Don Valley Art Club Annual Fall Group Show
November 20- December 1st at Papermill Gallery.

David Johns is an Akin Sunrise member and has a silkscreen monoprint “You Make Me Happier” in the Don Valley Art Club Member group Show.
www.roadartcollection.com
instagram.com/davidopenroad

Partial Gallery will represent the emerging art scene at Daegu Art Fair in South Korea

In a volatile and evolving international art market, the renowned Daegu Art Fair has taken a forward-thinking step by inviting Canadian online art platform, Partial Gallery, to showcase at the 2019 edition of the Fair in November. Partial Gallery will be the sole Canadian representation at the art fair alongside contemporary fine art galleries from East Asia, Paris, New York and Miami.

The studio of Bianca Roco, one of the participating artists showing with Partial Gallery at Daegu Art Fair.

Partial will be presenting selected artworks by six emerging artists from Toronto, Ontario: Nelson Cheng, Jordan Clayton, Leone McComas, Laura Kay Keeling, Melissa Patel, and Bianca Roco. This will be the first time that these artists have shown work outside of North America.

This capsule collection of artists was selected by Partial Gallery co-founders Chris Kim and Tammy Yiu Coyne. “The opportunity to introduce the East Asian market to the unique talent, diversity, and perspectives of Canada’s artists was not lost on us. We believe that these artists exemplify Toronto’s incredible emerging art scene,” says Yiu Coyne. Over the course of the fair, Partial’s art offering – and modern art model – will certainly capture the attention of attendees, and signal a shift in modern art buying. Daegu Art Fair says, “We believe this platform will be a great solution to market activation in local art communities.”

Visit Partial Gallery at Booth #94 at Daegu Art Fair from Nov. 14–17, 2019.

To arrange a viewing or to access preview catalog, please contact hello@partial.gallery or chris@partial.gallery.

About Bianca Roco
Bianca Roco is an artist living in Toronto, Canada. After moving from the Philippines to study illustration, she shifted focus to painting. Her life-size figurative work of women explores themes of intimacy, isolation, displacement and sexuality. Bianca is part of the 2019-20 Akin Studio Program at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Toronto
Website / Instagram

About Laura Kay Keeling
Laura is a collage artist and analog photographer with an interest in installation works. Themes she is exploring with her new collage works include ideas and concepts of “home”, how we form connections with our communities and nature as well as the internet / social media and its effect on our everyday lives. Laura is part of the 2019-20 Akin Studio Program at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Toronto
Website / Instagram

About Leone McComas
Leone’s painting practice examines ideas of the self and the internalization of social ideals; observations of which are used to create conceptual relationships between figure and post-digital landscapes. Following a growing sense of artistic responsibility, Leone now creates work from her source of life to counter-act the increasing presence of anxiety, social polarization, and emotional fatigue. Metaphors of transformation sift the surface of her work, reflecting ideas of change and perspective shifts; while contrasting matte black paint magnifies the sensation of renewal despite the unknown. The desire to maintain luminosity in her paintings has lead to the development of a unique transparency-driven painting process, which produces highly detailed, saturated, and translucent oil paintings that glow from within.. Leone is Akin Alum and was part of the 2018-19 Akin Studio Program at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Toronto
Website / Instagram

Valentin Brown: Body Farm

Body Farm
Valentin Brown

Exhibition Dates: November 8 – December 20, 2019
Opening Reception: November 8, 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Artist Talk: November 30, 2:00 – 4:00 pm
Second Saturday Social: December 14, 2:00 – 4:00 pm

Location: Tangled Art + Disability
401 Richmond St W Ste 122
Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Saturday 12:00 – 5:00 pm

About the Exhibition
Is that a mushroom, or his “peen”? Is that a pile of leaves or a pile of bones? Is that the “trunk” of the body? Valentin Brown queers the human body by combining it with forms from nature to create what he calls “soft body horror”—a mythology of monsters that describe his story. Valentin’s story sits at a largely neglected intersection: he is an autistic, trans man who inherited a complicated history of intergenerational trauma. His grotesque guardians express how he makes meaning, through a gaze that is queer, trauma-informed, and on the spectrum.

