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Stunning film stills from Yael Bartana’s …And Europe Will Be Stunned

January 31st, 2012

 

Yael Bartana Mary Koszmary, 2007 one channel super 16mm film transferred to video Duration: 10.50 min. Courtesy Annet Gelink Gallery Amsterdam and Foksal Gallery Foundation Warsaw. Produced with support from Hermès.

Yael Bartana Mary Koszmary, 2007 one channel super 16mm film transferred to video Duration: 10.50 min. Courtesy Annet Gelink Gallery Amsterdam and Foksal Gallery Foundation Warsaw. Produced with support from Hermès.

Yael Bartana Mur i Wieża, 2009 shot on RED, HD video projection Duration: 15’00’’ Courtesy Annet Gelink Gallery Amsterdam.

Yael Bartana Zamach (Assassination), 2011 RED transfered to HD Videostill Courtesy Annet Gelink Gallery Amsterdam and Sommer Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv. The film was commissioned by Artangel, Outset Contemporary Art Fund, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, The Netherlands Film Fund and Zachęta National Gallery of Art. Yael Bartana Zamach (Assassination), 2011 RED transfered to HD Videostill Courtesy Annet Gelink Gallery Amsterdam and Sommer Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv. The film was commissioned by Artangel, Outset Contemporary Art Fund, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, The Netherlands Film Fund and Zachęta National Gallery of Art.

Yael Bartana Zamach (Assassination), 2011 RED transfered to HD Videostill Courtesy Annet Gelink Gallery Amsterdam and Sommer Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv. The film was commissioned by Artangel, Outset Contemporary Art Fund, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, The Netherlands Film Fund and Zachęta National Gallery of Art.

Yael Bartana Zamach (Assassination), 2011 RED transfered to HD Videostill Courtesy Annet Gelink Gallery Amsterdam and Sommer Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv. The film was commissioned by Artangel, Outset Contemporary Art Fund, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, The Netherlands Film Fund and Zachęta National Gallery of Art.

Yael Bartana is an Israeli filmmaker and artist who is based in the Netherlands. Her latest project, …And Europe Will Be Stunned, is showing at the Art Gallery of Ontario until April 1, 2012. The trilogy of films took almost five years to complete, and tells the story of the fictional Jewish Renaissance Movement in Poland. The result is a beautifully realized set of films that deal deftly with the complex dialogues that surround questions about national identity, homeland and what it means to belong.  The three parts of the trilogy are called Mary Koszmary (Nightmares), Mur i Wieża (Wall and Tower) and Zamach (Assassination). The films feature architecture and scenography by Oren Sagiv

The work was first shown at the the 2011 Venice Biennale, where Bartana became the first non-Polish artist to represent Poland at the major international art exhibition.
This is the first time the work has been shown in Canada. To find the films at the AGO, turn right immediately after entering the Gallery through the main entrance. Keep walking straight until you enter the Philip B. Lind Gallery,

“Interweaving past and present, reality and fiction, the conceptual and the emotional, and drawing on propaganda films of the 1930s and ’40s, as well as the visual language of advertising, Bartana’s films boldly traverse a landscape scarred by the histories of competing nationalisms and militarisms,” said Elizabeth Smith, AGO executive director of Curatorial Affairs and curator of the exhibition.

There are copies of the Manifesto of the fictional Jewish Renaissance Movement in Poland available free for our visitors. A striking piece of graphic design, this is an amazing commemorative piece for people to be able to take with them. They’re already moving fast, so make sure you get down to the Gallery to grab yours soon!

                 Instagram Photo

…And Europe Will Be Stunned is accompanied by one of the artist’s earlier video works, Trembling Time (2001), from the AGO’s collection. For more information about this exhibition please visit the AGO website.  Contemporary programming at the AGO is supported the Canada Council for the Arts.


Image credits:
1 - 3 Yael Bartana, Mary Koszmary, 2007, one channel super 16mm film transferred to video. Duration: 10.50 min. Courtesy Annet Gelink Gallery Amsterdam and Foksal Gallery Foundation Warsaw. Produced with support from Hermès
4, 5 Yael Bartana, Mur i Wieża, 2009, shot on RED, HD video projection, Duration: 15’00’. Courtesy Annet Gelink Gallery Amsterdam. 
6-8 Yael Bartana, Zamach (Assassination), 2011, RED transfered to HD, Videostill, Courtesy Annet Gelink Gallery Amsterdam and Sommer Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv. The film was commissioned by Artangel, Outset Contemporary Art Fund, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, The Netherlands Film Fund and Zachęta National Gallery of Art.

#ContemporaryTO: Celebrating Contemporary Art in 2012

January 19th, 2012

 We’re kicking off 2012 with five diverse exhibitions of contemporary art, celebrating the work of artists both established and emerging, local and international. Taking over various spaces within the Gallery, several separate installations beginning this month and continuing into the spring will offer something for every contemporary art lover. Each exhibition offers you an immersive experience, prompting you to reconsider your notions of time, space, and identity, or, in some cases, asking you to participate in the work directly.

Yael Bartana: …And Europe Will Be Stunned

Israeli filmmaker and artist Yael Bartana is a rising, and to some controversial, star in the international art scene, and soon AGO visitors will have a chance to get up close and personal with her work.

After winning the Artes Mundi prize for “work that stimulates thinking about the human condition” in 2010, Bartana presented her latest project at the 2011 Venice Biennale — the first non-Polish artist to represent Poland at the major international art exhibition.And Europe Will Be Stunned, her film trilogy made between 2007 and 2011, will be on view for the first time in Canada in the AGO’s Lind Gallery from Jan. 25 to April 1, 2012.

“Interweaving past and present, reality and fiction, the conceptual and the emotional, and drawing on propaganda films of the 1930s and ’40s, as well as the visual language of advertising, Bartana’s films boldly traverse a landscape scarred by the histories of competing nationalisms and militarisms,” said Elizabeth Smith, AGO executive director of Curatorial Affairs and curator of the exhibition.

Featuring architecture and scenography by Oren Sagiv, And Europe Will Be Stunned raises questions about ideas of homeland and a sense of belonging. In the films — Mary Koszmary (Nightmares), Mur i Wieza (Wall and Tower) and Zamach (Assassination) — Bartana tests reactions to the unexpected return of the “long-unseen neighbour,” telling a story of the Jewish Renaissance Movement in Poland. The trilogy also challenges the viewer’s readiness to accept the other and the complexities of cultural integration in a culturally and politically unstable world.

