Posts Tagged ‘Art Gallery of Ontario’

from Bay to Christie

Posted: May 20, 2025 in construction, locations, old buildings, people, stores, transportation
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… a walk along Bloor Street on one of the rare warm days in May.

  With respect to the weather, it’s been a crazy May – first cold, then warm, then cold again.  As I write this, my windows are closed and the furnace is on.  These are the coldest days in May since 1967 they say.  I was going to make jokes about Hell freezing over but the Leafs didn’t win.

smaller Bay station entrance, beside The Momo House, with people walking past

One of the Bay station exits is at Cumberland Terrace.

view from Cumberland Ave., into the glass wall of Cumberland Terrace, people sitting at tables for lunch, reflections of tall buildings behind

The lower level of Cumberland Terrace, especially along the north side, sits mostly empty.

empty fast food stalls in the basement level of cumberland terrace, korean food, and falafel places,

the basement level of cumberland terrace, with lots of mirrors and square ceiling lights, but no people, mostly closed

From Cumberland Terrace, I headed to the corner of Bay & Bloor Streets and then westward from there.  This is some of what I saw (and, for a change, I managed to keep the photos in the order that I took them).

looking down an alley downtown, with tall glass and steel buildings

mannequin in a window, with reflections, behind metal bars from scaffolding

young man carrying a ladder, under scaffolding on sidewalk

 

A woman in a green t shirt and blue shoes sits on a circular bench on Bloor Street, with a laptop, outdoors

Many people crossing Bay street on north side of Bloor. intersection of Bay and Bloor. TD bank on the southwest corner

intersection of Bay and Bloor. building on the northwest corner has cladding removed for renovations, man sitting on corner begging, other people walking by, traffic,

below: Cladding changes at Bay and Bloor.  The older concrete window frames are disappearing.  Does anyone know if this type of recessed window feature has a name?

architecture of windows and cladding, two buildings downtown

people walking past st laurent store, large black off-white coloured building with no windows

woman in beige sweater and orange pants walking abong bloor street

below: People watching from behind glass

2 white mannequins in a window, one in dark glasses and the other in tight fitting cap, looking out a window, with reflections of trees and traffic

bloor street, reflections as well as street scene,

below: From Avenue Road, looking west, where the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) dominates the south side of Bloor.

looking west on bloor from avenue road, past the front of the art gallery of ontario, crane in the distance, cement truck on street

below: Renovations now underway on part of the “crystal” structure at the front of the AGO.

in front of the art gallery of ontario where renovations are occurring, hoardings, looking east on bloor

construction and renovations of part of the crystal structure at the entrance to the art gallery of ontario

workmen and equipment, renovations of part of the crystal structure at the entrance to the art gallery of ontario

people walking on the sidewalk, bloor street, in front of the art gallery of ontario

below: Red car….

a bright red car parked on bloor street, in front of new condo building, and a building with a black and white striped awning in the front

below:  … and red maple leaves

sign on brick wall at varsity stadium, arrow pointing right to varsity pavilion, witn lots of red maple leaves on blue background above the sign

below: The OISE building (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education) was controversial when it was built in the late 1960s but it has aged into a good example of classic late modern concrete architecture.   As an extra note – if you are interested in Toronto’s concrete architecture of this period, check out “Concrete Toronto: A Guidebook to Concrete Architecture from the Fifties to the Seventies”, edited by Michael McClelland and Graeme Stewart (many people contributed chapters to the book).

man on electric bike in bike lanes on bloor in front of OISE building

people waiting for traffic lights, before crossing St george, at bloor, by the bata shoe museum, reflections in the window of the building beside them

below: Reflections in the windows of the Bata Shoe Museum at Bloor and St. George.

people crossing bloor at st george, by the bata shoe museum, reflections in the window of the museum

reflections in the window of bata shoe museum on bloor, showing buildng across the street, blue sky, clouds, and people passing by

below: Looking west on Bloor at Huron Street where the old church on the northwest corner is being renovated and expanded.  Bloor Street United church was built in 1880 and was originally a Presbyterian church.  In 1925 it was one of about 70% of the Presbyterian churches that merged with the Methodists to form the United Church of Canada.