Through the many eyes (or lack thereof) in the “soft body horror” world, which worms its way to you through the Body Farm, Valentin reframes the loneliness, disquiet, and grief that result from the tangled intersecting parts of who he is. This way of seeing embraces the in-between places, and the places outside the scales on which he has been taught to place importance and meaning. “Soft body horror” gives Valentin space to begin re-experiencing his story in bits and pieces, in a greater context of awe, humour, and hope.

Valentin lives and works in Hamilton, Ontario and is a graduate of the Visual and Creative Arts program at Sheridan College. He has exhibited in group shows at Sheridan College, at the Durham Art Gallery, and in Art Spin Toronto’s 2018 project “Holding Patterns.” In 2019, he was awarded Tangled Art + Disability’s Won Lee Fellowship, and the Intergenerational LGBT Artist Residency. “Body Farm” is Valentin’s first solo exhibition.

This work was produced with the support of the Intergenerational LGBT Artist Residency and Steel City Studio.

For more information visit tangledarts.org

The Body Farm says, “RELEASE ME RELEASE ME RELEASE ME” by Valentin Brown

Access Information:
Tangled Art Gallery is in a barrier-free location. Audio description will be available for the exhibit. We will have ASL interpreters and attendant care present during public engagements. Service animals are welcome. We request that you help us to make this a scent-free environment.

Directions:
Tangled Art Gallery is located in studio 122 on the main floor on the 401 Richmond Building. The closest accessible subway station is at Osgoode Station. The closest accessible streetcar stop is the 510 Spadina Queen Street West Stop (going south from Spadina Station), and the 510 Spadina Richmond Street Stop (going north from Union Station).

Image Descriptions:
Image 1 (The Body Farm says, “MAYDAY! MAYDAY! MAYDAY!”):
A pink monster plucks a white-hot Panic Orb straight out of the middle of your brain. This monster, with his two pronged Peen-head, immediately sensed your reptilian reflexes activating—almost as immediately as your body flushed with fear in the first place. He says that he hears you singing, “MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY,” everyday, and that –today- he will help you sing until your throat is hoarse and the fear stops firing, as it always does eventually.

Image 2 (The Body Farm says, “RELEASE ME RELEASE ME RELEASE ME”):
“Dear You,” says the outstretched Hand of Your Future Self, “I’m so sorry that I left you alone for so long.” One of your Little Lonely Monster Parts is curled up in a ball, unmoving. You can hear their thoughts, and they are screaming: “RELEASE ME, RELEASE ME, RELEASE ME, RELEASE ME,” over and over. Thousands of holy worms stemming from your Future Self envelop your Lonely Part. The Hand of Your Future Self says, “You don’t know yet that it is –your- bioluminescence that lights the tips of my fingers.”

Photorama at 33 — Save the Date!

Preview Hour
Thursday, November 21, 2019 5:00 – 6:00 pm

Sale and reception
Thursday, November 21, 2019, 6:00 – 10:00 pm

Dance party
10 pm – late

Exhibition and Sale Continues
November 22 – December 7, 2019
Gallery hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 12:00 – 5:00 pm

Save the date for the 33rd edition of Photorama, Gallery TPW’s annual fundraising exhibition, which features contemporary photography and lens-based art by over 80 artists.

The public sale and reception will be the first opportunity to purchase artworks by such exciting artists as Steven Beckly, Anique Jordan, Paul Butler, Maggie Groat, Isabel M. Martinez, Jennifer Murphy and Edward Burtynsky. The full list of participating artists will be announced in early November – stay tuned!

