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

MOCA Artist Series: Stephanie Fortin, David Frankovich and Maggie McCutcheon

There are only a few weeks left in Year 1 of the Akin Studio Program at MOCA , a unique studio residency program in partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada.

Akin is honored to continue sharing profiles of the remarkable group of artists from our inaugural cohort in this final installation of the MOCA Artist Series. We have posted profiles of the artists throughout the summer and this is our final post; you can click here to see the entire series. Today we are happy to share profiles of three of the Year 1 artists, Stephanie Fortin, David Frankovich and Maggie McCutcheon.

Image source: https://stephaniefortin.com

Stephanie Fortin

Stephanie Fortin’s studio methods and research involve resist based techniques - clamping, folding, stitching, wrapping, ikat weaving, natural dye and pigments - plant, animal and mineral. Growing and harvesting dye plants and stitching.

These techniques blur transitions of line, shape and form; regardless of the attention in preparation and creation, there are unexpected moments that occur. The shape and imagery is dependent on the pressure applied during the resist - in kind, resist dyeing becomes an excellent metaphor for life. The process demands closeness, precision, physical and mental endurance that has a narrative of stress on both land and body. Opposing elements of control and lack of control, come together. The body and objects resist colour in the work. There is a directness and connection between the body, the land and colour, that materializes give-and take.

The abstraction grants choice reaction, engaging imagination. Asking viewers to be present and mindful, while contemplating the hidden circumstance of process and colour that go unseen at a scan; and enjoy looking at the same time.

www.stephaniefortin.com

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Image source: http://davidfrankovich.com Photo by Teresa Ascencao

David Frankovich

David Frankovich (born 1985) is an artist based in Helsinki and Toronto working in performance and experimental media. They hold a BFA in Film and Video from York University, Toronto (2007) and are currently pursuing an MA in Live Art and Performance Studies from the Theatre Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki. Their work is based in the body and its relation to others, including material, space and audience. They have exhibited internationally, including FADO Performance Art Centre (Toronto), Rhubarb Festival (Toronto), Mountain: Standard Time Performative Arts Festival (Calgary), Perform Now! Festival (Winterthur), ANTI – Contemporary Art Festival (Kuopio), CREATurE Live Art Festival (Kaunas), Cyprus International Performance Art Festival (Nicosia), Performance Studies International (Shanghai), Tonight (Helsinki) and Nomadic Arts Festival (Charciabałda and Warsaw).

www.davidfrankovich.com

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Image Source: https://www.limitednobility.com

Maggie McCutcheon

Maggie McCutcheon studied Comparative Literature, copy writing, and creative writing and worked as a writer before realizing she was driven by a need to create something more enduring. She returned to school and studied Furniture Craft & Design at Sheridan College. Since graduating in 2016, she has been working for herself and producing custom pieces, commissions, and the occasional small run of original designs.

Limited Nobility is a Toronto-based, luxury furniture design and production company producing small runs of original designs as well as one-off commissions. It was created in 2017 by Maggie McCutcheon with one eye on languorous indulgence, the second on the significance of materials, and the third on true forms.

Each Limited Nobility piece is on nodding terms with the canon of the past as it embraces elegantly contemporary forms. She creates work that is at once opulent and luxurious without sacrificing purpose, comfort, or concept. McCutcheon believes unwaveringly in the beauty of materials and in the truths belying organic and pure forms.

www.limitednobility.com

Thank you for joining us for the MOCA Artist Series - stay tuned to the blog for our announcement about the Year 2 cohort of artists who are preparing to move into the studios at the Museum in October.

MOCA Artist Series: Christian Butterfield, Jamie Ellis Pasquale and Stanzie Tooth

There is only one month left in Year 1 of the Akin Studio Program at MOCA , a unique studio residency program in partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada.

Akin is honored to continue sharing profiles of the remarkable group of artists from our inaugural cohort. We have posted profiles of some of the artists throughout the summer and will continue until mid September; you can click here to see previous posts. Today we are happy to share profiles of three of the Year 1 artists, Christian Butterfield, Jamie Ellis Pasquale and Stanzie Tooth.