looking west on bloor at huron, north side of the street

below:  The Bloor street facade of the church is being retained and updated while maintaining the church itself intact.   A new condo tower is being built on the site, set back from the church building.

conversion of church into condos, northwest corner of bloor and huron

below: Looking east on Bloor Street.  This view also shows the new building to the west of the church that is also part of the same project.

looking east on Bloor street, north side of street, traffic, new construction, church being turned into condos,

below: Tartu College building – another example of concrete architecture; it was designed by Elmar Tampold.  Tartu College is a not for profit student residence and was named after the city Tartu in Estonia.

front, and entrance of, tartu college, a highrose student residence on bloor street, made of concrete in the 1970s

a group of people standing on the corner or Robert and Bloor as a red car turns right beside them

old black and white graffiti stickers on a one way arrow sign

side of a woman in a navy blue sress, god watch, and holding a phone case, as she walks along bloor street,

below: Red dress to symbolize missing and murdered Indigenous women.

red dress hanging in a garden outside a church, as a memorial to missing indigenous women

below: Heart Garden at Trinity St. Pauls church at Bloor and Major.  There are many of these gardens across the country and they are all dedicated to victims of the residential school system.

a woman in a head scarf walks past a small memorial garden, that has a large rock in the middle, heart garden

poetry, on wood, on a wood wall in a garden, heart garden,

Words on the first panel – by Katherena Vermette  An other story this country has an other story one that is not mine or yours but ours

 

below: Colourful Annex mural by Planta Muisca

shrubs and a tree in front of a mural for the annex in bright colours, houses in blues and reds, by planta muisca

below: Bloor at Bathurst, southwest corner.  This is what replaced Honest Eds – one had character and the other doesn’t and I think you know which one is which.

Mirvish village development on southwest corner of bloor and bathurst, glass and steel with some concrete, standard new condo street level design

a woman sits on a low concrete wall around a planter, on bloor, two cyclists pass by, another woman is pushing a stroller on the sidewalk

below: Markham Street is still closed as it is part of the large construction site on the old Mirvish property.

looking south on Markham street from Bloor. Still a construction site while Mirvish village makeover is underway.

below: Little wavy curled features on the roof

two storey brick building on bloor, market on lower level, language school, CCLCS, on the upper. roofline has two little wave-like curly features

below: From Sammie’s to Jimmy’s, with Real Nails in between.  Square buildings, flat rooflines.

upper levels of a row of three storey brick stores along bloor, the two in the middle are painted yellow.

below: Gold Leaf Fruit Market at Palmerston and Bloor

Gold Leaf Fruit market on the northeast corner of Palmerston and Bloor.

below: Northwest corner of Palmerston and Bloor

northwest corner of palmerston and bloor, 3 storey red brick row of buildings,

four young women standing on a street corner, al with a drink in their hand, with traffic going by and street scene behind them.

looking out the window of a coffee shop, word coffee is in window, but reversed, street scene with stores and traffic.

two women in a coffee shop, one is working at a table by the window, the other is seated at another table

below: Todays Specials

outside a book store, on a table, books for sale, with sign that says Today's Specials, prices as marked

below: Bloor Fruit Market

bloor fruit market, west side, two street art murals on the side of the building, lots of produce for sale outside, red brick building,

man in grey shirt is choosing berries from the bloor fruit market where there are lots of berries in plastic containers, blueberries, strawberries, and black berries,

below: Table for two

on the sidewalk, two small red plastic chairs wth a table between them, a man walking past, street scene in the background, Bloor Street

below: Just a little monkey sunbathing in the window!

little stuffed grey and light purple monkey sitting in the window of a store with 3 mannequin feet behind it.

pedestrians on sidewalk outside clothing store on bloor street, mannequin in the window

signs on the sidewalk for stores along bloor street in koreatown including a restaurant ad for Sapporo premium beer, pictures of plates of food in the restaurant,

below: Koreatown, mailbox

older black mailbox with lid open, on a white wall beside a door on Bloor street, also on the wall, Korean lettering in blue and red

below:  Waiting for the green light.