Gallery TPW is pleased to announce that the Photorama fund for the Ryerson Image Centre (RIC) will be sponsored through the generosity of Toronto Image Works (TIW). For this exciting initiative, TIW will be underwriting an acquisition fund, enabling the curators at RIC to purchase work from the Photorama exhibition for its world-class photography collection. The selected artworks will be announced at the beginning of the public sale and reception at 6:00 pm.

The evening will include food and a cash bar, stay late and celebrate this wonderful community with us on the dancefloor!

Proceeds from sales support Gallery TPW’s mission and the participating artists.

Admission to the Photorama Reception and sale is FREE and open to the public.

#EASTENDLOVE Exhibition

You are invited to join East End Arts for our final #EastEndLove Exhibition taking place this November! The opening reception of this exhibition will take place on Thursday November 7th, 2019 at Riverdale Hub on Gerrard St. E. Come and view all of the collaborative art pieces we've created with community members throughout the year, enjoy some refreshments, learn more about the art-making process of collaborative screen-printing, and pick up a print or two to take home with you, while supplies last!

Cost: Free to attend!
Date: Opening reception - Thursday November 7, 2019
Full Exhibition runs from: Monday November 3rd until Friday November 29th, 2019
Time: Opening reception, 7pm - 9pm. Full exhibition, normal gallery hours.
Location: Riverdale Hub, 1326 Gerrard St. E (Main Floor Gallery)

Food Sport at Good Sport

Food Sport is the transformation from art gallery to grocery store. 26 artists explore themes around advertising, consumerism, the environment, health, the body, and more in this cash and carry pop-up store. With most items priced under $50, Food Sport challenges conventional notions of art collecting through re-contextualizing the experience of purchasing art.

Opening Reception: Fri Oct 4, 7-9 pm
Closing Party: Thurs Oct 31, 7-9 pm

Participating artists:
Paul Abeleira, Whymark Austen, Tamar Bresge, Nickolas Cornwall, Allison Del Vecchio, Jacqueline Demendeev, Amelia Does, Joseph Farrugia, Laura Keeling, Justin Langille, Sarah Lanteigne, Ozwel Ryann Le Clair, Danielle Longfield, Connor MacKinnon, Jennifer Martin, Sarah Moreau, Ben Morin, Zane Pate, Alyssa Pisciotto, Kayla Polan, Lydia Santia, Becca Serena, Joanna Skiba, Shannon Taylor-Jones, Rin Vanderhaeghe, Isabella Vesely

Curated by Zane Pate and Shannon Taylor-Jones.

How to Live Forever: Zach Atticus Tuinman & Julia Hepburn

Gallery House presents Akin MOCA artists Julia Hepburn and Zach Atticus Tuinman - two extraordinary artists each with new works.

September 28 – October 25, 2019

Gallery House, 2068 Dundas Street West, Toronto

An exhibition of the day to day, reality and the stories we knit.  It touches upon the emotion of empathy, the human spirit and positive perception.  The works are composed of oil on panel and sculptures (with some movable parts) and  includes such scenes as elevator rides, snowy days, motherhood…and much more.  The quiet moments, self-reflection, conscious, unconscious choices define who we are and how we tell ourselves stories to cling to and help carry ourselves into the next day.

Both artists works showcase light each uniquely in their own way sometimes demonstrating humor in darkness.  Deceptively melancholic, the small series of paintings and sculpture are so much and more.  Each artist background gives us different perspectives from the point of view of age, life stage and various types of mediums that capture the sad, beautiful, precious glimmers of life.

Above: Julia Hepburn, Physical Effects, 2018, Mixed Media Sculpture, 33 x 26 x 28″
*This particular work has moving parts and is 3-dimensional.

Float into these worlds and find human solidarity in how we each entwine, persevere and overcome hurdles —from the mind numbing day to day, selfless acts, disappointments, random acts in life and discover how to find hope to carry on.