Image source: www.corkingallery.com/artists/contemporary/christian-butterfield

Christian Butterfield

Christian Butterfield is a young Torontonian artist working on the interception of mass media and the painting of the human form. Since 2016 he has been developing a series of portraits, exploring the traditions of painting and popular culture. He uses Time magazine as a source and includes text extracts onto painted faces to comment with humour on our current society. The words in his texts are signifiers in relation to the abstraction of the human figure. Christian Butterfield is represented by Corkin Gallery.

www.corkingallery.com/artists/contemporary/christian-butterfield

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Image source: https://cargocollective.com/jamieellispasquale

Jamie Ellis Pasquale

Born in London, England where he attended the University of Greenwich studying for a bachelors in Landscape Architecture. Now living and working in Toronto where his work shows a nod to the classical history of representational and figurative painting. He is currently working on personal projects and progression in the field of portraiture.

Working from observations of nature and my immediate environment Jamie Ellis Pasquale creates objects of fascination that reflect his emotions. Paintings that are belonging to the essence of life and the nature of pure being. Inspired by art history and the formal definitions of painting, Jamie continues to push the boundaries of painting both representational and abstract to reflect a contemporary idiom previously not seen before from a black british artist.

https://cargocollective.com/jamieellispasquale

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Image source: https://www.stanzietooth.com/collection/coming-home-2018

Stanzie Tooth

Canadian artist Stanzie Tooth works primarily in painting, though her practice also diverges into sculpture, collage and installation. Tooth holds a BFA from the Ontario College of Art & Design (2007) and an MFA from the University of Ottawa (2015), where she was awarded an Ontario Graduate Scholarship. Stanzie was the 2015 recipient of the Joseph Plaskett Award for Painting, through which she spent time traveling and creating new work, completing residencies in Berlin and Iceland, as well as self-directed research in Greece and Italy. She has been acknowledged for her work by Canadian Art Magazine, The Toronto Star, Now Magazine and Studio Beat. Her work is included in the collections of The Royal Bank, Toronto Dominion Bank, A.T. Tolley Collection and several private collections. Stanzie Tooth currently lives in Toronto. Stanzie is represented by General Hardware Contemporary.

www.stanzietooth.com

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Stay tuned next weekend as we wrap up the Akin MOCA Artist Series with our final post!

Jennifer Dany Aubé, Subin Ee and Sara Mozafari

There is only one month left in Year 1 of the Akin Studio Program at MOCA , a unique studio residency program in partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada.

Akin is honored to continue sharing profiles of the remarkable group of artists from our inaugural cohort. We have posted profiles of some of the artists throughout the summer and will continue until mid September; you can click here to see previous posts. Today we are happy to share profiles of three of the Year 1 artists, Jennifer Dany Aubé, Su Bin Ee and Sara Mozafari.

Image source: Jennifer Dany Aubé

Jennifer Dany Aubé

Jennifer Dany Aubé grew up in Hamilton, and studied fine arts at the University of Quebec. She was recognized as one of the emerging artists of the region upon graduation. Since Jennifer has travelled extensively, lived in India for 1.5 years, studied Yoga and volunteered at several yoga ashrams for several years. These experiences greatly influenced her art. Her artistic explorations started by experimenting with various textures to abstractly evoke the different textures that exist within the body. Removing the skin from the imagery removes the external focus of gender, race and physical beauty, to reveal the inner spirit that lies within the flesh.