two cyclists in the Bloor Street bike lane, stopped and waiting for a green light, traffic on the street including a school bus.

woman walking alone on sidewalk with purse over her shoulder and wearing a navy blue sweatshirt that says talentless but connected on the front of it

below: Christie subway station

entrance to Christie subway station, TTC, sidewalk in front, blue bins,

subway stopped at Christie station, one man isgetting off, can be seen through windows, while a woman sits by another window

three men on a subway train, two are standing by the door, looking at their phones. the third is sitting with arms folded and eyes closed

And last, a shout out to Alternity Cafe where my smoothie was a fabulous pale bluish turquoise colour, thanks to the addition of “blue magic”.

fork in salad bowl with avocado dressing, drink beside bowl is a pale turquoise coloured smoothie in a glass

Light Years and Modernism

Posted: March 19, 2025 in galleries
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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.

Robert Motherwell painting, orange, with three thin black lines, like an unfinished square, top open

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.

Robert Rauschenberg, combines, artwork,

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)

it’s Cultural

Posted: January 29, 2025 in galleries
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  “The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century” is now showing at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO).  It features 90 works by more than 60 artists.  Some of them are shown here…. 

below: Portrait of a day when 103 of members of the Toronto Hip Hop community got together in one place, August 2024.  The photo was taken on the steps of the Liberty Grand at Exhibition Place by photographer Patrick Nichols.

black and white group shot of a lot of people on outdoor steps, 103 people associated with hip hop in toronto, on the steps of the Liberty Grand Entertainment place

This exhibit has also been seen in Baltimore and St. Louis.

“Placing fashion, consumer marketing, music, videos and objects in dialogue with paintings, sculpture, poetry, photography and multi-media installations, the exhibition considers activism and racial identity, notions of bling and swagger, as well as gender, sexuality and feminism.”

a woman looking at pictures at the Art Gallery of Ontario

below: Painting by Zeh Palito,a Brazilian artist who seems to like pink.  Title: “It was all a Dream”.

painting by Zeh Palito in Art Gallery, black woman,

below: Cardi B., aka Belcalis Marlenis Cephus, with unity on her arm by Hassan Hajjaj.  She is considered one of contemporary music’s top female artists.

portrait of Cardi B by Hassan Hajjaj

below: “Live Culture Force 1’s”, 2022, by Aaron Fowler. They are gigantic Nike Air Force 1 sneakers that have been made out of car parts.  Contemporary art seems to like big things – Once upon a time back in 1960s there was a giant hamburger on display at the AGO.  I wonder if the creator of that hamburger, Claes Oldenburg,  realized what he started (and whatever happened to it anyhow?).  Tangent alert – The AGO purchased the hamburger in 1967 for $2000.

sculpture that is a large pair of white running shoes made of car parts.

below: “Swamp Boy” by Amani Lewis

painting on a gallery wall by Amani Lewis

below: “Real Negus Don’t Die” by Fahamu Pecou.  Reflects on the idea that death can’t stop us and perhaps touches on  the idea that immortality comes through remembrance.

artwork in graphite and acrylic paint of a man with a t-shirt with portrait of a black man and text that says real negus don't die

below: “The Minister of Enterprise” by Kudzanai Chiurai.  Oversized shades indoors, a big cigar, and some bling.  Add some swagger.

portrait of a black man all blinged out

below: I made a mistake with this room.  I initially thought, what a waste, a whole room for a red puffy jacket.  Turns it, it’s a godsend for instagram ready selfies.  Lots of room, mirrors behind the jacket, and presto…  many, many pictures on Instagram and TikTok.  I should have taken the time to wait for people to get in my way!

a mannequin with a red puffy jacket on a pedestal in a niche in a yellow room, mirrors behind the jacket

below: “Louis Uluru”, 2009, by Luis Gispert.  Looking at Uluru (formerly Ayers Rock, in Australia), from the comfort of a very well-appointed car.

below: Hanging from the ceiling, a collection of  one glittery pair of Adidas sneakers and many brown work boots, some sparkly with glitter and some not.  Bejewelled kicks.  “Cloud Break”, a sculpture by Devan Shimoyama

a collection of sneakers and work boots strung together on a chain and hanging from the ceiling, in an art gallery, also some artificial flowers stuck into the boots.