Must See Nuit Blanche Events

IN VIEW - East End Arts - Future Danforth

Walter Segers and Lilliput Gallery (Make Love Not War Installation at August Kinn, 1374 Danforth Avenue)

ARTIST: Walter Segers
THEME: Future Danforth
PROJECT: MAKE LOVE NOT WAR

Together with Lilliput Gallery, Walter presents a movable doll house consisting of still 2D images and 3D altered toys titled MAKE LOVE NOT WAR. Each room in the house will tell a unique story that reminds us to make ‘love’ instead of ‘war’. The future of the Danforth is bright, with a vision of love instead of war, he develops a cohesion for the neighbourhood community.



Learn more here.

The Artists Protest Resistance
Artist: Artists Protest Projects
Medium: Projection
Project Type: Independent Projects
Neighbourhood: West Queen West
Projecting images, GIFs and videos onto public surfaces, contemporary artists will express themes of protest and resistance.

Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St. W. Exterior, north wall

“The Artists Protest Resistance” will ask audiences to consider how the province of Ontario and the city of Toronto are under siege from major political forces. Many artists are concerned about the erosion of hard-won, democratic, community standards here. Global political currents are trending towards the decimation of human values, too. If the time for action is at hand, how are artists to respond? A vital mode of expression for artists in voicing their concerns is their artwork. Venues for political forms of expression must extend beyond studio walls and art-gallery spaces. Thus the collective Artists Protest Projects was born. Participating artists range from well-established to emerging. "The Artists Protest Resistance" will also be presented at a second location: Samara Contemporary at 156 Augusta Ave. in Kensington Market.

Learn more here.

Both of these exciting Nuit Blanche installations feature the work of Akin MOCA alum and current Akin River artist Walter Segers. Walter Segers is a visual artist who emigrated from Belgium in 1993 and currently lives and works in Toronto. He graduated from the Ontario College of Art and Design University in 2008. He finished his year long residency at Museum Of Contemporary Art Toronto (MOCA) on September 30, 2019 where he worked on various photo-based projects.

Eulogy for the Coffin Factory at Nuit Blanche

We invite you to join Akin Ossington artist Nicole Crozier, and Akin Dupont artist Alison Postma (formerly members of the Coffin Factory) along with 22 other artists at Nuit Blanche at 89 Niagara St on October 5, 2019 for ‘Eulogy for the Coffin Factory’. 24 coffins adorned by former artist-tenants of the Coffin Factory will transform the audience into a funeral procession, mourning the passage of this creative hub.

“Eulogy for the Coffin Factory” is a ceremonial exhibition that will mourn the passage of the Coffin Factory at 89-109 Niagara Street. Originally built in the 1880s, this was home to the National Casket Company from 1908 until 1973. In more recent years, it has become known as the Coffin Factory, been used as artist studios and workshops, and served as an important space for the creative ecology of downtown. Now, these buildings are slated for redevelopment. Tenants were evicted in early 2019, marking the end of an era for the area. This project will provide an opportunity for the public to grieve, reflect and celebrate the Coffin Factory. Playing on the building’s casket-factory history, 24 former artist-tenants have been commissioned to adorn 24 coffins produced for the event. These will be displayed in a long row lining the south side of Niagara Street.

About Nuit Blanche:
For one sleepless night, experience Toronto transformed by hundreds of artists and nearly 90 art projects. This year's program responds to one event-wide curatorial theme of Continuum. The theme follows many paths during the event – set against a backdrop of the ever-present renewal of night into day, a continuum of experience and ideas is brought to light by the participating artists. A series of Nuit Talks will take place before and after the all night art event and nine extended art projects will remain on display through October 14.

Date: October 5, 2019
Time: Sunset to Sunrise – 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.

Studio Mates Group Exhibition

September 26 - October 1, 2019
Opening Reception: Thursday, September 26, 7 PM – onwards
Gallery Hours: September 27 - Oct 1 • 12 to 7 PM, Closed Monday

Curated by Mel Hayes and Dalia Hassan and hosted at Black Cat Showroom (1785 St. Clair Avenue West, Toronto).