As her Yoga practice grew, the aesthetics of her works changed, and her gestural movements became pregnant with more meaning. Jennifer’s recent works are called Yantras, sacred forms in which energies are held, and a visual tool used during meditation. Her work aims to ‘scratch the surface and reveal the light underneath’.

www.jenniferdany.ca

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Image source: sheridanartsblog.com

Subin Ee

Drawing is a primary practice in Subin Ee’s work. She sees drawing as a form of a language: an instinctual language, that does not require a symbolic syntax like a spoken language. However, it is similar in a sense that it is also immediate. In her drawings, Subin’s body is translated into lines and shapes. Her primary goal is to capture a fleeting moment. Her drawings therefore reflect the presence of her body through gestural mark making. She lays down multiple of layers using hard ground mediums such as charcoal, india ink, and black pastels, then she starts to erase the image. She will scrape the image, pour water and oil, scratch with a fork, apply gesso and white charcoal. The result is a collaborative image with herself, paper, mediums, and the surface that she lays the piece onto.

She is interested in the life of the drawings after completion. When the drawings are installed, the piece is capable of having conversations with the viewers.

www.subinee.com
www.instagram.com/silentpause

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Image source: www.instagram.com/sara_mozafari_art

Sara Mozafari

Sara Mozafari was born in Tehran, Iran, in 1981. Having grown up through the war between Iran and Iraq, and the suppression of the political and social activists, religious minorities, and women, social issues became the primary concern in her life and they were reflected on her artworks. Naturally, she was drawn to oil painting and had her first group exhibition in 2000 in Iran. She started studying Fine Arts Studio at Centennial College after she moved to Toronto. It was then when she was introduced to sculpture and installation art and noticed the significance of space in expressing an idea and experiencing an art piece. That led her to continue her study in Architectural Studies and Visual Studies at the University of Toronto and graduated with distinction in 2017.

Although in all these years she explored and applied different mediums, techniques, and styles to create artworks, she has found common ground which ties all the forms of art that she has exposed to, and that is Iranian social and political issues in a way she has experienced them.

www.saramozafari.com
www.instagram.com/sara_mozafari_art

You can see work by Jennifer, Subin and Sara from now until–September 8, 2019 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada (MOCA) as a part of An Index. The exhibition An Index comprises work in a variety of media from sculpture, to video, to new wall murals by the first cohort of Akin residency artists who entered the year-long studio programme in September 2018.

While the participating artists’ practices range widely in terms of conceptual approach, style and media; they have also been influenced to some degree by the experience of sharing and conversing within an open-plan studio structure for the last nine months. 

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

MOCA Artist Series: Maren Boedeker, Raoul Olou, and Emma White

There are only a few weeks left in Year 1 of the Akin Studio Program at MOCA , a new and unique studio residency program in partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada.

Akin is honored to continue sharing profiles of the multi-talented group of artists from our inaugural cohort. We have posted profiles over the past few weeks of some of the artists and will continue until September; you can click here to see previous posts. Today we are happy to share profiles of three of the Year 1 artists, Maren Boedeker, Raoul Olou, and Emma White.

Image source: Maren Boedeker. Untitled 1, 2018.

Maren Boedeker

Maren Boedeker studied visual arts and art education at the Academy of Fine Arts in Münster, Germany.

Her abstract, large-scale canvases have been shown in galleries in Germany, Belgium and Canada. She received the artist-in-residency-grant Liguria, Italy and was awarded first place in the exhibition "Art for Europe", curated by the European Community in Brussels, Belgium.

Besides her artistic practice, she has continuously been working with children, teens and adults as an art teacher and instructor.

https://www.marenboedeker.com/

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Image source: Sarah Bodri @sarahbodri

Raoul Olou

Raoul Olou is a multidisciplinary artist currently based in Toronto. His work focus on home, belonging and archiving the mundane.

https://raoulolou.com/

https://www.instagram.com/raoul_o

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Image source: Emma White. Vita Coco, 2019

Emma White

Emma White is a recent graduate of Fine Art at Queen’s University, and is new to Toronto. Her main focus is oil painting, although she works with many mediums (such as sculpture and collage) in the process of creating a final painting. 

She is extremely influenced by her surrounding environment. This can be a natural setting or a parking lot; it can be somewhere she has lived for years or a vacation spot she passed through in a few minutes. What makes these places important to me is that she has seen them, and through the act of looking, she has left her trace there forever.