Exhibit continues until April 2025.

Pacita Abad at the AGO

Posted: January 19, 2025 in galleries
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two women looking at fabric artwork by Pacita Abad hanging at the Art Gallery of Ontario

Pacita Abad (1946-2004) was born in the Philippines.  During the Marcos regime, she left Manila intending to study law in Spain. Instead, she ended up in the USA.

below: “Old Dhaka” (Bangladesh) 1978, oil on canvas

Many of the artworks that were on display were large-scale hanging trapuntos, a form of quilted painting made of stitched and stuffed canvas.

below: The central piece in this image is “LA Liberty” 1992.  Here Abad recasts Lady Liberty as an “International Lady of Color” as opposed to the very white, very European, statue that exists in New York City.

three large pieces fabric artwork by Pacita Abad hanging at the Art Gallery of Ontario

below:  “If My Friends Could See Me Now”, An American Dream with all the trappings of a ‘typical’ middle class life.

fabric artwork by Pacita Abad hanging at the Art Gallery of Ontario

below: “Subali” 1983. Acrylic, oil, gold cotton, batik cloth, sequins, rick rack ribbons on stitched and padded canvas.

fabric artwork by Pacita Abad hanging at the Art Gallery of Ontario

fabric artwork by Pacita Abad hanging at the Art Gallery of Ontario

fabric artwork by Pacita Abad hanging at the Art Gallery of Ontario

below: Many of the fabric pieces had marine themes like this very big octopus in “My Fear of Night Diving” 1985.  It is 130 x 170 inches (or 330 x 432 cm).

fabric artwork by Pacita Abad hanging at the Art Gallery of Ontario

people in an art gallery, Art Gallery of Ontario, looking at artwork by Pacita Abad, large fabric pieces in vibrant colors, of underwater scenes

fabric artwork by Pacita Abad hanging at the Art Gallery of Ontario, underwater scene, different types of fish, colourful seaweed,

below: Details, striped braiding sewn on to make the seaweed

fabric artwork by Pacita Abad hanging at the Art Gallery of Ontario underwater scene, striped fish, colourful seaweed enhanced with striped braiding sewn on top of the painted mottled pink fabric,

fabric artwork by Pacita Abad hanging at the Art Gallery of Ontario. In foreground is an abstract with different sizes of squares and rectangles in different colours, in the background is one with a scene of a woman looking out a window with bars on it.

below: Some of the pieces were hung such that the stitches on the back were visible.  Also interesting.

fabric artwork by Pacita Abad hanging at the Art Gallery of Ontario

Regrettably, this exhibit closes today.

animal spirits watching over

Posted: February 8, 2024 in galleries
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The Art Gallery of Ontario has recently acquired two new paintings by Ojibwe artist Travis Shilling.   Both paintings are from a series of 11 paintings titled “Tyrannosaurus Clan” that depict varies spirit animals looking over, or observing, people building a pipeline through a subdued coloured landscape.  The people are unaware that they are being watched; there is no interaction between the two.

  below: An owl perches on a piece of heavy equipment in this painting that is simply titled “Owl”.

painting by Travis Shilling, men digging for a pipeline, with image of an owl rising above it. owl is perched on roof of digger

below: A dinosaur type creature embodies other species in “The Excavators”

painting by Travis Shilling, men digging for a pipeline, orange green and purple dinosaur

painting by Travis Shilling, men digging for a pipeline

KAWS family

Posted: January 29, 2024 in galleries
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At the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) until 31 March 2024 is ‘KAWS Family’, an exhibit of work by Brian Donnelly who is a Brooklyn artist also known as KAWS.  Donnelly started his career in graffiti, especially defacing ads and other illustrations.   He also worked for a while as an illustrator including a stint with Disney.  This exhibition includes sculptures, paintings, and drawings.