Studio Mates is a group show featuring work by 16 artists who share a space at the Akin Lansdowne studios.

Studio Mates is a snapshot of a shared studio’s constantly changing occupants and their diverse work, capturing a dynamic environment where at any given moment there is a plethora of concepts, processes, materials and creations.

Featured artists:
Rakefet Arieli, Andrea Bailey, Elizabeth Basskin, Brianne Burnell, Rachel Butler, Claire Correia, Dalia Hassan, Mel Hayes, Kim Kermode, Michelle Evelyn Lee, Aaron Lozynsky, Linds Miyo, Eloisa Morra, Nick Murido, Michelle Rawlings, and Gwen Tooth.

Child of Rock: Solo Exhibition by VAYA

September 5 to September 28, 2019

VAYA UNPLUGGED/Acoustic Performance: Thursday September 19 2019 • 6 PM to 7 PM

RSVP either event to info@urbangallery.ca 

ABOUT VAYA

An incisive & provocative artist, Akin Ossington member VAYA explores, mixes, meets & transcribes the darkness in the angels’ voices. An energetic claw on each canvas, VAYA dances as she works and often by candlelight to be closer to the imperceptible. "It's always a discovery the next day in daylight." She also employs a camera to share her creativity, "A way of getting out of yourself and becoming your own observer is fun and fascinating". VAYA has fun, dances, writes prayers on the souls of her music legend subjects. "I like to pay tribute to those who have suffered so much, laying some particles of peace over their restless souls - isn’t that the artist's role? Transfigure suffering into masterpieces?

"It's always a discovery the next day in daylight."

~Would she become animal or simply an expression of the painting, these faces that invite her to dance, whatever it is? 

"The limit is tiny between Madness and Genius." It's just a question of knowing how to pass the stirrup to this crazy horse that takes you to the depths. Keep your eyes closed in all confidence with it, holding the reins with your fingertips, while keeping a clear vision, discipline and flexibility.

When she has fun with a camera, VAYA plays the photographer as the muse. 

"A way of getting out of yourself and becoming your own observer is fun and fascinating".

VAYA has fun, dances, writes prayers on the souls of Legends, particularly iconic.

"I like to give a tribute to those who have suffered so much, some particles of peace over their restless souls: Isn’t it the Artist's role? Transfigure suffering into masterpieces?”

Akin Vitrine Gallery + Erin Candela

We are delighted to introduce our current Akin Vitrine Gallery artist, Akin King alumi, soon to be Akin MOCA artist and staff member Erin Candela. Erin’s work will be on exhibit in our galleries beginning at 1485 Dupont for the month of September and then 1747 St. Clair Avenue West for the month of October.

Erin Candela is a Canadian artist originally from northern BC, currently living in Toronto. Often using historical documents such as photographs, public school books, nature encyclopedias and community journals, themes of Memory and identity are frequently present in her drawings. Ideas of North, Canadian landscape, and portentous depictions of wild creatures and characters are also common and contribute to a scattered and ambiguous narrative.

Things Go So Wrong?
Mixed Media
Dimensions Variable
2019

To contact the artist:
Instagram: @candles_
#Akinvitrine
www.erincandela.ca

Akin Collective + Akin Projects are excited to present our 2019 programming in two Vitrine Galleries located at Akin Dupont and Akin St. Clair. These miniature galleries feature the diverse talent of our members with travelling installations rotating each month. Each artist will be featured for the first month at Dupont and second month at St. Clair. For more information about our artists and our programming, join us on Instagram @akinvitrine.

‘Things Go So Wrong?’ will be on view for the month of September in our Dupont Akin Vitrine Gallery, located in the Clock Factory Building at 1485 Dupont Street (entrance on Campbell Avenue). Find Akin Studio 215 on the second floor and follow the sign into the hallway around the corner. The building is open from 9am to 6pm, Monday to Saturday.