And Europe Will Be Stunned is accompanied by one of the artist’s earlier video works, Trembling Time (2001), from the AGO’s collection. Bartana will be present for a public Meet the Artist program on Jan. 26 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in Jackman Hall at the AGO.

IAIN BAXTER&: Works 1958–2011
IAIN BAXTER& has made a career out of breaking rules and keeping viewers on their toes, and the AGO is inviting visitors to experience his intriguing body of work in 2012.

The Gallery will present a major exhibition of more than 100 works by the preeminent Canadian artist from March 3 to Aug. 12, 2012. Including work produced both under his name and through the N.E. Thing Co.,IAIN BAXTER&: Works 1958–2011 offers the most comprehensive survey of BAXTER&’s career to date, comprising pioneering works of appropriation art, gallery-transforming installations, environmental art, and conceptually based photography. The exhibition affords a unique opportunity to recognize the artist’s defining contribution to Canadian contemporary art.

Co-curated by Michael Darling, James W. Alsdorf Chief Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, and David Moos, former curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the AGO, the exhibition travels directly to Toronto from Chicago, where it is currently on view at MCA. IAIN BAXTER&: Works 1958–2011 is generously supported by Philip B. Lind and Ellen Roland.

Watch this Space: Contemporary Art from the AGO’s Collection
Marking the return of the AGO’s contemporary collection to the galleries for which it was intended, Watch this Space is an installation that re-imagines the collection and invites visitors to consider how the universal concept of space has inspired artists.

Compelling works in a variety of media by both Canadian and international artists explore issues and ideas related to space — be it physical locations, psychological realms or the places that exist somewhere between the real and the imagined. “In recasting our contemporary collection, this installation will introduce some visitors to the featured works for the first time and prompt others to see them in a whole new light,” said AGO acting curator of Canadian art and Watch this Space curator Michelle Jacques. The installation includes both new acquisitions and more than 40 longtime collection favourites, including Gerhard Richter’s Scheune/Barn No. 549/1 and Ellsworth Kelly’s Blue White.

Through these works and others, the installation explores how artists employ colour, shape, line and image to create spaces, both psychological and physical, and asks whether we can make clear distinctions between the realms of inner and outer space or if the majority of our reality exists somewhere in between. Watch this Space runs from Feb. 11 through summer 2012.

Celebrating Toronto Artists

The AGO extends contemporary programming into its community gallery spaces early this year with two exhibitions from Toronto artists that call on visitors to participate in the work and raise questions about the implications of collaboration and participation in a community.

Team Macho: Axis Mundi
Axis Mundi,
a playful and interactive installation by local art heroes Team Macho, will transform the AGO’s Weston Family Learning Centre Community Gallery into a fully functioning art studio on Jan. 23., inviting visitors to occupy the space alongside the artists

The installation, which will include a series of studio structures, draws on themes brought forth in writer Northrop Frye’s Words with Power, along with ideas related to the history of artists working in collaboration, referencing the practices of General Idea and the Group of Seven, among others. Axis Mundi examines the manner in which these artists collaborated and supported one another, while developing structures that were both physical and personal to propel their individual practices. Team Macho comprises members Nicholas Aoki, Stephen Appleby-Barr, Christopher Buchan and Lauchie Reid, who share a studio in Toronto, creating work in a wide variety of media, with a focus on illustration. They have shown their work with solo shows at Narwhal in Toronto and the Optica Centre for the Arts in Montreal, and internationally in Los Angeles, New York, Detroit and Amsterdam. Axis Mundi, organized by Ann Marie Pena, continues into April 2012.

NOW: A Collaborative Project by Sean Martindale and Pascal Paquette
This do-it-yourself (or “DIY”) agency kicks off the Toronto Now series in 2012, challenging visitors to use the AGO’s fully accessible Young Gallery as a forum for pressing Toronto issues.

Pushing the idea of Toronto Now to its limits, Toronto artists Sean Martindale and Pascal Paquette appropriate the AGO logo and the NOW name in a creative space that encourages mindful action on local issues. The project, guest curated by Katherine Dennis and on display from Jan. 21 to April 1, reflects the artists’ interest in the tension between the rush and impatience of the average Torontonian’s current lifestyle and the benefit of slowing down and being mindful of environmental, political and cultural subjects. Running concurrently with NOW is the Martindale and Paquette’s Gift Shop Gift Shop, a store within a store featuring artworks for sale by local Toronto-based artists, designers and illustrators.

Toronto Now is a series of contemporary art projects that puts the focus on Toronto artists and displays their work in the free, street-facing Young Gallery. Artists previously featured in the series include Dean Baldwin, Will Munro, Allyson Mitchell, John Sasaki, Libby Hague, John Dickson and Paul Butler.

The Toronto Now series is generously supported by The Contemporary Circle.

All exhibitions are organized by the AGO. Contemporary programming at the AGO is generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.

The AGO acknowledges the generous support of its Signature Partners:
American Express, Signature Partner of the Conservation Program; and Aeroplan, Signature Partner of the Photography Collection Program.

The Art Gallery of Ontario is funded in part by the Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Culture. Additional operating support is received from the City of Toronto, the Canada Council for the Arts and generous contributions from AGO members, donors and private-sector partners.

For more information on exhibitions and special programming, please visit www.ago.net.


The Best of the Best

January 6th, 2012

Join the Art Gallery of Ontario and THEMUSEUM  on Thursday,  January 12 2012 at 11 a.m.  for an online discussion about the art world’s  ‘best of the best.’

What: #ArtHour is a Twitter chat with a new art topic each month. We invite you to spend one hour each month thinking about and sharing what art really means to you.
When: Thursday, January 12, 11:00 – 12:00 EST and then every second Thursday of the month.
Where: On Twitter – Follow @AGOToronto and @THEMUSEUM for more information or search for the hashtag #ArtHour. We’ll also be posting the questions on Facebook and here on the blog.
Who: #ArtHour is for everyone –  Galleries and museums, arts professionals, artists and anyone interested in learning more and meeting other passionate art fans.
Why: It’s a great, free way of meeting art fans from across the world.
How: Starting at 11am we’ll be asking a series of questions around the month’s topic for you to answer, debate and discuss.

From 11am until 12.00pm EST on Thursday, December 8 the chat host (us!) will be tweeting a question every 10 minutes using the hastag #ArtHour. Anyone can respond, also using the #ArtHour hashtag. What is a hashtag?

