Picasso Uncrating Begins (Video)
April 12th, 2012
CTV cameras capture one of the first Picasso works to come out of its shipping crate as the AGO prepares for Picasso: Masterpieces from the Musée Picasso, Paris, opening May 1.
Meet Elizabeth Rivasplata from Top Chef Canada, Season 2
March 13th, 2012
Elizabeth Rivasplata; photo courtesy of Top Chef Canada
Elizabeth Rivasplata, sous chef at the Art Gallery of Ontario’s FRANK Restaurant, was selected to compete on the Food Network’s reality cooking show TOP CHEF CANADA, which premiered on March 12 and airs every Monday at 10 p.m.
My name is Elizabeth Rivasplata. I am 32, and I have been working at the AGO for three and a half years – first as production chef and now as sous chef at FRANK, the restaurant at the Art Gallery of Ontario. I was born in Lima, Peru and I’ve been living in Canada for almost eight years. Recently I had the great privilege of being chosen as a contestant in the Food Network show TOP CHEF CANADA.
You can watch for me on TOP CHEF CANADA, Season 2, which premiered last night, every Monday at 10 p.m. on the Food Network. Follow me @rivasplata1 on Twitter for more updates from the show and my experiences as the season progresses. The challenge is on!!
Photo from the premiere; courtesy of Top Chef Canada
Participating on TOP CHEF CANADA has been an amazing experience. I’m so excited to be part of this season and to meet and work in the company of so many great people.
I truly respect and admire all of the contestants and the members of the production team. It’s so complicated to put the show together and there are many people involved in making it happen. I would never have believed it and could not understand the stress and the hard work if I had not been through it. There were very long days and nights; I was exhausted and pushed to the limits again and again, but I would do it all over without hesitation.
As for the question that most people ask me: “Why?”… Why did I apply to compete on the show? Well I guess I am just a born competitor. Watching past seasons, I used to dream about being on the show. I was a little bit scared (to be honest not a little… a lot), but I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it, and that I am good enough. So after much thinking and deliberating, and urging from my boss Anne Yarymowich – who provided awesome support – I decided to apply. And the rest is history.
The main elimination challenge for the first episode was to cook something that represents you. I had given this some thought as it had been a challenge on other seasons. I knew that I wanted to represent a little of my native cuisine and showcase Peruvian ingredients. There are so many incredible ingredients that are native to Peru, and this one really came from the heart.
Photo of Elizabeth’s Peruvian dish from the elimination challenge; courtesy of Top Chef Canada
I made pan-seared fish with red quinoa (an ancient grain native to Peru) and roasted vegetable salad, a coulis of aji amarillo (hot yellow Peruvian peppers) and foam of purple corn (also native to Peru). That put me into the top four for the first episode. Way to go! I was soooo happy. One step closer to the TOP.
We will be featuring this dish that I created for the challenge at FRANK Restaurant for the rest of the week. Please come by and see me. I’ll be the one at the stoves, where I am happiest.
Elizabeth’s Peruvian dish from the premiere of TOP CHEF CANADA will be featured this week at the AGO’s FRANK Restaurant during lunch and dinner. Elizabeth will also be on hand to personally meet and greet diners. Join us for this special TOP CHEF CANADA inspired dish, for lunch Wednesday to Friday, 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m., or for dinner Tuesday to Saturday, 5:30 – 10 p.m.
Go Elizabeth! AGO chef chosen to compete on Top Chef Canada
February 8th, 2012
Congratulations to the AGO’s Elizabeth Rivasplata has been chosen to participate in this season’s Top Chef Canada, which premieres March 12 at 10 pm on Food Network.
Top Chef Canada will challenge 16 competitors’ culinary skills to see who can cut it as Canada’s Top Chef, taking home the grand prize of $100,000.
Guest judges this season include: Chef Marcus Samuelsson (Top Chef Masters winner), Mike Holmes (Holmes on Homes, Canada’s Handyman Challenge); Toronto Maple Leaf forward Colby Armstrong; actor Alan Thicke; Spencer “Spenny” Rice (Kenny vs. Spenny); and country music star Johnny Reid.