The exhibition will then travel to the Akin St. Clair Vitrine Gallery and be on view for the month of October at 1747 St. Clair Avenue West. Gallery is street level and can be viewed at any time.

Charmaine Lurch: Compounding Vision

Compounding Vision by Charmaine Lurch at RiverBrink Art Museum

September 12, 2019 – February 1, 2020

Join us Thursday September 12th from 5 – 7 p.m. to celebrate the opening of Compounding Vision by Akin Sunrise artist Charmaine Lurch curated by Debra Antoncic.

Toronto-based artist Charmaine Lurch interrogates complex histories of humans and the environment. This exhibition presents the artist’s recent work exploring borders and boundaries, in painting, photography, sculpture and installation.

The exhibition runs from September 12th, 2019 – February 1, 2020 at RiverBrink Art Museum (116 Queenston Street, Queenston).

Charmaine Lurch is a sculptor, painter and installation artist who creates work that imagines inside and outside of history, involves quiet moments of joy, and draws our attention to human-environmental relationalities. an inherent sense of movement resides in the pieces. Lurch maps belonging and representation in space and place, outside of normative racial scripts. Her work has been exhibited at The Art Gallery of Ontario, Durham Art Gallery, the Montreal museum of art, Royal Ontario Museum , Station Gallery, Toronto Centre for the Arts, The Gladstone, Nuit Blanche, the National Gallery of Jamaica, and more.

Surface Play | Lindy Fyfe and Ruth Adler

Samara Contemporary is pleased to present ​Surface Play,​ an exhibition of work by Canadian textile artists Lindy Fyfe and Ruth Adler, curated by Rafi Ghanaghounian. The exhibition is an exploration of the artists’ respective investigations into textile as painting. Both Adler and Fyfe employ textiles as the chief component in their work, however their approaches contain more similarities than their outcomes.

Fyfe, who works with recycled fabric from thrift shops, breathes new life into discarded materials through harnessing their existing forms and patterns, translating them into new compositions. This creative and intuitive process results in abstract compositions that strongly reference the masters of modernist painting including Rothko and Mondrian, but also hint at the earth’s topographic surfaces.

Adler’s similar creative impulse is reflected in the vibrant assemblages she constructs through material conversations. When looking at the structural appearance of her works, it becomes clear that Adler gains inspiration from anatomy and architecture, among other things. Utilizing textile remnants as well as water-based inks and paints, her pieces reference the aesthetics of fashion and other cultural forms.

When: On view now. Exhibition runs till September 29 

Where: Samara Contemporary, 156 Augusta Ave, Kensington Market

ABOUT RUTH ADLER

Ruth Adler’s work has been exhibited internationally since the 1980s. She has presented numerous solo exhibitions including, Jim Kempner Fine Art (New York), Lonsdale Gallery (Toronto) and Lorber Gallery (Tel Aviv). In the 80s and throughout the 90s she ran her own t-shirt label in Tel Aviv and designed t-shirts for Marci Lipman (Toronto). Ruth received awards and grants for her work including a Bravo Fact award for her video “How Yellowknife Got Its Name.” She has also did commissions for the Iroquois Hotel (New York) and The Schneider Children's Medical Centre (Petach Tiqvah, Israel). In 2000 Ruth began making her digital circles on paper that are currently represented by Artstar (New York). Ruth currently lives and works in Toronto and Tel Aviv.