For example, we would tweet:

Q1 What is your favourite art gallery? #ArtHour

And you could tweet back:

A1 The Art Gallery of Ontario! #ArtHour

Our January topic is THE BEST OF THE BEST. From your favourite galleries to the best experience you’ve had

We hope that you’ll help spread the word and join us for this great online event. For more information about #ArtHour please email holly_knowlman@ago.net or Derek.weidl@themuseum.ca

See you on Twitter,  Thursday, January 12 11:00 – 12:00 EST 

Update: Here are this month’s questions. You can take part on Twitter, Facebook, or leave a comment right here on the blog:

1. What’s the best exhibition you’ve ever been to and why?

2. What was the best surprise you ever found in a museum or gallery?

3. What’s the best way a cultural institution can attract your attention?

4. What’s the best way for arts organizations to inspire you to donate?

5. What’s the best thing you ever learned in a museum or gallery?

6. What’s the best experience you’ve ever had with a member of staff at a museum or gallery?

 


How to: Make Perfect Prints

January 5th, 2012

Struggling to get your lino plate prints ‘just-so’? Then read on to discover how to make perfect prints every time with AGO instructor Lauren Renzetti. Lauren is an artist, designer, educator and maker who has has shown her work throughout Ontario. Not only a visual artist she has also spent a great deal of time working in the film, television and theatre industry. 

Tip 1: Set up your ink bed to the hand you roll your ink with. So if you’re left handed, set up all your inks to the left hand side of the table.
Tip 2: When rolling ink onto your lino cut, keep rolling until the ink develops a sheen. That means you’re ready to print.
Tip 3: With a reduction print (where you print multiple layers of the same print) there is a risk of  making poor colour choices that don’t give enough contrast. Use a clear sheet of acetate, mylar or duralar and put test ink on it – lay the clear sheet on different prints to observe results before printing it. This removes guesswork and the possible loss of a limited edition print.
Tip 4: When layering your print, always use the same corner for matching the new layer.
Tip 5: Once the plate is in contact with the paper, press firmly on the plate with your hands. Then flip the paper AND the print and use a rolling pin or press to rub the ink onto the paper. Always check the corners to ensure even pressure across the whole print.

Want to learn more? Why not sign up to take a course with Lauren at the Art Gallery of Ontario this winter:

Experimenting with Mixed Media and Printmaking

Tuesdays, January 10 – February 28, 7 – 10 pm (8 weeks) 
OR Wednesdays, January 11 – February 29, 7 – 10 pm (8 weeks) 
Instructor: Lauren Renzetti 
Members $344 | Public $407

Combining elements of traditional drawing techniques, collage, and printmaking, students will push the boundaries of their own image-making by exploring new methods of production. While working in a variety of media, and using the AGO prints and drawing collections as inspiration, expect to play with image transfers, screen printing, and block printing.

Most materials are included in the course price but additional fees may apply.

 


How to Register

Register Now!

Online – Click Here

By telephone

Call 416 979 6608
Monday to Tuesday 9 am – 5 pm
Wednesday 9 am – 8 pm
Thursday to Friday 9 am – 5 pm
Saturday 10 am – 3 pm
Sunday Closed

By fax

Send a signed written request with the name of the student, address, phone number, credit card information (card name, card number, your name, expiry date) and course and date selection(s) to 416 204 2717.

Please note: Registration is not confirmed until you have received written notification from the AGO Program Registration office. Members must provide their membership number in order to process requests.

In person

Visit the Program Registration Office at 317 Dundas Street:
Monday to Tuesday 9 am – 5 pm
Wednesday 9 am – 8 pm
Thursday to Friday 9 am – 5 pm
Saturday 10 am – 3 pm
Sunday Closed

Please read the Gallery School Policies.

 

Winter Courses for Adults: Meet the Instructors

January 5th, 2012

The AGO’s winter offerings for adults include a series of courses and workshops in the Gallery and in the Dr. Anne Tanenbaum Gallery School – a combination of lecture,discussion, tour studio programs that allow adults to engage with art. From exploration of contemporary to introduction to drawings sessions inspired by AGO works – adult courses and workshops will bring you new perspectives and opportunities to put art into your life. Read on to meet the instructors who teach at the AGO and find out more about the courses they teach. 

Kelley Aitken

Kelly Aitken

Through the 80’s and 90’s my work was primarily narrative: dream landscapes and figurative works that used the geography of the body to map psychological and emotional states. These works were executed on canvas, wood, and paper in mixed media and painterly collage. I continue to work with figurative imagery at a larger scale in gouache, acrylic wash, ink, graphite, encaustic and papercut.

Kelley Aitken teaches a drawing class entitled From Gallery to Studio.

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Aleks Bartosik

Aleks Bartosik

Aleks Bartosik works figuratively and most often large-scale, where she combines drawing elements in painting, sculpture, performance and installation, and film/video. Bartosik’s work explores the boundaries between the real and the imaginary often depicting the artist as the protagonist within invented narratives.

Aleks Bartosik teaches Integrated Drawing.

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Paul Butler

Paul Butler

Paul Butler is multi-disciplinary artist with an interest in artist driven projects that challenge current art world models. His practice includes: hosting the Collage Party – a touring experimental studio established 1997; directing the operations of The Other Gallery – a nomadic commercial gallery focused on overlooked artists’ practices; founding The Upper Trading Post – an invitational website that facilitates artist trading and initiating Reverse Pedagogy – a travelling, experimental residency. He has exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Los Angeles; Justina M. Barnicke Gallery, Hart House, University of Toronto; White Columns, New York City; Creative Growth Art Centre, Oakland and Plug In ICA, Winnipeg.

Paul Butler will be teaching the workshop Judas! Exploring the Relationship between Bob Dylan and Contemporary Art.

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Lynn Crosbie

As a professional writer, editor, cultural critic and English professor, Lynn Crosbie has published eight books and is a regular columnist for The Globe and Mail newspaper. Her experience ranges from journalism to poetry, prose, plays, screenplays, critical essays, lectures, products and advertising. She has taught English and Creative Writing at the Ontario College of Art & Design, the University of Toronto, the University of Guelph, York University, and to at-risk youth in the community.

Lynn Crosbie teaches Pop Culture and the Written Word.

