 2025 in abstract, galleries
Tags: 401 Richmond, ASpace Gallery, Lisa Murzin, photography, pinhole camera, trees

Back in June at ASpace Gallery (one of the galleries at 401 Richmond West), there was an exhibit that was also part of an MFA in DocMedia thesis. Part of the exhibit consisted of photographs made with a pinhole camera. These cameras were mounted on various parts of an old oak tree. The exhibit can also be viewed as a look at the relationship between the photographer, Lisa Murzin, and an old oak tree. If trees could communicate, what would they say? What do they see and how do they view the world?

Whatever you think of the premise of the project, the images from the pinhole camera are intriguing.

drops of rain
the river’s thread
left behind
a stream of water maneuvers the crevice

nuns and weddings…

Posted: June 15, 2025 in galleries
Tags: bride, CONTACT, Contact photography festival, couples, film, groom, history, images, nuns, photography, portraits, TMU Image Centre, weddings

… and a few things more from TMU Image Centre exhibits.

First, the main gallery of the Image Centre is showing a collection of the work of Clara Gutsche, winner of the 2024 ScotiabankCONTACT Photography award. One of her series features photos of Quebec nuns, “The Convent Series”, taken before 1999. Hence “nuns” in my title – The “weddings” in the title comes from another exhibit here – a collection of portraits of brides and grooms over the years.

There are other series of her work also on view including some taken inside a Catholic high school.

This is only a small sample of Gutsche’s work. You can see more at the Image Centre until 2nd August 2025 – The originals look better than my copies!!

Let’s move on to the happy couples….

“Something Old; Something New – The Wedding Photography Collection of Stephen Bulger and Catherine Lash” is the full title of the exhibit. The title says it all. The exhibit gives a glimpse into the history of photography and the techniques used to produce images. It also takes a look at a sliver of social history… especially with respect to clothing styles. All the photos were donated to the Image Centre by Bulger and Lash in 2023.

below: “Meilleurs Vaux pour votre Bonheur”, 5th of Jan, 1910

Unfortunately the exhibit has ended.

Garden dreaming

Posted: May 30, 2025 in galleries
Tags: art, Emmanuel Osahor, etchings, gardens, paintings, power plant, Power Plant Contemporary Art, To Dream of Other Places

“To Dream of Other Places” is an art installation by Emmanuel Osahor that is now showing at the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery. All pieces have ties to a garden in one way or another.

The exhibit starts with a seven etchings in a series titled “A Chair Outside”. Using different techniques, Osahor presents his version of different garden scenes that he is familiar with – gardens in which he has found solace.

Etchings are made using metal plates covered with an acid-resistant substance (usually wax). An image is created by removing sections of the wax and then subjecting the plates to acid. The acid will eat away the exposed metal. When the plate is then used to make a print, the exposed areas remain white. That’s a very simplistic description of the process because I know that there are lots of videos on the internet that can explain it much better!

The main part of the exhibit is a large room with walls that have been painted, floor to ceiling, in a fairly abstract garden scene predominantly in blue tones. This sets the scene, a night garden.

Several large paintings of garden scenes hang on the blue walls.

There is a second series of small etchings as well. More gardens, but this time based on visits to National Trust gardens in the UK.

My usual warning – these photos are pictures of pictures in a gallery setting. The real thing is much better. The paintings are bigger – a bigger experience and a bigger visual impact.

Osahor’s paintings and etchings are on display until mid September 2025.

domes and circles in the park

Posted: May 16, 2025 in events, galleries, locations
Tags: Aga Khan Park, architecture, butterfly, cherry trees, CONTACT, Contact photography festival, crochet, Form and Light, Glenn McArthur, Hope and Healing Canada, park, photography, photos, Tracey_mae Chambers

From now until early September, there are two outdoor art installations at the Aga Khan Museum. First, “Muqarnas, Form and Light” is a photography exhibit in Aga Khan Park that showcases the images of muqarnas taken by Glenn McArthur.

Muqarnas are three dimensional details found in Islamic architecture especially in mosques and madrassas (schools). They are usually found incorporated into the top of vaulted structures such as domes and doorways. Often they look like honeycombs. They can be made of many different materials such as stone, stucco, and plaster.

below: From the Abd Al-Aziz Khan Madrassa in Bukhara, Uzbekistan, is this painted plaster muqarna. The blue and gold representing the sky is at the top.

below: And a closer look at the painted details. It was originally built in 1652 and then restored in 1993.

below: A carved stone muqarna covers a portal in the Al Rifa-i Mosque in Cairo, Egypt, built in 1912.

below: Decorated in dark blues and gold, this muqarna is found in the funerary complex commission by Çoban Mustafa Pasa, the vizier and son-in-law of Ottoman Sultan Selim 1 who reigned 1512 to 1520. It is in Gebze Turkey.

below: Stucco muqarnas arches in the Court of the Lions at Alhambra Palace, Grenada Spain, late 14th century.

below: Close up look at part of a wooden muqarna from the Cappella Palantina (Palatine Chapel) in Palermo, Sicily (Italy). Although it was commissioned by a Christian monarch, Roger II of Sicily (reigned 1130-1154), it includes Byzantine and Islamic elements. Roger II was also a Norman but during his reign Sicily was very multicultural. It is a rare example of a muqarna in a non-Islamic building and is the oldest surviving wood muqarna.