Hosted by celebrated actress and self-confessed foodie Lisa Ray, the competition is judged by Head Judge, Chef and restaurateur, Mark McEwan, as well as Resident Judge and LA restaurateur, Shereen Arazm.
Check out Elizabeth’s audition video:
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
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.
Who is Matthew Teitelbaum?
October 20th, 2011
Matthew Teitelbaum is the Art Gallery of Ontario’s Michael and Sonja Koerner director, and CEO, but what else do you know about one of Toronto’s most influential arts figures?
Matthew Teitelbaum
- Matthew Teitelbaum joined the AGO in 1993 as chief curator before becoming director in 1998.
- His official title is the Art Gallery of Ontario’s Michael and Sonja Koerner director and CEO. The practice of ‘named titles’ is more common in the USA than in Canada – it means that the Koerner’s made a donation to the Gallery to cover the cost of the director’s salary.
- Since he joined the AGO the Gallery has added almost 60,000 new works to its permanent collection.
- Before joining the AGO, Matthew held curatorial positions with the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; the Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon and the London Regional Art Gallery. He has taught at Harvard, York University and the University of Western Ontario, and has lectured across North America.
- He received the honour of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French government for his ongoing commitment and contributions to the arts.
- He’s from an arty family. His father, Mashel, was a painter and prominent figure in the Toronto art scene.
“(Chagall)’s surrounded by people who started painting and creating abstractly — they were trying to simplify, simplify, simplify and make something pure and beautiful. Chagall never gives up the image. He’s always telling a story.” – Matthew Teitelbaum on Chagall
Matthew Teitelbaum, Christopher Hume and the ROM’s Janet Harding ask, ‘what are museums for?’
Read
Christopher Hume on Matthew Teitelbaum: Art in his Blood and Steel in his Bones
Matthew Teitelbaum’s Abstract Expressionism 101
Matthew Teitelbaum on Paterson Ewen
The Director’s Cut: An AGO event
The Google Art Project
Chagall Media Preview: Liveblog
October 12th, 2011
This morning I’m going to be blogging from the media preview of Chagall and the Russian Avant-Garde, the AGO’s new major show which opens on October 18. Opening remarks from the AGO’s Matthew Teitelbaum (MT), Elizabeth Smith (ES) along with Angela Lampe (AL), the Curator of Historical Collections, Musée national d’art moderne in Centre Pompidou. We’ll be kicking off at 10.20am EST. – Holly, Internet & Social Media Content Coordinator.
Yum. Mini buckwheat pancakes with caramelised apple and maple syrup.
I love this logo - so colourful!
09.55 Members of the press are arriving in Baillie Court, the Gallery’s event space. (Also available for weddings by the way!)
10.20 MT is on the stage. ‘There are 118 works by more than 20 artists. The exhibition is divided into five themes – In Search Of Roots, Artistic Advances in Paris and Russia, Return to Russia, Art and Revolution and Chagall’s World of Theatre and the Circus.’
10.20 MT thanking sponsors for coming together and helping us to achieve something we otherwise couldn’t have done and talking about our three shows that examine ‘great moments in 20th Century art.’ First Abstract Expressionist: New York, now Chagall and the Russian Avant-Garde followed by Picasso in 2012.’
View from the back - Elizabeth Smith, Matthew Teitelbaum, Angela Lampe
10.23 ‘This exhibition says alot about roots, homes and artistic influence.’
10.25 ES ‘One of the most impressive things about this show is not only the iconic Chagall paintings, but works by figures like Kandinksy and others.’ (The show also features works by Deluaunay, Gontcharova, Malevitch and Rodtchenko – HK)
10.27 AL is talking about Chagall’s sources of inspiration, ‘Chagall was not an artist living in complete isolation from his peers… New abstract forms inspired his own art.’
10.30 ‘All the Chagall works you see in the show are from his own personal collection.’
10.32 MT ‘What was it about Paris that was so appealing for artists?’
10.33 AL Before World War One Paris was really the capital of art. In Paris there lots of possibilities to have studios, lots of social and cultural life.’
