Archive for the ‘galleries’ Category

Picturing the Americas

Posted: July 30, 2015 in galleries
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Landscape paintings depicting scenes from the top of North America to the tip of South America
are on display at the Art Gallery of Ontario until Sept 2015.   The collection centers on just over 100 works that were painted between the early 1800s and the eary 1900s.

7 or 8 people in an art gallery looking at paintings that are hanging on the walls

below:  part of a painting, ‘Montmorency Falls’ by Guido Carmignani (Parma Italy 1838-1909)
oil on canvas,  1869

close up of part of a painting - Montmorency Falls by Guido Carmignani 1869, Italian hunters at the base of the falls (even though they are in Quebec) in summer time.

below: Fall Plowing, by Grant Wood (b. and d. Iowa USA),  1931, oil on canvas

painting on a wall in an art gallery of fields being harvested by Grant Wood

 

A man is looking at a wall of paintings. The wall is painted red. It is in an art gallery

close up of part of a painting including part of the intricately carved frame. THree men getting into a boat at the edge of a river

 below: part of “The Sidewheeler, the ‘City of St. Paul’ on the Mississippi River, Dubuque Iowa”
by Alfred Thompson Bricher (American), oil on canvas,  1872

close up of part of an oil painting showing an old paddle wheel steam boat on a river

Water’s Edge

Posted: July 25, 2015 in galleries, locations
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Water’s Edge
A Pan-American photography exhibit
produced by No.9: Contemporary Art & the Environment.

Two venues are involved, Union Station and Pearson Airport.  The photos below represent a sample of the photos on show at Union Station.

 

below: Bridge Glacier, British Columbia 2012, by James Balog, part of his study of vanishing glaciers.

large photographs, part of an exhibit at Union Station in Toronto -

below: Two black and white photographs by Sebastiao Salgado,
part of a photographic project titled ‘Genesis’.
One aim of ‘Genesis’ was to examine “the fragile beauty and grandeur of nature”.

large photographs, part of an exhibit at Union Station in Toronto -

below:  ‘The Anavilhanas’ taken in Amazonas Brazil, 2009 by Sebastiao Salgado.
Located on the Rio Negro, the Anivilhanas Archipelago is the world’s largest fresh water archipelago.  It is an unique ecosystem with over 400 river islands spread over 90 km.  The Rio Negro is 27 km at its widest point. During the rainy season (November to April) many of these islands are underwater.

large black and white photograph, part of an exhibit at Union Station in Toronto -

below: ‘Sarnia’ by Gustavo Jononovich, taken in Sarnia, from his “Free Shipping” series.

large photographs, part of an exhibit at Union Station in Toronto -

below: ‘Georgian Bay #1, Four Winds’, Point-au-Baril, Ontario  2009, by Edward Burtynsky.
This picture is part of his Water Series, a series that looks at changing water systems around the world as well as the relationship that we have with these water systems.

large photographs, part of an exhibit at Union Station in Toronto -

The exhibit ends on the 15th of August.

#myhomewaters

Warhol on Bloor Street

Posted: July 3, 2015 in galleries
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Andy Warhol Revisited
presented by Revolver Gallery,
on display at 77 Bloor St. West

below:  Three Andy Warhol’s watch the passersby on Bloor Street.

statues of Andy Warhol, one pink, one yellow and one blue, in a window of an art gallery, He's dressed in black, with black rimmed glasses and his hands are folded over his chest in all three statues. Life sized.

below:  Three prints from Warhol’s Mohammad Ali series

Two women are sitting ona silver couch in an art gallery. On the wall in front of them are 3 silkscreen Andy Warhol prints of Mohammad Ali.

 below:  Iconic Campbells soup cans on black and white stripes.  To the left, a young Lucille Ball and a young Ronald Regan amongst other cultural references.

prints of three Campbells soup cans on a black and white striped wall, cheddar cheese, old fashioned vegetable, and hot dog bean. To the left a woman is looking at other Andy Warhol prints on a wall including a print of Mickey Mouse, Lucille Ball and a young Ronald Regan.

below:  Prints from Warhol’s Cowboys and Indians series.