More of McArthur’s muqarna images can be seen on his Instagram page – mcmuqarnas

Also outside, but on the other side of the museum is another art installation.

This one is the work of Tracey-May Chambers and it is constructed with red wool, silk, and cotton yarn. It consists of a circle made of connected knit and crocheted circles and within that circle there is a butterfly waiting to emerge.

It is one of 100 installations that Chambers is doing across the country for Hope And Healing Canada. The red yard connects the elements and is a reminder that we are all connected too.

Both the “Light and Form” exhibit and Chambers’ crochet installation will remain until 7 September 2025.

Phase in my Journey

Posted: May 14, 2025 in events, galleries
Tags: art, black and white, CONTACT, Contact photography festival, infrared, Japanese Canadian cultural Center, photography, Vegas, Walter Borchenko

“Phase in my Journey” is the title of an exhibit of the wonderful black and white photography of Walter Borchenko. The photos span 20 years of his craft including his work with filters, with infrared photography, and with minimal digital manipulation.

below: Grassy Brook, Talbot River Road, Kawartha Lakes Ontario

below: Look Left cross walk, Birmingham England

below: Wet tables, Las Ramblas, Barcelona

below: One of the reflecting pools at the Aga Khan Museum.

below: On the left, Leather Jacket, New York City. On the right, an intentionally out of focus city scene – a little disorienting, full of motion and uncertainty.

All of the images are printed on hand-made Awagami Japanese paper.

below: Hong Kong ferry terminal

below: New York New York casino in Las Vegas in the foreground.

below: The larger picture on the left is the Airport Long Distance Train Station in Frankfort Germany. On the right, is an older house in Port Royal, South Carolina.

below: Not a Borchenko photo! The exhibit is being held at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Center. Outside, they have the oldest Sakura tree that I have ever seen. It has large, dense, gorgeous blossoms!

Exhibit closes 30th June

photos at College Park

Posted: May 13, 2025 in events, galleries
Tags: Aden Camera, Aidan Samuels, College Park, Divyani Chandorkar, Nautica Simone, Nim Mendoza, paintings, photography, Sunny Chan, Winson Sun

I went to College Park in search of a CONTACT Photography Festival exhibit. To me, College Park has always been a place where people pass through on their way to somewhere else. If they linger it’s to grab a bite to eat from the food court or from the grocery store.

I’ve never spent much time looking around inside so I wandered around a bit. I couldn’t find any space/place where there might be a photo exhibit.

I found a small group of paintings by Divyani Chandorkar in a small, out of the way corner by an elevator. Interesting, but not what I was after.

After a chat with a security guard and a little more walking around, I discovered that the photos were being displayed outside! They are in a public space immediately south of the College Park building- between the College Park and Aura buildings. Here, they become part of the environment.

photograph of young woman from behind, mounted on a metal fence to which a bike has been locked

by Aidan Samuels

photo of a couple standing facing each other with arms wrapped around each other

Photo by Hikari Creatives (aka Winson Sun) who specialize in wedding and engagement photos.

by Sunny Chan

The exhibit is presented by the Downtown Yonge BIA and Aden Camera.

by Nim Mendoza

portrait of a young man with cornrows braided into his black hair, wearing black glasses, diamond stud earring,

by Nautica Simone

by Aidan Samuels

by Nim Mendoza

This large bunny and butterfly were there too!

Other photographers involved in the show: Rob Burns, Maryn Western, and Eden Schwinghamer.

hanging on the walls of Hart House

Posted: April 29, 2025 in galleries
Tags: Albert Huang, Asian Art and Culture Trust, Auden Cole, Cosmo Chan, David Williams, Fangdan Chen, Gerald Lerchbaumer, Hart House, Hart House Camera Club, Interwoven Identities, Jacob Lee, Jasmine Lu, Ongphat Piyabenjarad, photography, photos, Phoung Nguyen, Reginald Balanga, Sarah Jihae Kaye

Hart House, at the University of Toronto, has two photography exhibitions on at the moment. Both are in hallways and both are open to the public.

Please remember that these are photos of pictures behind glass – don’t judge the quality of the image on display by the quality of the photo here on the blog! As usual, the real thing always looks better.