ABOUT LINDY FYFE

Lindy Fyfe is a visual artist based in Toronto where she maintains an active studio practice concentrating on painting, fabric construction, drawing and collage. In 2010 The Robert McLaughlin Gallery presented 'Confluence', a major solo exhibition surveying Fyfe's work across her full range of media. In 2014 she installed a solo exhibition of fabric work as a component of World of Threads, Oakville, and participated in Fibreworks 2014, at the Cambridge Galleries. In 2015 Fyfe was selected as a finalist for the Salt Spring National Art Prize exhibition in British Columbia, was included in the annual Art With Heart auction in Toronto, and had a solo exhibition, titled Shift Twist, at Verso Gallery in Toronto. In 2016 she installed Tilt, a site-specific work at *QueenSpecific in Toronto. In 2019 her work will be included again in the annual Art With Heart auction to be held at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

VEER way out of line by Kai Hart

Exhibition September 3rd - 22nd, The Corridor Gallery

Explosive new paintings by Kai Hart, recent graduate from Centennial College’s Fine Arts Studio program. Intense and expressive large scale paintings take over the Corridor Gallery. City banners, urban caves, rumble, ancient symbology, this exhibition is way out of line!

Toronto Biennial of Art Announces Inaugural Programs

Toronto Biennial of Art (the Biennial) recently announced an extensive series of free public programs during the 10-week Exhibition that will take place during its inaugural edition, from September 21 to December 1, 2019. More than 70 local and international participants will lead talks, workshops, and performances that intersect with and expand ideas emerging from the 2019 Biennial’s central question: “What does it mean to be in relation?”

Led by Deputy Director and Director of Programs Ilana Shamoon, and conceived by Curator Clare Butcher and Associate Curator Myung-Sun Kim, the Biennial’s Programs team has developed five programming streams: Co-Relations, Currents, Storytelling, Tools for Learning, and the Toronto Biennial of Art Residency.

Programs will take place at more than 15 Biennial sites across Toronto. Conceived to extend beyond the event itself to activate the Biennial between editions, Programs is responsive to conversations that emerge during the inaugural Biennial and will precipitate ongoing projects, research, events, and partnerships that create a foundation for continued exchange into 2021.

Co-Relations explores critical local issues—livability, access, interconnectivity—that extend ideas addressed in the Biennial’s first edition. The program demonstrates a deep commitment to placemaking in a series of performances and gatherings, including artist talks, participatory games, civic conversations, youth-engaged projects, workshops, and communal meals. Participants are invited into shifting and expanding dialogues that reveal our often invisible, intangible, or overlooked connections to each other and our environment. These unseen or unnoticed connections provide insights into how we can better build and sustain symbiotic relationships over time.

Currents is a platform for artist-led programming that invites visitors to engage directly with the creative and critical processes at work in the exhibition. This stream consists of talks, performances, symphonies, star-gazing, and ceremonies that trace ideas circulating within and beyond the Biennial’s main sites and connect with other exhibition locations. Be it through acts of restitution, revolutionary wearables, ways of knowing with the water, or the ethics of making, Currents asks participants to reconsider what it means to be in and out of relation in the context of artworks featured in this year’s Exhibition.

Storytelling seeks to shift the mediation of contemporary art away from conventional modes of interpreting and informing to narrating and embodying through weekly walks and conversations. An intergenerational and multilingual group of storytellers share personal insights and experiences of the city as they guide visitors through the exhibition’s site-specific installations, research, and generative proposals. Storytellers will bring submerged narratives to the surface in relation to the history and politics of Toronto’s shifting shoreline.

Tools for Learning is generated with Biennial participants and collaborators, and comprises group exercises, performative scores, proposals for collaborative thinking and making, artist interviews, and audio tours. Whether in the Biennial, the classroom, or at home, our multimedia toolbox can be put to use by educators, students, and other community members in connecting their own experiences and curricula with process-based, playful approaches to contemporary artistic practices.

The Toronto Biennial of Art Residency is an experimental platform for artists with socially engaged practices. It supports artists whose work is challenging disciplinary and aesthetic conventions to expand notions of community and enact social change at various scales. For its inaugural residency, the Biennial is proud to present Life of a Craphead, a collective whose work spans performance art, film, and curation.

Double Vision II: Clara Hirsch and Jake Hirsch-Allen

September 12-22

2nd floor gallery

Opening reception: September 12, 7-10pm, everyone welcome!