10.37 ES is talking about how the exhibition was set up, the ‘choreography of the display’. ‘We had to acknowledge that our space is very different, and a big emphasis at the AGO is on audience. We try and provide as much interpretive material as possible.’ Also talking about Constructing Utopia: Books and Posters from Revolutionary Russia (1910-1940), a show built from our own prints and drawings collection as a complement to Chagall and the Russian Avant-Garde.
Amazing image from Constructing Utopia
10.41 Question from the audience – When did Chagall start doing stained glass windows?
AL ‘HE started in the 1960s, in France. He was already an acclaimed international artists.
10:42 MT ‘Picasso said that after Matisse died Chagall would be the great colourist.’
10.44 That’s it for the remarks – Everyone is heading down to the exhibition to see the artworks. Thanks for tuning in to the liveblog!
Chagall and the Russian Avant Garde opens on October 18. For more information please visit our Chagall microsite.
Drama and Desire: A Feast For The Senses!
August 24th, 2010
Alex Dault
What would you do in an art gallery if you couldn’t see? We each see art in our own way. This could not be truer for our visually impaired visitors, for whom ‘seeing’ is a multi-sensory experience.
For the past few months I have been one of the participating gallery guides in the development of multi-sensory tours for the visually impaired. In these tours we are aided by a briefcase of tools (e.g. raised paintings and musical clips) that make use of our sense of smell, hearing and touch to explore our collection. Drama and Desire is its own briefcase! My fellow guide, Myra, and I were able to lead a multi-sensory tour for a group of visually-impaired teenagers using many of the exhibition’s special features to help them see the art by way of their sense of hearing and touch.
Having our visitors feel with their hands the structure of the arches and columns at the entrance of the exhibition, we explained the idea of ‘trompe l’oeil’ and discussed the methods by which artists create perspective in their paintings. We stood in front of The Oath of the Horatii by Jacques-Louis David., and reflected over the hard choice these three young men had to make. Our next stop was Antigonus in the Storm by Joseph Wright of Derby, where each visitor took a turn at creating a fantastic storm by spinning the wind and rain machines.
Our tour culminated in the unique experience of meeting our Drama and Desire actor, Alex Dault. He met us in front of Joseph Wright of Derby’s Romeo and Juliet where he transported us into the story through the emotion in his voice, as well as his dramatic interpretation of the prologue of the play. Alex also let our visitors feel the texture of his silk blue costume, the white lace of his shirt, the rich velvet of his hat, and the ticklish softness of his hat’s long white feather. In doing so they gained a better appreciation for the textures of the time period of the exhibition and the characters that come alive in it.
Alex finished with a beautiful vivid description of Paolo and Francesca by Gaetano Previati. After listening to the story all of our visitors agreed that Francesca had not made use of all her senses on her wedding night, or else she would have definitely figured out that it was Giovanni, and not Paolo that she was with. And this is one of the great lessons that our visitors and Drama and Desire taught me: we cannot limit our experience of art to our sense of sight.
In the words of one of our young visitors, for whom this was the third time at the AGO, “Drama and Desire is full-on awesome!” The next time you walk through our exhibit, take note of the rich textures of the theatre props that hang in each room; feel the emotion of King Lear as he banishes his daughter Cordelia; close your eyes and listen to the music in the Degas room as you imagine yourself sitting in the orchestra pit of the Paris Opera; watch a performance by Opera Atelier or Canadian Stage; and most importantly, use all of your senses!
Written by Jessica Duarte
Sneak Peak: Stage Props and Theatrical Effects in Drama and Desire (Video)
June 17th, 2010
Designer Gerard Gauci, together with a team of set painters, has created a seductive entry into Drama and Desire: Artists and the Theatre. It’s based on 18th trompe l’oeil painting techniques used in the theatre. The arches behind the lush draperies were inspired by the most famous painting in the exhibition‚ Jacques-Louis David’s Oath of the Horatii.