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Janieta Eyre

Janieta Eyre

Janieta Eyre (b. 1966) studied philosophy at Toronto University, then magazine journalism at Ryerson Polytechnic University and photography at the Ontario College of Art and Design. She took up photography professionally in 1995. In her distinctive self-portraits, she frequently presents herself as a set of twins, engaging with the possibility of morphous identities and fictional doubles. Often employing fantastic and carnivalesque settings, she uses props and costumes to disrupt the fixity of image and identity. She manipulates the theatricality at play in her work by incorporating art-historical and literary references, while leaving space for the integration of fictional representations.

www.galeriesamuellallouz.com
www.answers.com

Janieta Eyre teaches Experimenting with Photomontage and Photography.

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Misha Glouberman

Misha Glouberman

Misha Glouberman is an artist, performer and writer with an ongoing interest in how groups of people get along. Misha is the host of the popular non-expert lecture series Trampoline Hall (“We love it” – The Village Voice), runs a series of participatory sound-improvisation events called Terrible Noises for Beautiful People (“Legendary in Toronto” – Musicworks Magazine), and is the author, with Sheila Heti, of The Chairs are Where The People Go (“Humane and hilarious”- The New Yorker). Through his company Collective Intelligence, he runs meetings and conferences. Now Weekly has described him as a “hilariously engaging facilitator” and The Globe and Mail has called him “a mix of Peter Mansbridge’s smarts and Conan O’Brien’s wit.”

Misha Glourberman teaches How To Talk To People About Things: A course in negotiation and communication

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Claire Greenshaw

Claire Greenshaw

Claire Greenshaw’s art often aims to disrupt or destabilize the status of everyday objects in an attempt to question common social placements of value. The works tend to use humor and strategies of appropriation to manipulate layers of meaning and provoke speculative narratives around various cultural detritus. In her art practice, she employs a broad range of media, including sculpture, drawing and photography.

available.hunterandcookprojects.com/claire-greenshaw.html

Claire Greenshaw teaches Artist Bookworks and will be leading a Casting Workshop on Making Editions.

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Kerry Kim

Kerry Kim

Kerry Kim regards drawing as a vehicle for exploration of chaotic visual reality while he does not imbue his works with symbolism, nor does he merely record what he sees. Rather, he draws out the structural movement within the human form, thus conveying thoughts and emotions that otherwise could not be elucidated. Kerry graduated from Ontario College of Art and Design in 1981 and studied old master drawings in Florence, Italy. He taught drawing and painting at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Dundas Valley School of Art, Sheridan College, Centennial College and Ontario College of Art and Design. He is presently the director of Mississauga Valley School of Art. Kerry’s works have been represented through many group and solo shows.

www.kerrykim.com

Kerry Kim teaches Life Drawing.

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Sholem Krishtalka

Sholem Krishtalka

Sholem Krishtalka is an artist and writer. He holds a BFA from Concordia University and an MFA from York University. He is the art critic for Xtra Magazine and his writing has been featured in Canadian Art, C Magazine, Taddle Creek, and CBC Arts Online, in addition to which he is a regular contributor to Ryeberg.com, a curated video blog. His artwork has been featured in Carte Blanche Volume 2: Painting, a survey of contemporary Canadian painting. Most recently, he had a solo show in Brooklyn, New York, at Jack the Pelican Presents, where he launched a commissioned folio of prints with ArtInvestor, a Munich-based multiples store and magazine. His paintings were featured in the premiere issue of Headmaster, a queer arts and culture magazine out of Providence, Rhode Island. He maintains a web-project called Lurking, which can be seen atsholem.tumblr.com.

Sholem teaches Working in Series – Acrylic and Oil.

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Catherine Lane

Catherine Lane

Catherine Lane’s current studio practice focuses on drawing-based installation work that explores fragmented storytelling though non-linear, visual narratives.

www.catherinelane.ca

Catherine Lane teaches Life Drawing

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Christy Langer

Christy Langer

Christy Langer graduated with her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Ontario College of Art & Design in 2003; since then her sculpture work has been exhibited extensively both locally and internationally. Her sculptures are recognized for their meticulous execution; she combines a variety of techniques, processes, and utilizes materials ranging from silicone to porcelain. Langer is currently represented by Christopher Cutts Gallery in Toronto.

Christy Langer teaches Figurative Sculpture and will be leading a Casting Workshop on Mold Making.

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Carol Matson

Carol Matson

Carol Matson’s paintings tell stories that are based on real and fictional experiences.

Carol Matson teaches Introduction to Painting.

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Lauren Renzetti

Lauren Renzetti

Lauren Renzetti is an artist, designer, educator and maker who has has shown her work throughout Ontario. Not only a visual artist she has also spent a great deal of time working in the film, television and theatre industry.

webhome.idirect.com/~laurenr/

Lauren Renzetti teaches Experimenting with Mixed Media and Printmaking.

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Jessica Thompson

Jessica Thompson

Jessica Thompson is a Canadian media artist whose projects investigate spatial and social conditions within the urban environment through sound, performance, and mobile technologies. Her work has been shown in exhibitions and festivals such as ISEA, (San Jose) FINE/LINE (Denmark) the Conflux Festival, (New York) Thinking Metropolis, (Copenhagen) (in) visible Cities, (Winnipeg) Deep Wireless, (Toronto) Beyond/In Western New York, (Buffalo) and most recently at the Norsk Teknisk Museum (Oslo) as part of NIME 2011. Her projects have appeared in publications such as Canadian Art, c Magazine, Acoustic Territories, and various art and technology blogs. Her website is www.jessicathompson.ca.

Jessica Thompson teaches The Sonic City: An Introduction to Sound Art and Experimenting with Sound Art.

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Michael Toke

Michael Toke

Michael Toke is a Toronto based visual / installation artist, born Hamilton 1964. Attending Sheridan College and OCA in the 1980s, moved to NYC and worked as head assistant to J.S.G. Boggs a commerce based performance artist. Exhibiting internationally in art and film venues. His installations combine painting, video and sculpture hung on a conceptual armature of documentary film practice.

www.michaeltoke.com
www.flickr.com/photos/michaeltoke
www.youtube.com/profile?user=michaeltoke

Michael Toke teaches Advanced Painting and the Creative Process.

 

To register for a class at the AGO please visit http://www.ago.net/courses-workshops

 

Marc Chagall and his Times (Audio)

January 5th, 2012

Click to play:

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Download 52.8MB MP3

Recorded: Wednesday, November 30, 7 pm in Jackman Hall
Duration: 01:32:26

Yale University’s Professor Benjamin Harshav is the preeminent Jewish culture critic today. As a respected scholar on Chagall, his recent publications include Marc Chagall and the Lost Jewish World: The Nature of Chagall’s Art and Iconography (Rizzoli, 2006); Marc Chagall and His Times: A Documentary Narrative (Stanford University Press, 2004).