The first is “Interwoven Identities, Unraveling Diaspora Narratives” with the goal of tracing “the threads of memory, migration, and identity that shape Asian diasporic experiences and mental health.” This quote is taken from the Asian Art and Culture Trust website.

below: Fangdan Chen’s photo seems like a collage of many different kinds of faces, some natural and some not.

below: A photograph by Sarah Jihae Kaye titled, “I’ve Begun to Distrust my Body”.

below: “Gourd” by Phoung Nguyen

below: “Imagined Ricefields” by Reginald Balanga – a barren winter scene that is possibly as far away from any rice field as possible.

The second floor hallway has an exhibit that features work by the Hart House Camera Club. The winners of the 103rd Annual contest, in 9 categories. A sample below. If your favorite photo isn’t here, don’t take it personally, it’s probably because I had trouble with reflections in the glass of many of them.

below: Cosmo Chan “Home”

below: “Gently” by Jacob Lee

below: A surreal blue scene by Ongphat Piyabenjarad titled, “Parallel Worlds”

below: “Veiled” by Jasmine Lu, part of a photographic essay.

below: A young man sitting on a bench in what might be a bus shelter. This is “How to Start your Digital Detox” by Gerald Lerchbaumer.

below: Albert Huang, “Camel Man”

below: “The Strongman” by David Williams.

below: Playing with reflections, in another David Williams photo. Who is watching who?

below: Auden Cole “Phone Hunch”

The Hart House Camera Club exhibits ends 30th of April.

The “Interwoven Identities” show continues until 18th May. If you are interested in the subject, there is another exhibit at the STACKT Market during the month of May called “Interwoven Identities: Healing in Community” – information at the Asian Arts and Culture website.

Light Years and Modernism

Posted: March 19, 2025 in galleries
Tags: AGO, art, Art Gallery of Ontario, drawings, General Idea, Gerhard Richter, Jeff Wall, paintings, people, photography, Robert Motherwell, Robert Rauschenbrg, Rodney Graham, William Kentridge

A quick, and very selective, look at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), focusing on two exhibits, “Light Years, the Phil Lind Gift” and “Moments in Modernism”.

below: Rodney Graham, “Media Studies ’77” . This large installation (lit from behind) will bring back memories if you are of a certain age!

below: Welcome to Vancouver

below: A series of images by General Idea (There are actually 4 pieces in this series). General Idea was a group of 3 Canadian artists, Felix Partz (aka Ronald Gabe), Jorge Zontal (aka Slobodan Saia-Levy) and AA Bronson (aka Michael Tims). The three men met in Toronto in the late 1960s; their collaborative work then continued until the mid 1990s. They were pioneers in the field of conceptual photography.

below: William Kentridge, “Drawing for Another Country, Flooded Street”, 1994. Kentridge was born in South Africa in 1955)

below: “River Road” by Canadian photographer Jeff Wall. The photo was taken along the Fraser River in Richmond BC and was taken in 1994. It is shown here as a transparency over a lightbox so that it is lit from behind.

The “Moments in Modernism” exhibit is a re-working of artworks owned by the AGO. Some of you may have seen one or two pieces before.

below: “Delta Tau” by Morris Louis, 1960.

below: “Abstraktes Bild”, 1986, by Gerhard Richter (b. Dresden Germany 1932).

below: I have seen this before (and possibly shown it here?) and I like it as much as ever. It takes a certain amount of audacity or gumption to create a painting like this. Robert Motherwell painted this – title: “Open No.37A: in Orange”, 1971, charcoal and acrylic.

below: Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008), mixed media on panel, 1964 (only part of it is shown). Rauschenberg made pieces like these that he called ‘combines’ and they were for stage decorations for performances by an experimental dance group (Merce Cunninham Dance Group). In 1963 they did a world tour called “Story”where they made a different ‘combine’ for each performance. This particular piece was made onstage at London’s Phoenix Theatre in August, 1964.

The modernism exhibit is more extensive than I have made it seem. I didn’t take many pictures of pieces that I had seen before which may or may not have been the right call. Andy Warhol’s large silkscreen image of the 4 identical Elvis Presley’s holding a gun ready to shoot is on display – the one where two Elvis’s are in bright colours and the other two are in black and white. You can also see Alex Colville’s “Woman in a Bathtub” if you want (I think that it is the worst of Colville’s otherwise wonderful paintings). In addition, there are works by Canadian artist Rita Letendre and Norval Morisseau, plus others.

Light Years continues until November 2025,
while Modernism continues until March 2026 (another year)

all about Murray

Posted: March 16, 2025 in galleries
Tags: art, drawing, Gallery 1313, life drawing, painting, portraits

This past week there was an exhibit at Gallery 1313 that paid tribute to Murray McKay. Murray started modeling for college level life drawing classes in the 1990s. Between then and his passing in 2024, he had a large impact on Toronto’s art community. More than forty artists contributed their drawings or paintings of Murray to the exhibit which was simply titled “Murray”.