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CONTACT on Queen West

Posted: May 10, 2026 in galleries
Tags: 18 Waits, Adrian Merritt Smith, Dianne Twombley, exhibit, Frances Patella, Gallery 1313, Gladstone Hotel, Gregg Thurlbeck, images, Natalie Hunter, Offshoot!, Peter Friedrichsen, photographers, photography, photos, Propeller Gallery, Ryan Bolton, Twist Gallery, Yuma Dean Hester

Exploring CONTACT exhibits along a small stretch of Queen Street West.

Gladstone Hotel

below: Two images, on the left artwork by Dianne Twombley and on the right, an image by Natalie Hunter, “Of Rust and Rays (Slater Steel)”

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Paul Petro Contemporary

below: On the upper floor of the gallery, an exhibit by Ho Tam, “Lessons 2000” (until June 6th). The photos look back to Tam’s childhood and school days in Hong Kong.

below: On the ground floor of the gallery, photos by Marlene Creates, “Selected Works from 24 Years in a Patch of Old-Growth Boreal Forest… ” (also until June 6th). The pictures show a hand in front of different types of trees in different years.

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Propeller Gallery

below: “Yellow Tree”, mixed media, burnt wood, wire, by Frances Patella

below: Small mixed media images on acrylic, also by Frances Patella

below: “Reflected”, one of the photographs taken by Peter Friedrichsen as part of his “Emergence” exhibit (until 24 May). His photos were taken at Tommy Thompson Park (once the Leslie Street Split) to help document the evolution of that space. The images were processed using pigments made from brick and charcoal gathered from the site. (My apologies but the reflections in the gallery were awkward here).

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Twist Gallery

“Before Borders”is the show at the Twist Gallery. It is a collaboration between Ryan Bolton and Yuma Dean Hester (until the end of May).

below: “Driving Back Through the Northern Rockies” (unfortunately with reflections), by Ryan Bolton

below: Somewhere along the Liard River, by Yuma Dean Hester

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18 Waits

below: 18 Waits is actually a men’s clothing store where everything is made in Toronto . Here, Adrian Merritt Smith has an exhibit titled “Retreat” that is showing until 31 May. This first picture was taken while driving through Saskatchewan.

below: Top to bottom: Dundas Valley, Kearney, and near Chatsworth (all in Ontario).

Gallery 1313

There are three shows here – first, by Gregg Thurlbeck second a group exhibit by Offshoots!, and last a small selection of the missing persons posters from New York City after 9/11.

below: Two of Gregg Thurlbeck’s images from “City for the People, Forest for the Trees”.

Offshoot! 2026 (group exhibit), until May 11th including the following:

below: Benjamin Rondel – a photo that looks like a winter scene taken from above.

below: Christine Mack with a series on urban doors (mostly Toronto and Hamilton)

below: Jude Marion

below: Lilianne Schneider, “Old Tree”

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of weeping cherries and boxing gloves

Posted: May 7, 2026 in galleries, nature
Tags: Aga Khan museum, art, boxers, CONTACT, Contact photography festival, Hassan Hajjaj, Islamic Center, magnolia blossoms, park, photography, posters, reflecting pools, serviceberry, typography, women

….. and other seemingly unrelated things

These photos were taken at Aga Khan Park where there is a CONTACT Photography Festival exhibit of images by Hassan Hajjaj (b. 1961, Morocco). The subject of these photos is Arab women boxers. The exhibit is titled, “La Salle de Gym de Femmes Arabes”

below: Front and back

I was disappointed when I realized that the photographer was male. Do we need men to tell women’s stories? Or, if these stories were told by a woman, how would they differ?

….especially with respect to this photo. Really? Yellow heart-shaped sunglasses?

It may be culturally insensitive, but I see very little to like in this photo. I don’t see strong women, I see women being erased because they have to hide behind so many layers and so many restrictions. There is no empowerment here; there is no individuality.

Yes, those are cans of food in all the borders. And yes, they are supposed to remind us of Andy Warhol’s use of Campbell soup cans.

below: This is “ALIF” by Acil Benamara. It is part of “Inner Structures – Outer Rhythms” which is an exhibit showcasing contemporary Arabic and Persian graphic design and typography. The rest of the exhibit is inside the museum.

below: A fox among the serviceberry trees.

The magnolias were also in bloom.