This irreversible act of occupying a space is something that she attempts to express through her work. When someone looks at my piece, they’ve now touched the work themselves, as well as the place that the piece depicts. She thinks of the artworks as portals to these special places. 

www.emmawhite.net/

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You can see work by Maren, Raoul and Emma from now until–September 8, 2019 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada (MOCA) as a part of An Index. The exhibition An Index comprises work in a variety of media from sculpture, to video, to new wall murals by the first cohort of Akin residency artists who entered the year-long studio programme in September 2018.

While the participating artists’ practices range widely in terms of conceptual approach, style and media; they have also been influenced to some degree by the experience of sharing and conversing within an open-plan studio structure for the last nine months. 

We also hope you can join us for MOCA Goes Dark, an interactive art party on August 17 by the artists and curators of the exhibition An Index. Come see MOCA transformed into an interactive art party by some of Toronto’s best emerging artists.

MOCA Artist Series: Ghazaleh Avarzamani, Humboldt Magnussen, Adria Mirabelli and Tanya Louise Workman

There are only two months left in Year 1 of the Akin Studio Program at MOCA , a unique studio residency program in partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada.

Akin is honored to continue sharing profiles of the remarkable group of artists from our inaugural cohort. We have posted profiles over the past few weeks of some of the artists and will continue until September; you can click here to see previous posts. Today we are happy to share profiles of three of the Year 1 artists, Ghazaleh Avarzamani, Humboldt Magnussen and Adria Mirabelli.

Image source: Ghazaleh Avarzamani

Ghazaleh Avarzamani

Ghazaleh Avarzamani (b. 1980, Tehran) is an artist currently based in Toronto. She was trained in painting at Azad Art University, Tehran and holds a Master of Fine Arts from Central Saint Martins, London. Avarzamani’s practice examines the role of experience, memory, psychology, modern rationality and educational methodologies in the construction of knowledge. Considering a range of spaces, structures and devices for interactivity, self-development and play, her work questions the contextual biases that shape meanings and values. Exploring these concerns in relation to growth and erasure, Avarzamani aims to expose the paradoxical realities beneath the surface of society.

Her art practice encompasses a variety of forms, including sewing, needlework, patchwork, printing, ceramics and installation. This craft dimension of her work is combined with research that seeks to discover the socio-historical relevance of these disciplines, as it reflects on her own experience and larger cultural issues.

www.ghazalehavarzamani.com
www.instagram.com/ghazaleh.avarzamani

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Image source: www.instagram.com/humboldtmagnussen

Humboldt Magnussen

Humboldt Magnussen is an artist and curator from rural Saskatchewan. Magnussen holds an MFA in Interdisciplinary Studies at OCAD University focusing on performance art and masculinity studies and a BFA from Concordia University from 2011 in Studio Arts. Humboldt weaves in autobiographical elements with larger political and social context to talk about the lack of safety and protection for queer people, even in designated “Safe Spaces”. He is interested in ways to visualize complicated notions of identity and gender / sexuality which can contribute to the growing conversation on these topics in Canada.

His practice is interdisciplinary in nature. Often his work is rooted in performance and includes the creation and use of elaborate masks and helmets. He utilizes elements of humour and glamour to make difficult topics more accessible and to create entry points for people to engage with the work.

www.instagram.com/humboldtmagnussen

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Image source: Adria Mirabelli

Adria Mirabelli

Adria Mirabelli graduated from the Ontario College of Art and Design in 2015 with a major in Drawing and Painting and Minor in Textiles. Having also studied at Parsons Paris her work is influenced by conceptual themes and narratives alongside art and craft processes. Adria uses a variety of media and practices to create her works, utilizing collage, drawing, textile manipulation, installation, poetry and sculpture. Her works are often autobiographical and explore themes of space + place, temporality, belonging, love, and longing. Her process involves the collection of extensive, rotational archives of physical materials including ephemera, photographs, digital images, and texts, often saved from spaces of lived experience. This ever-developing catalog serves as the inspiration and materials for her final works, which manifest in various physical and digital forms.