Presented in collaboration with the Centre for Jewish Studies, University of Toronto

#AGOTweetUP: January Edition

December 23rd, 2011

Due to the limited number of spaces at this event please register your interest at http://agotweetupjanuary.eventbrite.com/. We’ll get in touch with successful applicants no later than 12/31/11.

#AGOTWEETUP: JANUARY EDITION
Thursday January 5th, 2012
Let’s Get Creative

Twitter

To celebrate the launch of our 2012 Winter Program Guide you are invited to a free evening of (social) networking, nibbles and a chance to try one of our fantastic adult courses. 

  • Meet other art-loving Twitter users, network and make new friends.
  • Chat to the team at the Art Gallery of Ontario and find out what’s going on behind the scenes at the Weston Family Learning Centre.
  • Get your hands dirty: Try your hands at a life drawing class with one of our great instructors and a real live model.

Event hashtag: #AGOTweetUp

Event Schedule

5.30 – 6.45 p.m. Networking, wine and nibbles in the Weston Family Learning Centre
6.45 – 8 p.m. Life drawing taster class
8.00 – 8.30 p.m More networking, then home!

Can’t make the event? Follow us @AGOToronto for live updates and photos as the night unfolds.
Need more details? Email our Internet and Social Media Content Coordinator, Holly.

 

Courses and Workshops for Adults

The AGO’s winter offerings for adults include a series of courses and workshops in the Gallery and in the Dr. Anne Tanenbaum Gallery School – a combination of lecture,discussion, tour studio programs that allow adults to engage with art.

From exploration of contemporary to introduction to drawings sessions inspired by AGO works – adult courses and workshops will bring you new perspectives and opportunities to put art into your life. Register now!

Introduction to Sound Art (Winter 2012)

Designed to give participants an introduction to sound as a creative medium.

Hypothesis of Filming Painting (Winter 2012)

This course will investigate the links between painting and filmmaking.

How to Talk to People about Things (Winter 2012)

This workshop uses the AGO gallery setting as a platform to focus on how to communicate with others in difficult situations.

Yoga in the Henry Moore Gallery (Winter 2012)

Develop your skills amongst the reclining figurative sculptures with an experienced Yoga instructor.

Experimenting with Sound Art (Winter 2012)

This workshop examines some of the experimental practices that have shaped the history of sound art.

Pop Culture and the Written Word (Winter 2012)

Through the AGO’s pop art collection, this course will inspire creative and critical writing about modern pop events.

Introduction to Painting (Winter 2012)

This foundation-level course will draw upon the AGO’s painting collections as a platform for teaching methods and techniques.

Bob Dylan and Contemporary Art (Winter 2012)

Using musician Bob Dylan’s life and work as a parallel to a contemporary artist’s path, this workshop will look at the relationship between artists and their audience while also discussing the link between music and contemporary practice.

Tagging Along (Winter 2012)

As part of their exhibition in the AGO’s Toronto Now series, local artists Sean Martindale and Pascal Paquette invite you to join them for an outdoor tour of Toronto artworks.

Working in Series – Acrylic and Oil (Winter 2012)

Learn to develop a body of work in a series.

Advanced Painting and the Creative Process (Winter 2012)

The course will build an experimental approach to image-making and execution. Students will write, draw, sculpt, and work with photography and video to create and manipulate imagery and its meaning according to their own intentions.

Figurative Sculpture (Winter 2012)

Closely guided by instruction, students will focus on sculpting the human form. In addition to developing skills of observation and proportion while working from a live model, students will also be exposed to current applications of life modelling, sculpture techniques, and basic mold making in a contemporary art context.

Casting Workshop – Methods of Mold Making (Winter 2012)

Learn how to incorporate a variety of materials and mold-making applications into your own practice.

Casting Workshop – Making Editions (Winter 2012)

Explore the concept of the original and the copy as you create an artist’s multiple.

Life Drawing (Winter 2012)

Working with life models, students will explore the technical and perceptual skills needed to confidently produce drawings.

Drawing From Gallery to Studio (Winter 2012)

Using originals in the AGO collections as starting points, students embark on a journey through drawing.

Integrated Drawing (Winter 2012)

Examine drawing from the perspective of various disciplines. Combining studio techniques and visits to AGO exhibitions, this course will explore the possibilities of non-traditional materials and approaches to drawing.

Artist Bookworks (Winter 2012)

Students will explore a variety of concepts, techniques, and materials as they produce their own bookwork.

Experimenting with Mixed Media and Printmaking (Winter 2012)

Combining elements of traditional drawing techniques, collage, and printmaking, students will push the boundaries of their own image-making by exploring new methods of production.

Photomontage and Photography (Winter 2012)

Students learn the basics of digital photomontage while focusing on experimentation and composition.

Figurative Photography (Winter 2012)

Study portraiture, the nude, street documentation, and candid photography by focusing on the human form and the roles it plays in photography.

Tintin and the Thomson Collection of Ship Models

December 22nd, 2011

The AGO invites you to celebrate Ken Thomson and Michael Turner’s dedication to collecting ship models and to discover the link between Turner’s passion for ship models and his lifelong work on the Tintin tales, which feature ships not unlike the models in the Thomson Collection. 

The highly anticipated film The Adventures of Tintin got its Canadian release yesterday. Based on Hergé’s classic adventure books, the film stars Jamie Bell as fearless journalist Tintin and Andy Serkis as his companion Captain Haddock. Together the pair set off on a treasure hunt for a sunken ship commanded by Haddock’s ancestor.

We’ve got some great activities happening at the AGO to celebrate the release of the film. Not only can you come and see the kinds of ships that those in the film are based on, we’ve also got a great link to Tintin thanks to famous art collector Ken Thomson, who donated the AGO’s entire ship model collection.

Thomson’s interest in ship models grew out of his close friendship with British publishing executive Michael Turner. A renowned scholar and collector of ship models, Turner also co-translated the famous/popular Belgian Tintin comics from their original French into English with Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper. Thomson met Turner in 1987 when Thomson acquired the publishing house that Michael Turner was running at the time. Turner shared his passion for ship models with Thomson, and soon the two began working together to establish the Thomson Collection of Ship Models.