Double Vision II is the continuation of a mother-son collaboration, first shown in Madrid in 2016. It brings together Akin Alum Clara Hirsch’s painted images and the photographs of Jake Hirsch-Allen. Double Vision II portrays the tension between urban space and the natural environment. The series illustrates Clara’s conflicted perspective: on the one hand, a delight in architecture, culture and the vitality of urban life; and on the other, her love of nature and organic forms. This series also includes four of Jake’s stand-alone photographs.

Image via: clarahirsch.com

Only a few days left to check out Tsunami by Gwen Tooth at Red Head Gallery

There are only a few days left to check out Tsunami, a solo exhibition by Akin Lansdowne artist Gwen Tooth at Red Head Gallery. The show runs until August 24, 2019. The exhibition is Gwen’s exploration of expressing the soul, energy and movement of bodies of water.

“This exploration into the destructive and damaging force of tsunami walls took me further into the dark side and danger of uncontrollable walls of water. I incorporated bits of gold foil, and many types of textured mediums, such as black lava, resin, sand and glass beads, to express the nature and power of the churning and fast-moving wall of water as it picked up debris, crunched prized possessions, and stirred up the ground beneath it. This was and is the force of total destruction. I look back upon the evolution of my work as the semblance of reality disappears, yet the essence and feeling remain. With the installation of these paintings in close proximity, as I stand in the middle of the room, I am feeling that nature is in charge, not humans.”
- Gwen Tooth

About Gwen Tooth:
Gwen is an experimental and expressionist painter. She has in recent years completed several series of acrylic paintings revealing the moods and energies of water – whirlpools, waterfalls, and tsunamis. Gwen is a member of Propeller and of Gallery 1313. She is an Associate member of the Society of Canadian Artists. Gwen holds a B.A. from Western University, a BFA (Honours) 2005 from Ontario College of Art and Design University and a Fine Arts Certificate (Honours) from Humber College. www.zhibit.org/gwentooth

Gallery 44 Launches Chapter 2 of “A maze of collapsing lines”

Gallery 44 is excited to launch Chapter 2 of A maze of collapsing lines; titled A Dark Room, Chapter 2 features the self-curated work of Black Artists Union members Jem Baptiste, Oreka James, Sylvia Limbana, Filmon Yohannes and Zoma.

A Dark Room takes the form of two mini-series that explore Black representation in film through self-expression and storytelling. The first mini-series, The Body Talks and I’m Listenin’, consists of two videos that highlight Black nightlife as the originator of many popular styles of dance that have been appropriated by mainstream culture. These videos function to give credit back to the originators of these dance styles, that include queer nightlife, and “voguing”, among others. The second series, I Declare this Meeting of the Midnight Society Closed, foregrounds storytelling as a way to learn Black histories and ancestral lineage, and honours the domestic labour performed by Black wimmin. These videos will be released sequentially, on a weekly basis.

Alongside the film series, A Dark Room serves as a place for interaction and discourse about Black film and Black media for the Black community; A Dark Room features an online archive, created by and for the community. Only members of the Black community will be given access to this section of the website, and will have the opportunity to embed and link to their own content, creating a crowd-sourced archive.

The Storefront Gallery at Arts Etobicoke Presents Etobicoke School of the Arts Dual Show

Dates: July 22 - August 23, 2019
Location: The Storefront Gallery
Opening Reception: July 31 from 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Join us on Wednesday, July 31, for the opening reception where the artists will speak about their artistic processes and concepts. Flow State is a dual show by grade 11 artists Ruby Davies and Eli Lang from Etobicoke School of the Arts.

Flow State is the state of creating where everything else around you, except your art, becomes irrelevant. Artists Eli Lang and Ruby Davies show off their unique, and yet complementary, artistic works in this brand new exhibition. Lang's breathtaking landscapes and Davies's wonderful representation of the body truly take the eye and imagination on a journey, and make anything else you see seem irrelevant!

"Untitled", Lang (Painting)