This is a sample of what is showing at the AGO

below: Very much resembling Mickey Mouse with his over sized boots and big white hands, is Companion, the central character in this sculpture.  Companion made his debut in 1999 as an 8 inch high plastic toy figure.  He has since appeared in many sizes and situations.  Here he is carrying a limp pink figure in a piece titled “Gone”.  The pink character is based on Sesame Street’s Elmo.

in a gallery, paintings on wall, a person sitting on a bench, and a sculpture by KAWS of a large grey mickey mouse inspired character carrying a limp form of a pink character

below: Space suited Companion.  An Elmo sits in the background.   And yes, Companion has been to space – or at least into the stratosphere, more than 40 km up.

reflective silver colour KAWS family sculpture in the middle of the room in a gallery with far wall painted pink

below: From the back.  A pink Accomplice stands in the background.  Accomplice always has rabbit ears.

art gallery of ontario, rear of silver sculpture with pink wall reflected in the metal, other pink sculpture in the background along with 2 D artwork on the walls of two large red hands

below: A grid of sketches inspired by Snoopy, the lovable beagle created by Charles M. Schulz in his “Peanuts” cartoon.

person on bench in front of artwork at a gallery, snoopy inspired black and white sketches in a grid on the wall. about 50 squares

monotome grey sculpture of character based loosely on mickey mouse, holding a blue elmo from sesame street doll

below: The exhibit is scattered over at least places at the AGO including the Galleria Italia.

larger than life size sculptures in galleria area of art gallery of ontario, a man walks among them,

kaws sculpture of character with hands over eyes, wood, in art gallery of ontario

below: The pink character is Chum which is obviously inspired by the Michelin Man.  Like all of the KAWS figures, it has X’s for eyes and a skull shaped face.  the official mascot of the Michelin tire company.  The Michelin Man, or  his ‘real name’ Bibendum, was introduced in 1894 and is the oldest still active trademark.

art gallery of ontario, kaws family exhibit parts

below: Taking photos (even if it means ignoring the words on the floor!).

two women in an art gallery, one is taking photo of the other who is mimicking pose of sculpture's character, sitting on ground with hands over eyes

below: “Good Intentions”

two monotome grey sculptures of characters based loosely on mickey mouse, a parent and a child clinging to parent's knee, title is Good Intentions

There are many more on his Instagram page – KAWS

portraits in black and white

Posted: January 19, 2024 in galleries
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If you are interested in photography, especially taking pictures of people, then I highly recommend seeing the current exhibit of Arthur Newman’s black and white photos at the Art Gallery of Ontario.  Newman was an American photographer born in New York City in 1918.  He is known for his work with portraits, especially with ‘environmental portraits’.  These are images that are much more than head shots as they include context that provides further information about the subject.  Often the location or the accessories used in the shot were more dominant than the person being photographed.

Keep in mind that these are pictures of framed photographs hung in a room with low light, i.e. they are much better in real life.

below left: Michel Tapie, art critic and curator
below right: Georges Mathieu, French painter

black and white portrait by Arnold Newman, 2 portraits, on right is Georges Mathieu a French Painter and on left is

below top: from left to right – Phillip Glass 1981 composer, artist Roy Lichtenstein 1975, and Annie & Josef Albers 1976 (also artists)
below bottom: (all painters) from left to right – Edward Hopper 1960, Richard Artschwager 1987, and Lily Michaels 1959.  The image that is only partially shown is of Martha Graham, dancer and choreographer taken in 1961.

on wall at art gallery of ontario, black and white portrait by Arnold Newman, 6 photos

below: Israeli artist Moshe Kupferman, taken 1982

black and white portrait by Arnold Newman, of artist Moshe Kupferman

below left: Abstract image in home of Yechiel and Haviva Shemi, 1982
below right: Allen Ginsberg, poet, 1985

at art gallery of ontario, exhibit of black and white portraits by arnold newman, photo of poet alan ginsberg kneeling on a bed

below: Jean Arp, sculptor, 1949

at art gallery of ontario, exhibit of black and white portraits by arnold newman of french sculptor jean arp

below left: Jean Cocteau, 1960, writer and visual artist
below right: Yaacov Agam, sculptor, 1966

at art gallery of ontario, exhibit of black and white portraits by arnold newman, 2 photos

below left: Julio La Parc, artist, 1967
below right: Lee Krasner, artist 1973

at art gallery of ontario, exhibit of black and white portraits by arnold newman, 2 photos

below: John Hay Whitney, taken 1947.  Whitney was chairman of the board at MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) in New York City.