Adria strives to create works that explore experiences of fear, desire, and love in regard to personhood, place and nostalgia. She makes work in an effort to create spaces of connection and acceptance through moments of beauty.

www.adriamirabelli.com
www.instagram.com/adriamirabelli

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Photo by Sean Patenaude

Tanya Louise Workman

Tanya Louise Workman is a Toronto-based multi-disciplinary artist, storytelling facilitator and journalist who works with audio, images and text to unravel the relationships between voice and our embodied selves. Her photographic, multimedia and audio work has been exhibited and screened in spaces in Toronto and internationally. She holds a Bachelor of Journalism from Carleton University, a post-graduate certificate in creative writing from the Humber School for Writers and a photojournalism diploma from Loyalist College.

Through spoken word, sound, installation, images and writing, I tune in to the embodied experience. My body is a radio, both a receiver and a transmitter; I listen in to make audible, visible and tactile what the body holds – what reverberates between interior and exterior selves, between what is seen and heard.

Tanya is a candidate in the low-residency MFA program at Maine Media College + Workshops in Rockport, Maine, and is one of the artists-in-residence at the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto as part of the inaugural Akin Studio Program at MOCA. She holds a Bachelor of Journalism from Carleton University, a post-graduate certificate in creative writing from the Humber School for Writers and a photojournalism diploma from Loyalist College.

She is currently working on her first book.

www.tanyaworkman.com
www.instagram.com/tanyalouiseworkman

You can see work by Humboldt, Adria and Tanya from now until–September 8, 2019 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada (MOCA) as a part of An Index. The exhibition An Index comprises work in a variety of media from sculpture, to video, to new wall murals by the first cohort of Akin residency artists who entered the year-long studio programme in September 2018.

While the participating artists’ practices range widely in terms of conceptual approach, style and media; they have also been influenced to some degree by the experience of sharing and conversing within an open-plan studio structure for the last nine months. 

We also hope you can join us for MOCA Goes Dark, an interactive art party on August 17 by the artists and curators of the exhibition An Index. Come see MOCA transformed into an interactive art party by some of Toronto’s best emerging artists.

MOCA Artist Series: Leone McComas, Carrie Chisholm and Liang Wang

We are in the home stretch for Year 1 of the Akin Studio Program at MOCA , a unique studio residency program in partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada.

Akin is honored to continue sharing profiles of thetalented group of artists from our inaugural cohort. We have posted profiles of some of the artists throughout the summer and will continue until mid September; you can click here to see previous posts. Today we are happy to share profiles of three of the Year 1 artists, Leone McComas, Carrie Chisholm and Liang Wang.

Image source: Leone McComas

Leone McComas

McComas’ painting practice examines ideas of the self and the internalization of social ideologies–capturing states through conceptualized figure/environment relationships and digitally influenced landscapes. Following a growing sense of artistic responsibility, her current work is created from a place of hope (not pain), as reflected by visual metaphors of transformation and a desire to maintain a painting’s luminosity. Her painting technique is both intuitive and process driven; a method producing highly detailed and saturated oil paintings that appear to glow from within.

McComas graduated from OCADU receiving her BDes in 2013 and participated in the Faculty of Art’s 36th Florence Off-Campus Program. She is a recipient of the OIEOS 2010 Scholarship, OAC 2018 Visual Arts Project Grant, and is an AKIN artist at MOCA Toronto.

http://www.leonemccomas.com/

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Image source: Carrie Chisholm

Carrie Chisholm

Carrie Chisholm, AOCAD, MFA is an award-winning artist/designer and communications professional who draws inspiration from her engagement with arts and culture communities and institutions at home and abroad. She is a strong proponent for capacity building in the culture sector and has made valuable contributions through events/project/operations management, governance, strategic visioning, public relations, programming, promotions, volunteerism and audience development. 