Myth and Legend

Posted: April 20, 2026 in galleries
Tags: AGO, Art Gallery of Ontario, boats, David Blackwood, etchings, Flora S. Nickerson, icebergs, print, printmaker, Rostellan

Prints by Canadian artist David Blackwood at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Blackwood (1941-2022) was born and raised in Newfoundland. This retrospective exhibit features more than eighty of his prints and drawings. Most of the prints are etchings. In a couple of cases, a series of prints shows the development of a finished piece. The images are very much Newfoundland and Labrador with sailing ships and large icebergs playing a big role. There are lots of people in boats!

below: “Passing Under the Rostellan”, 2013, etching and aquaprint. The final copies had a reddish sky.

below: “Wedding on Deer Island”, 2020, etching, aquatint & watercolour.

below: “The Flora Nickerson in the Labrador Sea”. The Flora S. Nickerson was a schooner owned by the Blackwood family. David Blackwood’s father and grandfather were mariners as were many other ancestors. This boat appears in many of Blackwood’s prints – a boat that he sailed on many times as a child.

below: “The Great Peace of Brian and Martin Winsor”, 1985

below: If you look closely at the bottom portion of the above image, I think that you get a better look at the two Winsor men (and their rifles)…..

below: …But if you check the details at the top of the print, you find a small empty boat – presumably belonging to the men. There is certainly a story being told here!

This fascinating exhibit is still on (as I type this) and will continue until 26 July 2026.

Children of Europe

Posted: April 15, 2026 in galleries
Tags: black and white, children, Chim, David Seymour, Europe, Image Centre, photography, post war, TMU, UNESCO

The previous post, Face of Time, was about the recent Magnum Photos exhibit at TMU’s Image Centre. There was another exhibit of post war photographs that was shown at the same time. This second set were taken by David “Chim” Seymour (a co-founder of Magnum Photos) and they feature some of the 13,000,000 orphaned or abandoned European children. His work was commissioned by UNESCO and took him to Germany, Austria, Italy, Greece, Poland, and Hungary. Seymour was Polish, born Dawid Szymin (1911-1956); he died in Egypt at the close of the Suez Crisis.

below: Some of David Seymour’s photos ended up in the UNESCO publication “Courier”. This is the front cover of the February 1949 edition, with the headline ‘The Children of Europe’. The photo was taken in a Warsaw orphanage. The printed story starts with: “Europe is a stone wilderness and the smoke which has since long lifted from the last war still discloses a shattered continent. Where it is not shattered physically, it is hurt within its mind and its courage for life. The child groping his way out of the ruins must make his way to life now in this Europe.”

below: “Millions of children first knew life amid death and destruction.”

below: Rehab hospital, Vienna Austria

below: We can also make clothes for ourselves, and we’ll learn to print our own books.”

below: Ionanina Greece

below: Tuberculosis Sanitorium, Otwock Poland

“Children of Europe” is online on a UNESCO website

Face of Time

Posted: April 11, 2026 in galleries
Tags: Dalmatia, documentary, Erich Lessing, Ernest Haas, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Image Centre, Inge Morath, Jean Marquis, Mahatma Gandhi, Marc Riboud, monochrome, photography, Robert Capa, TMU

Face of Time, or in German, Gesicht der Zeit, was a photography exhibition that was shown in Europe in 1955. Afterwards, it was packed away and forgotten in an Innsbruck basement for fifty years. The participating photographers were early members of Magnum Photos, a collective of documentary photographers that had been formed in 1947. A selection of these images have been used to create a renewed ‘Face of Time’ and features photos by Robert Capa, Jean Marquis, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Erich Lessing, Inge Morath, Marc Riboud, and Ernst Haas.

below: By Erich Lessing (1923-2018), Vienna Boys Choir 1955.

below: Ernest Haas (1921-1986). Haas was the on-set photographer for 1955 film ‘Land of the Pharaohs’ that was filmed in Egypt.

below: Jean Marquis (1926-2019), both pictures taken in Hungary in 1954

below: Henri Cartier-Bresson’s (1908-2004) photos of Mahatma Gandhi

“To take a photograph is to align the head, the eye and the heart. It’s a way of life.”
– Henri Cartier-Bresson

below: Marc Riboud (1923-2016), photos taken in Dalmatia region of Yugoslavia (now Croatia) – scenes of post-war rural life, working in the fields, spinning wool, and meeting at a cattle market.

below: A few images taken by the lone woman photographer in the exhibit, Inge Morath (1923-2002) – all taken in London England.

below: And last, but not least, by Robert Capa. He died in 1954 when he stepped on a landmine in Vietnam while working on a feature for “life” magazine. The photo show here is a village festival in Basque country.