Below the trailer you’ll find some great examples of ships in our collection that are linked to the film. We hope you’ll come and see them for yourselves! At the bottom of this post we’ve also got  information about some great Tintin activities taking place in the Gallery.


Hergé’s Unicorn and the Thomson Collection’s Breda

      

1. British Two-decker 70 Gun Warship, around 1692 Navy Board Model, scale 1:48Great Britain boxwood, fruitwood, brass, silk
2. Sketch of the Unicorn, from Hergé’s The Secret of the Unicorn

The French story The Secret of the Unicorn was set on a vessel belonging to King Louis XIV’s fleet, while the English-language version was set on one belonging to the British monarch Charles II. The events of Hergé’s story date back to 1698, making the Unicorn a contemporary of La Licorne, the 17th-century British 70-gun warship in the Thomson Collection. Both ships are third-rate, two-decker vessels with three masts, quarter galleries at the stern, fighting tops and a spirit topmast on the bowsprit. The model of The Unicorn was created after consulting several ship drawings, while the Thomson Collection’s model, previously identified as the Breda, likely also represents another ship of that period, either the Nassau or the Essex, which launched in 1699 and 1700 respectively.

This ship’s adventure was first published in daily comic strips in the French newspaper Le Soir between June 1942 and January 1943. The original drawing of the ship was not historically accurate – the actual ship had only a single row of gunports, 20 cannons and one row of windows in the stern galleries. Eventually, Hergé realized that a ship of higher rank would be more appropriate, and when it came time to publish The Secret of the Unicorn as a book, he turned to historical sources, conducting thorough research on shipbuilding in the late 1600s. The decoration of the ship was largely copied from Jean Bérain’s 1689 designs for the Brilliant. Bérain’s sketches are strikingly similar to certain parts of the Thomson model, particularly the stern galleries of the ship. 

Hergé’s Sirius and the Thomson Collection’s Lammermuir 

British Trawler, Lammermuir, 1950 Builder’s Model, scale 1:32 Great Britain wood, metal, gold- and silver-plated fittings Tintin approaches the Sirius, from Herge’s Red Rackham’s Treasure

1.British Trawler, Lammermuir, 1950, Builder’s Model, scale 1:32, Great Britain, wood, metal, gold- and silver-plated fittings
2. Tintin approaches the Sirius, from Herge’s Red Rackham’s Treasure

The Sirius, which features in Herge’s Red Rackham’s Treasure, was named after the first entirely steam-powered ship that crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 1838. The actual form of the vessel, however, is more modern, dating to the period around the book’s publication (1944). Like the Unicorn, the Sirius was a composite creation based on a number of real vessels. The main design of the Sirius was based on a trawler called John-o.88, which was put into service in 1936 at Ostend, Belgium. For close-up illustrations of more detailed parts of the ship such as the windlass, a device used to lift heavy objects, Hergé copied from photographs of various other steam engine trawlers.

Hergé’s Sirius is strikingly similar to the Lammermuir in the Thomson Collection. The two trawlers were contemporaries, as the Lammermuir was built in Aberdeen in 1950, just years after the Sirius was introduced in the Tintin series. A model of Hergé’s Sirius, made in 1952 by A. Van Noeyen, bears a significant resemblance to the Lammermuir in its colouring, layout and size. Both ships are trawlers known as “sidewinders,” in which the trawling nets are set up along the sides of the ship. The main difference is that the Sirius was a steam-powered vessel, whereas the Lammermuir was the world’s first diesel-engine deep-sea fishing trawler.

Hergé’s Ramona and the Thomson Collection’s model of the Rodsley, Rawnsley, Rookley and Reaveley.

British Cargo Ships, Rodsley, Rawnsley, Rookley and Reaveley, 1939–1940 Builder’s Model, scale 1:96 Great Britain wood, metal, gold-plated fittings    The Ramona being approached by another ship, from Hergé’s The Red Sea Sharks

1. British Cargo Ships, Rodsley, Rawnsley, Rookley and Reaveley, 1939–1940, Builder’s Model, scale 1:96, Great Britain, wood, metal, gold-plated fittings.  2. The Ramona being approached by another ship, from Hergé’s The Red Sea Sharks

Many of Tintin’s adventures feature cargo ships, from the quarantined Pachacamac in Prisoners of the Sun to the Karaboudjan in The Crab With the Golden Claws. Hergé drew the Ramona from the book The Red Sea Sharks using photographs and a detailed plan of the steam ship Egypt, which was built at the Jos Boel & Son shipyard in Amsterdam in 1946. The more detailed sketches of the interior were taken during a four-day sail between Belgium and Sweden aboard the Reine Astrid.

Of the numerous cargo ships in this gallery, the Ramona most resembles a model in the Thomson Collection built by William Doxford & Sons Ltd. in Sunderland, England, in 1939–1940. This model served as the original design for four motor cargo ships: the Rodsley, Rawnsley, Rookley and Reaveley. The Rawnsley was bombed by an aircraft off the Greek island of Crete during World War II while on its way from Haifa, Israel, to Souda Bay, Crete. The Rodsley, Rookley and Reaveley continued to operate for the next three decades for various shipping companies around the world.

The Ramona and all the vessels built from William Doxford’s model are excellent examples of the most modern cargo ships built during World War II. They would have been similar in size, tonnage and appearance – as well as in function – as merchant cargo ships. Both the Ramona and Doxford’s model have tall air vents rigged with cargo derricks in front the bridge, which were contemporary innovations. Other modern features include the radio telegraphy rigged between the masts, as well as the angle of the bow and round shape of the stern. These additions differ from earlier cargo ships such as the Glamis (1936) and the Menin Ridge (1924), both of which can also be seen in the Thomson Collection.

Because the SS Egypt and the Rodsley, Rawnsley, Rookley and Reaveley were built during wartime, they would have been armed with guns to protect themselves against attack from enemy ships. However, it is likely that Hergé did not include guns on the Ramona, because Captain Haddock is unable to fight back after a submarine attack on the ship in The Red Sea Sharks and must radio the U.S.S. Los Angeles for assistance.

Join Tintin at the AGO for adventures in 2012!

Tintin and the Secret of the Ship Models
January 1, 2012

http://www.ago.net/family-sunday-programming-fall-2011

Join us on New Years Day as we go on a nautical adventure with Tintin and the AGO’s Ship Models collection! Inspired by the AGO exhibition Tintin at Sea, our own ship models collection and the Steven Speilberg movie, The Adventures of Tintin, we’ll be tapping to the tunes of an east coast fiddle, learning how to step dance, making treasure maps in a bottle and floating homemade boats! It’s going to be a rollicking good time!