When not championing her cause, Carrie methodically devotes her time to her mixed media art practice, interspersing 2-D (drawing/painting) and 3-D (sculpture/installation) applications. She is particularly fascinated with the optical affects and illusions generated by the elements of line, colour and light such as ornamentation, pattern, transparency, shadow casting and reflection. Conceptually her work questions the philosophical nature of an individual's free will when confronted by the allure of consumerism. These interests have been mined over the course of Carrie’s practice, which commenced after the completion of her studies in Florence, Italy in 2000. 

https://www.carriechisholm.com/

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Image source: Liang Wang

Liang Wang

Liang Wang is a Toronto-based painter raised in various parts of Taiwan, China, Australia and Canada. He has exhibited work in numerous groups shows at locations including Northern Contemporary Gallery (Toronto); Federation Gallery, Turnbull Gallery (Vancouver); and Rutherford Galleria (Edmonton). His work is in private collections in Canada and New Zealand. One day I saw the sunset forty-four times is his first solo show. Wang currently teaches painting at the McCanny Secondary School.

http://www.bywangliang.com/

You can see work by Leone, Carrie and Liang from now until–September 8, 2019 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada (MOCA) as a part of An Index. The exhibition An Index comprises work in a variety of media from sculpture, to video, to new wall murals by the first cohort of Akin residency artists who entered the year-long studio programme in September 2018.

While the participating artists’ practices range widely in terms of conceptual approach, style and media; they have also been influenced to varying degrees by the experience of sharing and conversing within an open-plan studio structure for the last few months. 

Sorry to bother you - on now!

Sorry To Bother You

Abstraction in an age of anxiety

July 11 - September 1, 2019

Corkin Gallery - 7 Tank House Lane, Distillery District, Toronto

Artists:
Virgil Baruchel
Christian Butterfield
Hana Elmasry
Neil Maguire
Rafael Yaluff

Sorry to bother you explores the disquiet and apprehension of contemporary life. Troubled and inspired by the looming global crises of environment, identity and economic viability, these brave works respond as signs of empathy in an age of anxiety.

Christian Butterfield, Akin staff member Hana Elmasry and Neil Maguire mix tradition of abstract painting with found objects and collage. Rafael Yaluff draws on pop art and comics to reflect upon our culture of consumption. Using electric colours, Virgil Baruchel blurs the real world with virtual existence through his tapestries and pastels.

Tangled and urgent, the works in this show are a tentative tap on the shoulder. What can we do? Who do we want to be? Are we able to adapt?

MOCA Artist Series: Steve Lee, Emily Woudenberg and Nuff

There is a little more than two months left in Year 1 of the Akin Studio Program at MOCA , an independent and collaborative studio residency program in partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada.

Akin is thrilled to continue sharing profiles of the talented group of artists from our year 1 artists. We have posted profiles over the past few weeks of some of the artists and will continue until September; you can click here to see previous posts. Today we are happy to share profiles of three of the Year 1 artists, Steve Lee, Emily Woudenberg and Nuff.

Image source: A’Design Award & Competition

Steve Lee

Steve is the founder and lead designer at Aprilli Design Studio, mostly focusing on architectural design projects and interactive art installations. He is a licensed architect in California and Ontario with 8+ years of working experience in Seoul, New York and Los Angeles prior to opening Aprilli Design Studio. As principal in charge, he focuses on design development and project actualization through all phases of projects including architectural design and product design. Steve has deep interest in creating innovative objects, spaces and atmospheric conditions which aesthetically, psychologically and functionally enhance the quality of living environments.

Prior to founding Aprilli Design Studio, he has worked at architectural design firms such as Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, Koetter Kim Associates and RTKL Associates focusing on international high rise, mixed use and hospitality projects in various countries.

Since 2014, he has been a lecturer at various universities including UCLA March II program “Suprastudio” and California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

www.aprilli.com/
www.instagram.com/aprilli_design_studio/

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Image source: Emily Woudenberg

Emily Woudenberg

Strike is a Toronto-based design studio founded and lead by Emily Woudenberg that offers frank design consultancy, innovative strategy and striking solutions for print and screens — with a client portfolio ranging from creative industries to corporations.