Some of Warhol's Cowboys and Indians series prints hang on a gallery wall as two young Asian men walk past. There is also a couple sitting on a silver coloured couch in the right side of the photo.

The exhibition continues until the end of December 2015 although apparently a new set of pictures will be shown starting sometime in October.

A collage of photos of Andy Warhol, many photos, about 100 or more

part picture, part ?

Posted: May 28, 2015 in galleries
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Part Picture,
an exhibit at MOCCA,
part of CONTACT Photography Festival

Like the introduction of film photography once usurped the role of painters and engravers, the introduction of digital photography has supplanted the photographer of old.  We are all photographers now.  A smartphone.  A little bit of software.  And presto, you have a picture.   Many, many bazillions of pictures.  Photography excels at visually telling stories, documenting events or capturing a moment in time either with a single image or in a series of photos.  The expression ‘a picture paints a thousand words’ comes to mind.  Even a blurry selfie says something.

Photography has always had an uneasy relationship with art (with the fine art, visual artsy stuff in particular).  This art, while also visual, often has a slightly different focus.  It too aims to elicit emotions and reactions but no one expects an artwork to document or to tell a story albeit some do.  But art too is in flux (and probably has been for a while).   What hasn’t already been done?  What rules are left to break?

So what’s a photographer to do?

 

pictures on a gallery wall. the picture in the foreground has 4 coloured wires protruding from it, 2 yellow and 2 red.

Part of the description of this exhibit states: “placing photography in conversation with other artistic mediums – particularly painting and sculpture – to create hybrid works that are only part picture”.

pictures on an art gallery wall. In the middle of the room is a large roll of photographic paper that has been developed with streaks of colour. It hangs from the ceiling and lays on the floor.

Experiments with chemicals on photographic paper; experiments with photoshop artifacts as part of the image;  experiments with how one frames or hangs a picture.  What is photography anyhow?

two pictures on a wall of a gallery. The one on the right is of pink flowers and is in a metal frame. The one on the left is an abstract of white and black that looks like cracks in a white surface

Four pictures on an art gallery wall, all abstract. One of them protrudes from the wall at a 90 degree angle.

below: close up of part of the picture from above, the one that is hung perpendicular to the wall.

close up of what looks like a collage

Just because something is different doesn’t mean that it’s good just as not all experiments are a success but  kudos to those who try.  I will leave it to you to decide which category (good/bad) these pictures fall into.

ivory, stone, and bone

Posted: May 22, 2015 in galleries
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Animals, people, and figures from his Inuit culture and tradition
carved and sculpted from bones, ivory and stones,

the work of Manasie Akapaliapik, Art Gallery of Ontario, until June 2015

part of a sculpture by Manasie Akpaliapik made of bone, ivory and stone, a man's face

part of a sculpture by Manasie Akpaliapik made of bone, ivory and stone, a person's face

part of a sculpture by Manasie Akpaliapik made of bone, ivory and stone, the head of a walrus
part of a sculpture by Manasie Akpaliapik made of bone, ivory and stone, a man like creature with a man's face but with walrus tusks

beached at the waterfront

Posted: May 8, 2015 in galleries, waterfront
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‘The Death of a Journey V’ by Zineb Sedira,
at the Power Plant, Harbourfront,
south exterior wall facing the waterfront.
19 ft x 31 ft

This is a photograph that appears in Sedira’s ‘Shipwrecks’ series, a picture of the ‘United Malika’ that ran aground enroute to a shipping graveyard near Nouadhibou Mauritania in 2003.

A large photograph by Zineb Sadira of an old ship that lies rusting on the shore. A tree is in front of the photo. Although it is rusting, the ship is intact.

Although it is part of the CONTACT photography festival, it is scheduled to remain until September.

Demolition at MOCCA

Posted: May 7, 2015 in galleries
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‘Demolition Site’ by Jihyun Jung,
at MOCCA as part of the CONTACT photography festival

This Korean artist visits demolition sites where he paints one of the rooms red.
Over time, he documents the changes to this room as demolition proceeds.

below:  One of his photographs of a red room covers the entire wall at MOCCA.