If you look carefully, you can see the way these recreations of 18th century stage flats were constructed and how they would have appeared to performers. In-house painters have aged the new plywood to give visitors a real sense of what it was like to be on stage over 250 years ago.
The AGO is borrowing stage props from the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, the Canadian Opera Company, Canadian Theatre Museum and Opera Atelier to enliven the lobby as well as the exhibition itself. Alec Guinness’s sword from the Stratford Shakespeare Festival’s 1953 production of Richard III and the head of John the Baptist from a COC production of Salome are just a few of the surprises in store for visitors.
The AGO has negotiated the loan of archival books and a toy theatre from the University of Toronto’s Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. The Toronto Public Library is lending personal memorabilia of the most famous actress of the late 19th century, Ellen Terry, to complement the startling portrait of her as Lady Macbeth by American painter John Singer Sargent. We’ve also borrowed jewel beetles (dead ones that is) from the Royal Ontario Museum to replicate the ones sewn into her very controversial costume.
In the 18th century several different machines were used to create sounds effects in the theatre. This is an authentic recreation of a wind machine. Visitors can turn the crank and create a really believable simulation of howling winds.
Lighting and sound technicians are busy concocting a storm with waves crashing, thunder, and lightning bolts to bring an English landscape painting to life. 18th century style stage machines that make the sound of rain and wind have already been constructed and only await visitors to activate them. The sound of rain is made from putting beads in a drum and rotating it, while the sound of wind is created from canvas passing over wood.
French painter Edgar Degas loved to hang out at the Paris Opera House observing ballet dancers both on and off stage. Elaborate red velvet drapes and crystal chandeliers will evoke the atmosphere of a reception room at the Opera and create an appropriate setting for seven wonderful Degas paintings of dancers. (We intend to move the sky-jack before the show opens!)
Drama and Desire starts with a recreation of an 18th century stage set and concludes with one from the early 20th century. Englishman Edward Gordon Craig designed this set for Hamlet in 1911. At the time, its stark white forms made it the most revolutionary of the day. It still looks remarkably contemporary today. Hamlet’s voice performing the famous “To be or not to be‚” soliloquy will be heard as visitors approach the columns. A strong light from behind visitors will cast their shadows onto the set and make them feel they are part of the drama.
Drama & Desire: Artists and the Theatre opens this Saturday, June 19, with an exclusive Members’ Preview on now!
Behind the Scenes: Live Performances in Drama and Desire
June 15th, 2010
Actors Geraint Wyn Davies, James Blendick, Sara Topham and Yanna McIntosh
Four celebrated actors from the Stratford Shakespeare Festival –- Geraint Wyn Davies, James Blendick, Sara Topham and Yanna McIntosh — have made their mark on Drama and Desire. To bring the paintings to life they’ve recorded speeches which will be featured in the show: Titania and Bottom (Midsummer’s Night Dream), King Lear and Cordelia (King Lear), and Lady Macbeth (Macbeth)in her infamous mad scene.
On select weekends throughout the summer Canadian Stage will perform excerpts from High Park’s version of Romeo and Juliet. Opera Atelier will feature ballet demonstrations in their production ‘Degas and his Dancers’. Single Thread Theatre Company will highlight key moments in Shakespeare’s dramas.
All performances will take place in the exhibition.
Alex Dault
Summer student Alex Dault, from George Brown Theatre School, has been hired to perform short excerpts from famous plays featured in paintings in the exhibition. Visitors to Drama and Desire are certain to encounter Alex in full costume as he performs in various locations throughout the exhibition and across the AGO.
Drama & Desire: Artists and the Theatre opens on June 19, with an exclusive Members’ Preview June 16 and 17.
Drama and Desire: How to Install a Priceless Work of Art in 60 Seconds or Less! (Video)
June 11th, 2010
Warning: Do not attempt this at home! Actual elapsed time: way longer than 1 minute!
Watch expert AGO installlers Craig, Ben, Ruth, and Jacques install Jacques-Louis David’s The Oath of the Horatii, part of Drama & Desire: Artists and the Theatre, opening June 19 and running through September 26 at the AGO.