Family Sunday Activities

  • Walker Court performances and workshop
  • Art making activities
  • Hands-on centre open 10-4
  • Tintin film screenings in Jackman Hall
  • Storytelling in Thomson Ship Models

Tintin and the AGO’s Ship Model Collection
February 29, 2012

http://www.ago.net/tintin-and-the-ship-model-collection

Join Simon Stephens and Lesley Lonsdale-Cooper to hear about ships, ship models and Tintin.
Simon Stephens is curator of the Ship Model and Boat Collection at the National Maritime Museum, London. He curated the Thomson Collection of ship models installation at the AGO and co-curated the National Maritime Museum’s 2005 Tintin At Sea exhibition. Lesley Lonsdale-Cooper co-translated Hergé’s Tintin books into English with Michael Turner.  Michael introduced Ken Thomson to ship models collecting.

Jack Chambers’ Story: Light, Spirit, Place, Time and Life.

December 21st, 2011

There were many sides to artist Jack Chambers. He was a passionate defender of artists’ rights, an experimental filmmaker with an international reputation, and a painter who continually reinvented his language of expression. In a new exhibition of his work at the Art Gallery of Ontario you can explore each facet of this complex and fascinating artist by viewing his paintings and his films alongside painstakingly compiled archival material. We caught up with the show’s curator, Dennis Reid, to learn more about Jack Chambers and the exhibition.

The show is an incredibly comprehensive look at Chambers’ life and work. How long did it take to assemble, and what kind of challenges did you face?

This exhibition is primarily comprised of the collection of the Art Gallery of Ontario. A number of years ago the Gallery made the decision to collect key Canadian artists in depth and in breadth, and the idea was the AGO would be the place you came if you had an interest in researching these artists and understanding them better.

Along with that was the pursuit of the papers, the archives of each artist, and the commitment in every case to do a significant exhibition of the AGO collection of that work. Some of the precedents are Betty Goodwin, Paterson Ewen, Greg Curnoe and Michael Snow.

In the mid nineties, the AGO began talking to (Jack Chambers’) sons about a joint purchase donation. They decided they wanted to do something with the material, which had been sitting in a house up to that point. The AGO went out and raised some money from key supporters, the purchase of the works was made and then the donation of the papers. Part of this process was the commitment to do an exhibition with this material – the largest collection of Chambers’ work anywhere in the world.

We made the decision to include the archival material as an integral part of the exhibition, and to round things out we borrowed some works from private collectors – there are twelve loans in the exhibition altogether.

 

What is Jack Chambers’ place in Canada’s national consciousness, and why should he be viewed as an important Canadian artist?

I’m not sure it’s very clear at this point. That is one of the reasons it was so important to do an exhibition. There was a time back in the 1970s when Chambers had quite a high profile and his work was widely admired in Canada. He was also known internationally as an underground (personal) filmmaker in the late sixties and seventies, which was really the only reputation he had outside of Canada at that point.

The work hasn’t been out there that much. After his wife died his two sons were managing the estate and I think the decision was made at that point to not aggressively market the work. The last exhibition devoted to his work was in back in the eighties, so it’s been quite a while.

 

The Walrus, talking about Lunch, quoted you as saying that ‘all the show’s themes are in that painting.’ Can you tell us some more about the show’s themes and how they are represented in this work?

Lunch is a painting [thatChambers] never finished. He laboured at it from 1969 until his death in 1978. It depicts Chambers, his wife and his two boys at Sunday lunch. They’re sitting at the dining room table in a rather formal setting with two bottles of wine on the table, and there’s an incredible view out the window behind Jack and an Easter lily down in one corner. The flower gives a sense of the time of year and, I think, also brings a spiritual dimension to it, as does the way in which they sit around the table.

Lunch [unfinished] 1969 oil and synthetic paint in a natural resin varnish (possibly) on plywood 197.9 x 182.9 Purchase with the assistance of the Judith Rachel Harris Foundation and Ethel Harris, 2007 2007/80 © 2011 Estate of Jack Chambers

Chambers, Jack, Lunch [unfinished1969 oil and synthetic paint in a natural resin varnish (possibly) on plywood 197.9 x 182.9 Purchase with the assistance of the Judith Rachel Harris Foundation and Ethel Harris, 2007 2007/80 © 2011 Estate of Jack Chambers"

Jack would probably cringe to think of this but in a certain sense it evokes the last supper, and so that becomes very moving when you think that he knew that he was struggling for his life during these years.

He was diagnosed with leukemia in 1969 when he began this painting and he was told he had six months to live. He persisted against it and lived for another nine years, which is pretty incredible. This painting, though never finished, is in a certain sense the measure of that struggle.

You look out the window and there you are in North London, suburban London, Ontario. So there is that sense of place that is very strong. The whole idea of time is very apparent – although this is a moment that’s captured it’s also about dealing with change over a period of time. So there they all are – light, spirit, place,time and life.

But I would argue that all of the shows themes are probably present in all of the paintings. These were central issues for Chambers.

 

Chambers described the style of some of his paintings as perceptual realism – how would you define the term?

Although Jack wrote about perceptual realism I’m not sure the meaning of that term was ever crystal clear. My understanding (and I’ve thought about this for many years) is that the paintings he called the perceptual realist paintings were the ones like The 401 Towards London and Meadow, Lunch and the interior family scenes.

These are all based on photographs. He would take hundreds and hundreds of photographs of something and from that choose exactly the right one and have it blown up to about the size of a sheet of paper. Then he would mark it off in a grid and put that grid on the panel or canvas that he was working on. In about a year or two years usually he would have finished the painting.

 

Chambers, Jack	Meadow	1972-1976	oil and possibly synthetic media on plywood	182.8 x 182.4	Purchase with the assistance of the Judith Rachel Harris Foundation and Ethel Harris, 2007	2007/82	© 2011 Estate of Jack Chambers

Chambers, Jack Meadow 1972-1976 oil and possibly synthetic media on plywood 182.8 x 182.4 Purchase with the assistance of the Judith Rachel Harris Foundation and Ethel Harris, 2007 2007/82 © 2011 Estate of Jack Chambers

 

He used perceptual realism, I believe, to describe his understanding that everything we know, that we can know, comes to us through our perception, through our eyes. It fascinated him – what is it that we see?  And he realized that everything that we see is because of light, so that became a key element as well. Time comes into it as well, because what he was trying to capture was that “wow” moment – not necessarily of incredible beauty but a moment that is meaningful. A nice example is the story of how he painted The 401 Towards London.