portrait of John Hay Whitney taken by Arnold Newman

below: Priscilla Colt and Thomas C. Colt Jr., 1950, museum directors, Portland Art Museum, Oregon.

portrait taken inside an art gallery, beside a scultprue of a standing figure, a couple, photo taken by arnold newman

black and white photo by Arnold Newman of a man holding a picture frame around his head

Unfortunately this show ends this weekend, on the 21st of January.  I didn’t realize that it was ending so soon so I am glad that I caught it when I did.

Sarindar Dhaliwal’s Oscar, Frida, and many flowers

Posted: January 7, 2024 in galleries
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For more than 40 years, Sarindar Dhaliwal has been creating works of art.  She was born in Punjab India but grew up in Southall London England.  The family moved again when Sarindar was 15, this time to rural Ontario.  Her work is colourful – vibrant and full of life.  Many of her pieces are being exhibited at the Art Galley of Ontario at the moment.  This is a sampling of them.

below: “Oscar and the Two Fridas”, 1991.  Oscar Wilde and Frida Kahlo are two artists that Dhaliwal admires.

 

painting by Sarindar Dhaliwal on the wall at the Art Gallery of Ontario, featuring a picture of Oscar Wilde in black and white in the middle, and two coloured portraits of Frida Kahlo in opposite corners, vase of flowers as well

Two women looking at painting by Sarindar Dhaliwal on the wall at the Art Gallery of Ontario

below: The garden outside, and the window through which you can view it…  An interesting way to present perspective.

painting by Sarindar Dhaliwal, garden, window in a pinkish adobe wall looking out onto the garden, metal bars in the window

below: A part of “At Badminton” another mixed-media collage-like work on paper; here woman in traditional saris are playing badminton.

part of a mixed media collage, pictures of women as seen out a window, plus a line of flowers, the work is "At Badminton"

below: “When I Grow Up I Want to be a Namer of Paint Colors”.  If you look closely, the names don’t always match the colour.  There are pinks called ‘powdered baby lemon’ and ‘chalky eggshell’ while some reds are “imperial indigo” and “periwinkle”.  A work of imagination – ‘vanilla twilight’!  A work that ignores the rules and norms.

I want to be the namer of colours by Sarindar Dhaliwal, a chart in grid shape of various shades of pink, red, and orange, that she has given names to

below: “Indian Billboard” 2000.

mixed media collage artwork by Sarindar Dhaliwal, lots of billboards and a tiger,

From the words on the wall, “The idea for this work came from a trip Dhaliwal took to Bangalore India in 1996. Here she saw a feminist billboard in India for the first time. The hand-painted sign openly critiqued the dowry system used in arranged marriages and featured the slogan “Is Your Husband Worth the Money You Paid For Him?”.
“In this work, she recreates the same text a well as advertisements ranging from the refrigerators to beedies (a type of Indian cigarette). Images of tigers, paint swatches, and her ubiquitous flowers are peppered throughout. In some of the billboards, Dhaliwal depicts Hindi script. Unable to read Hindi herself, she wrote the letters backwards. When this was pointed out to her, she decided to write one of the English language billboards in reverse as well.”

below: Closer view of some of the billboards.

close up of a piece of art, a tiger,

A couple at the AGO, woman is seated, man standing behind her. They are watching a video on a screen mounted on the wall

below:  Dhaliwal’s work consists of more than these mixed-media ‘collages’.  There is video as you can see.  There are also large panels that tell a story.  This one in English and a second in .  The story starts with a sick child whose mother and aunt took her from village to village, “the embroidered cuffs of their baggy pants encrusted with…”.

a story written in red letters on a black wall, goes around a corner

below: These are some of the women whose photographs were incorporated into a work called “Hey, Hey Paula”.  What do they have in common?  They were all featured in the Sunday edition of the ‘New York Times’; they were the brides-to-be in the Engagement Announcements section between 1989 and 1992.