Originally shown at the TMU Image Centre at the end of 2025, it remained until 4th April of this year. Unfortunately the exhibit is now over and the centre is closed while it prepares for next month’s exhibits. May has been CONTACT Photography Festival month here in Toronto for quite a few years now and one of the events is a showing by the previous years winner of the Scotiabank Photography Award at the TMU Image Centre. Last year’s winner, and this this year’s feature photographer is Dawit L. Petros.

Sir Paul, his photos, and his band

Posted: March 26, 2026 in galleries
Tags: AGO. Art Gallery of Ontario, Beatles, George Harrison, history, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, photography, photos, Ringo Starr

One of the latest exhibits at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) is a collection of photographs and videos from 1964. But not just any photos. This collection features the Beatles and centers on their first visit to the USA in 1964. The videos are famous ones – the interview at the airport when they first arrived in New York City as well as videos from their performance on the Ed Sullivan Show. Sprinkled throughout the exhibit are a number of pictures that Paul McCartney took – pictures of the paparazzi that followed them, of the people and crowds that they encountered, the other Beatles, as well as a few of the cities around them.

below: A series of three selfies that McCartney took in Paris in 1964. The bathroom mirror technique?

below: John Lennon, Paris, 1964, taken by Paul McCartney

below: George Harrison, NYC, 1964

below: Slide show of colour photos of the Beatles taken in Miami in 1964

below: One wall was devoted to a “contact sheet” style of print. Most of them were from their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in New York City, February 1964.

below: Watching the video taken at the airport when they first arrived in New York City, 1964

below: New York City views

There was a small section of the exhibit that showed some video from when the Beatles played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

The exhibit continues until 7 June 2026

protest and remembrance in fabric

Posted: January 8, 2026 in galleries
Tags: 401 Richmond, A Space Gallery, Andrea Idrobo, art, fabric, Mario Benedetti, poetry, protest, remembrance

Displayed in one of the halls of 401 Richmond, were some relatively small pieces of fabric art. Small in size, but big in story. They were all the product of a workshop, “Stitching Resilience: Tatreez–Arpillera Dialogues which was held at A Space Gallery, at the end of May (a few months ago). My apologies for not noting the names of the women who created these.

below: A woven artwork by Andrea Idrobo with an anatomical drawing of a human heart as the centerpiece.

Handprints. The words “50 Anos y Donde Están?” are embroidered on red; they translate to “50 years and where are they?”. Arpilleras are a traditional form of Chilean textile art and they have been used to denounce human rights abuses during the Pinochet dictatorship. The piece features appliqued hands and a flame, to convey its message of protest or remembrance of those who died or disappeared. Augusto Pinochet came to power after a military coup in 1973. The dictatorship ended in 1990 when democratic elections were held and Pinochet lost.

The words are from “Por qué cantamos” by Mario Benedetti (1920-2009). He was a poet/novelist/journalist from Uruguay.

words printed on white fabric in a fabric artwork

Cantamos por el nino y porque todo y porque algun futuro y porque el peublo cantamos porque los sobreviviantes y nuestros muertos quieren que cantemos We sing for the child and for everything and for some future and for the people we sing because the survivors and our dead want us to sing Cantamos porque el grito no es bastante y no es bastante el llanto ni la bronca cantamos porque creemos en la gente y porque veneremos la derrota We sing because shouting isn’t enough, nor is crying or anger enough; we sing because we believe in people and because we venerate defeat.

cocinamos para saciar el hambe – we cook to satisfy our hunger

part of the text printed on fabric from an artwork, detailing the Plan Condor, Santiago in 1975, 50th anniversary

En noviembre 1975, representantes de los regimenes de Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay y Uruguay reunidos en Santiago de Chile, establecieron el Plan Condor . La red transnacional de Condor permitia a las dictaduras apuntar especificamente a personas exiliadas que habian huido de su pais de origen y continuaban denunciando desde el extranjero a los gobiernos dictoriales en el poder
In November 1975, representatives of the regimes of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay, meeting in Santiago, Chile, established Operation Condor. The transnational Condor network allowed the dictatorships to specifically target exiles who had fled their countries of origin and continued to denounce the dictatorial governments in power from abroad.

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.