He was off to a meeting in Toronto and drove out from London to the 401, over the overpass.. He happened to look up into his rear view mirror and saw this view along the highway that, with the light and everything else, was just one of those magical moments. He couldn’t do anything about it at that point and went on to Toronto for his meeting. But when he got back later that night and the next morning he went out to the spot with his camera. We think he spent probably the better part of a day running around and shooting from different ways trying to capture that moment. There’s a whole array of photographs from that area but he eventually found the one that brings back the feeling that he had when he saw the view in the mirror.

Chambers, Jack	401 Towards London No. 1	1968 - 1969	oil on mahogany	183.0 x 244.0	Gift of Norcen Energy Resources Limited,1986	86/47	© 2011 Estate of Jack Chambers

Chambers, Jack 401 Towards London No. 1 1968 - 1969 oil on mahogany 183.0 x 244.0 Gift of Norcen Energy Resources Limited,1986 86/47 © 2011 Estate of Jack Chambers

 

He abhorred having it compared to magic realism and to the photographic realism movement that was going on in the U.S. at that point. He felt his work was very different from that, much more serious, and so he persisted with this term.

What are some of the show highlights for you?

That’s like asking me which is my favourite child – I can’t say. I’m so pleased with the exhibition – one of the goals, because it’s thematically organized, was that each of the areas be clear. That you knew one of the areas was about light, you knew you were in the area about place. But at the same time we wanted to get the flow and the sight lines because some of the paintings are incredible from a distance. Jim Burke, our designer, did a brilliant job and it’s turned out exceptionally well.

I feel that this is an exhibition you could walk through in 15 or 20 minutes and have an incredible experience just by addressing the big pieces that are right there. Or, you could spend five days in there going through all the archival material, carefully chosen to relate to the works that are on the wall.

There are wonderful audio tapes to listen to, incredible screened images and then all day, every day we’re running his films in a screening room in the centre so you could spend hours just watching the films.

There’s an anecdote that Jack Chambers once knocked on Picasso’s door to ask him where he should study. Picasso recommended Barcelona but Chambers chose Madrid. Is there truth to this story?

The story is typical Jack and apparently true. When he went to Europe he didn’t know where he was going; he just knew he wanted to go to the source of what he called the “classical art tradition.” By that he meant the Old Masters and the drawing from the figure and that high level of craftsmanship. So he went by boat to Naples and on board the ship he met a couple from Austria. He tagged along with them and went to Austria and then made his way back through Europe. As he was passing through Southern France he saw the name of a village and thought, “isn’t that where Picasso lives?”

So he went to the village and was able to determine that yes, Monsieur Picasso lives in that house just there. So, Jack being Jack, he knocked on the door (one story is that he actually had to climb over the fence first) and Picasso himself answered.

Jack said, ‘where should I study art? I’ve come to Europe to study art and I want to be a great artist like you.’

Picasso apparently replied “Barcelona,” which is where he had studied. So off Jack went to Barcelona. But for some reason it didn’t stick and he slid on through, ending up at the Academy in Madrid. It was all kind of chance, in a funny way.

When he was enrolled in the Academy in Madrid, he had summers off,so he would travel around Spain or elsewhere in Europe. One summer he wanted to go to the UK and decided to write to Henry Moore, asking if he could use a studio assistant.

Moore wrote back and declined, but said that there was a gentleman just down the lane who could use a studio assistant. So Chambers spent the summer in the Midlands and ended up teaching art in an amateur school and doing commission portraits.

I had the pleasure of knowing him; he was an amazing person and entirely unpredictable. Greg Curnoe used to say that you never knew if he was joking or not. Sometimes he was dead serious and sometimes it was just a joke – I’m not sure if he even knew which was which sometimes.

Jack Chambers: Light, Spirit, Time, Place and Life is open at the AGO until May 13, 2012. For more information and to buy tickets please visit www.ago.net

The General Idea behind General Idea: a panel discussion (Audio)

December 19th, 2011

No Mean Feet, General Idea

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Recorded: Wednesday, November 16, 7 pm in Jackman Hall
Duration: 01:34:11

In connection with the exhibition Haute Culture: General Idea – A Retrospective, 1969-1994, join artist Luis Jacob, artist and writer Sholem Krishtalka and art historian Virginia Solomon for a stimulating discussion about this foundational Canadian artist group’s diverse and increasingly influential production.

Luis Jacob graduated from the University of Toronto with degrees in Philosophy and Semiotics in 1996, and has been actively participating in artist-initiated exhibitions and projects for two decades. Working as artist, curator, and writer, Luis Jacob’s diverse practice has addressed issues of social interaction and the subjectivity of aesthetic experience. Highlights of his recent work include solo exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto (2011); Art in General, New York City (2010); Fonderie Darling, Montréal (2010); the Städtisches Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach, Germany (2009); and Hamburger Kunstverein, Hamburg, Germany (2008).  He participated in the exhibition “House Guests: Contemporary Art at the Grange”, Art Gallery of Ontario (2002); and during the reopening of the AGO, Luis Jacob’s work was displayed as part of the permanent collection in the Lind galleries in 2008.

Sholem Krishtalka is an artist and writer.  He holds a BFA from Concordia University, and an MFA from York University.  His writing has been featured in Canadian Art, C Magazine, CBC Arts Online, Bookforum, among others.  His artwork has been featured in Carte Blanche 2: Painting, a survey of contemporary Canadian painting. He launched a specially-commissioned folio of prints with ArtInvestor, a Munich-based multiples store and magazine; and his paintings are featured in the premiere issue of Headmaster magazine, a queer arts and culture magazine out of Providence, RI. He had a solo show in Brooklyn, New York, at Jack the Pelican Presents; most recently, he has had solo shows at the Art Gallery of Peterborough and the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives.

Virginia Solomon is an art historian, curator, and critic whose work investigates the intersections among art, social life, and politics.She is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Southern California, working on a dissertation titled ‘Queer Outsider Methods: General Idea’s Art and Politics, 1969-1994.’ She places General Idea’s practice in the context of an expanded and evolving conversation concerning the relationship between art and politics, and argues that its incorporation of sexuality enabled it to reconfigure what constituted both political and artistic activity.