Grid of photos of young women, all red tones,

below: There were many women!  The wall most easily seen in the photo is a grid of 9 x 27 photos, with no duplicated that I can find.  That makes 263 women represented on that wall… and that’s only part of the whole.

man in white shirt standing in the middle of an art piece of pictures on two sides of a corner, and a red phone in the middle Hey Hey Paula by Sarindar Dhaliwal

below: If you pick up the receiver on the red phone you can listen to a recording of the 1963 hit song ‘Hey Paula’ recorded by Ray Hildebrand and Jill Jackson under the name of Paul and Paula.

an art piece of pictures on two sides of a corner, and a red phone in the middle Hey Hey Paula by Sarindar Dhaliwal

some people standing in front of, and looking at, an art piece of pictures on two sides of a corner, and a red phone in the middle Hey Hey Paula by Sarindar Dhaliwal

“…that [art] is a world that can belong to you and in it, you can make your imagination come alive.”
is a quote by Dhaliwal in an interview by the CBC.

This exhibit continues until mid-July 2024

Keith Haring at the AGO

Posted: December 14, 2023 in galleries
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One of the special exhibits at the Art Gallery of Ontario at the moment is a selection of the works of Keith Haring (1958-1990).   Haring started as a graffiti artist in New York City, drawing over advertisements in the subway.   Over the course of his short life he also had many solo gallery showings and participated in numerous group exhibitions.   After being diagnosed with AIDS in the autumn of 1988, much of his work was geared to raising awareness about the disease.

This is a small selection of the art on display at the AGO.

 

a group of five Keith Haring paintings at the Art Gallery of Ontario, AGO, mounted on a red wall

His figures are very stylized and simplified.  Lines show movement.

Keith Haring painting at the Art Gallery of Ontario, AGO, polka dot dogs jump through hole in middle of yellow human figure

Keith Haring painting at the Art Gallery of Ontario, AGO, many little white men building a mountain of televisions, each tv has a red x on the screen

below: By the look of it, capitalism is eating people, devouring the masses.

part of a Keith Haring painting at the Art Gallery of Ontario, AGO, big blue monster with dollar sign on nose, mouth open and many little people partially in its mouth

part of a Keith Haring painting at the Art Gallery of Ontario, AGO, red object going through hole in the middle of yellow stomach

Keith Haring painting at the Art Gallery of Ontario, AGO,

red and green painting on white

part of Keith Haring painting at the Art Gallery of Ontario, AGO,

a woman sits on a bench, looking at Keith Haring painting at the Art Gallery of Ontario, AGO, a human figure is bent over backwards while other smaller figures use him as a bridge

a very large Keith Haring painting at the Art Gallery of Ontario, AGO,

two women standing beside a wall painted in orange and pink stripes

without fear

Posted: September 6, 2023 in galleries
Tags: , , ,
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The photography of Wolfgang Tillmans (b. 1968 in Germany), “To Look Without Fear” is on display helter skelter on the walls of the upper floor of the Art Gallery of Ontario.  Breathtaking in its audacity, but to speak without fear, overwhelming in its mediocrity.

view through an open door into a gallery room where people are looking at papers displayed on a table

There are some outstanding moments of brilliance and/or technique but they are swamped by lesser pieces.

Wolfgang Tillmans black and white photo of a man encountering a deer on a beach

people in an art gallery

people in an art gallery looking at photos by Wolfgang Tillmans including two scantily clad men up in a tree

Some of the best photos were those that had been printed in newspapers such as this photo of refugees in East Timor.

newspaper picture of refugees in East Timor, large boot of a soldier in the foreground

people in an art gallery looking at photos by Wolfgang Tillmans

people in an art gallery looking at photos by Wolfgang Tillmans

people in an art gallery looking at photos by Wolfgang Tillmans

looking at photos on a gallery wall

people in an art gallery

Exhibit continues until then end of September 2023

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