 A large photograph of the inside of an abandoned building. The interior walls have been painted red. Rubble has started spilling into the hall from the demolition of the rest of the building.

One of the walls of the courtyard in front of MOCCA is covered with one of his photographs.   It is 30 feet long.  Very annoyingly, a car was parked in front of it the day I was there.  It was promoting a car dealership in return for their support of an exhibit at the gallery that shares courtyard space with MOCCA.   The two planters with the tall evergreens are very tacky too.

A large photograph (30 feet long) that covers the side of a building. The photo is of a building being demolished. It is to scale with the real building.

A close up of A large photograph (30 feet long) that covers the side of a building. The photo is of a building being demolished. It is to scale with the real building.

trees in Brookfield Place

Posted: May 7, 2015 in galleries
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‘Tree’ by Myoung Ho Lee,
an art installation at the Allen Lambert Galleria, Brookfield Place,
part of CONTACT Photography Festival,

large banner with a photograph of a tree against a white background hangs in Brookfield Place with its high rounded glass and white steel ceiling.

Six large banners (12.5 x 10 ft) are hung from the ceiling such that they look like they’re standing upright.
Each banner has a picture of a lone tree taken with a white canvas backdrop.

Three large banners photographs of a tree against a white background hangs in Brookfield Place with its high rounded glass and white steel ceiling. Some people walking past, ignoring the pictures
According to the description of the installation, Lee “transforms the common tree into a highly theatrical and mysterious entity”.
I’m going to disagree.  It’s an interesting visual effect having the large banners arranged as they are but I see the trees as static, captive entities.  Trees as museum pieces.  That’s my two cents worth.

large banner with a photograph of a tree against a white background hangs in Brookfield Place with its high rounded glass and white steel ceiling.

Obsolescence

Posted: March 22, 2015 in galleries
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Obsolescence, by Shelagh Keeley, 2014
at The Power Plant, Harbourfront Centre

A man is looking at a large art piece on a wall. A collage called Obsolescence by Shelagh Keeley,

The piece covers a wall that is 25 x 40 feet in a room that is only 10 feet wide.

close up of part of a large collage art piece on a wall

The large collage includes photographs taken inside an abandoned textile factory in Monchengladbach Germany.

close up of part of a large collage art piece on a wall. One of the pictures is of a typewriter

A dictionary definition: “Obsolescence: being in the process of passing out of use or usefulness; becoming obsolete.“

close up of part of a large collage art piece on a wall

One of the inspirations for this piece was Marshall McLuhan’s 1970 “Notes on Obsolescence” which opens with the lines:  “When print or the motor car is referred to as “obsolete” many people assume that it is therefore doomed to speedy extinction. A casual glance at the historical record indicates the contrary. Gutenberg did not discourage handwriting. There is a great deal more handwriting done even in the age of the typewriter than was ever done before printing”.

And it ends with: “Obsolescence is a very large and mysterious subject that has had very little attention in relation to its importance.” The present paper may … thus help awareness of the role of obsolescence in sparking creativity and the invention of new order.”

A woman is looking at a large art piece on a wall. A collage called Obsolescence by Shelagh Keeley,

Like all art, it is subjective.   Like good art, it has the potential to make you want to linger in front of it and even to reflect and think.

The upper part of a collage by Shelagh Keeley at The Power Plant gallery. This is the top part of the piece which is 25 feet high.

This piece is scheduled to remain at The Power Plant until 17 May 2015.

no competition

Posted: March 5, 2015 in galleries
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Florence has ‘David’ and Toronto has ???

Three sculptures in a museum. The one on the left is a naked man from mid-thigh to the top of the head, although the arms are only stumps. The middle statue is also a naked man but he is all there. He is composed of pieces of different men all put together. The last sculpture is more abstract and it is hard to see in this photograph

left:  ‘Torso of a Young Man’ c1993 by German artist Gertrud Mohwald.
A collage of earthenware, porcelain and broken pieces of glass amongst other things.

center:  ‘Mith’ 1994 by American artist Doug Jeck.
A “fractured assemblage”.

Gardiner Museum

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