Emily is an entrepreneurial designer that is passionate about using design processes to bridge mediums and messages. With experience in art direction, product development, digital brand strategy and design thinking.

www.strikedesignstudio.com/

www.instagram.com/studioonstrike/

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Image source: Nuff

Nuff

Nuff creates quite design with simple forms. In an anti-disciplinary practice, he uses whatever he can to make a mark. His work spans from commercial to fine art and lives in both public and private spaces.

Nuff has been doing computer-creative-artsy-media things since about 2001, when a friend showed up at the studio with a CD containing basically every piece of software under the sun. Professionally, Nuff has been working since graduating in 2007.

Currently, Nuff spends most days designing brand identities, digital products and illustrations, and nights making interactive installations. Nuff is generally available to work with you within a few weeks, depending on current workload.

www..designbynuff.com/
www.instagram.com/designbynuff/

You can see work by Emily and Nuff from now until–September 8, 2019 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada (MOCA) as a part of An Index. The exhibition An Index comprises work in a variety of media from sculpture, to video, to new wall murals by the first cohort of Akin residency artists who entered the year-long studio programme in September 2018.

While the participating artists’ practices range widely in terms of conceptual approach, style and media; they have also been influenced to some degree by the experience of sharing and conversing within an open-plan studio structure for the last nine months. 

We also hope you can join us for MOCA Goes Dark, an interactive art party on August 17 by the artists and curators of the exhibition An Index. Come see MOCA transformed into an interactive art party by some of Toronto’s best emerging artists.

MOCA Artist Series: Eva Kolcze, Michaela Macleod, and Walter Segers

There are only a few months left in Year 1 of the Akin Studio Program at MOCA , a unique studio residency program in partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada.

Over the last couple of weeks we have been profiling the remarkable group of artists from our inaugural cohort on the Akin blog. Today we are happy to share profiles of four of the Year 1 artists, Eva Kolcze, Michaela Macleod and Walter Segers. You can click here to see previous posts in the MOCA Artist Series.

Image source: Eva Kolcze

Eva Kolcze

Eva Kolcze is a Toronto based artist who creates films and installations that investigate themes of landscape, architecture and the body. Her work has screened at venues and festivals including the National Gallery of Canada, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (MAC), Anthology Film Archives, the Gardiner Museum, Nuit Blanche, Cinémathèque québécoise, Birch Contemporary and the Images Festival. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Art from OCAD University and a Master of Fine Art from York University.

www.evakolcze.com
www.instagram.com/evakolcze

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Michaela Macleod

Michaela is from Moncton, New Brunswick and earned her professional degree in architecture from the University of Waterloo. She was awarded the Ontario’s Architects Association Guild Medal Award and the Prix de Rome in Architecture for Emerging Practitioners for her research work on contaminated landscapes located within the public realm. She is an intern architect with the Ontario Association of Architects and founder of Polymetis, an architecture and landscape studio based in Toronto. She also works as a sessional instructor at the University of Toronto.

www.polymetis.net
www.instagram.com/polymetis_projects

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Walter Segers

Walter Segers 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 with honors and received OCADU’s prestigious M.C. McCain Post Graduate Photography Residency in 2009. His photo-based works explore issues surrounding gender, sexuality, immigration and identity.

www.waltersegers.com
www.instagram.com/waltersegers

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You can see work by Eva, Michaela, and Walter from July 25–September 8, 2019 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada (MOCA) as a part of An Index. The exhibition An Index comprises work in a variety of media from sculpture, to video, to new wall murals by the first cohort of Akin residency artists who entered the year-long studio programme in September 2018.

While the participating artists’ practices range widely in terms of conceptual approach, style and media; they have also been influenced to some degree by the experience of sharing and conversing within an open-plan studio structure for the last nine months. 

Join us on Wednesday July 24 for the opening reception of An Index from 6-9pm on Floor 4 of the Museum.

We also hope you can join us for MOCA Goes Dark, an interactive art party on August 17 by the artists and curators of the exhibition An Index. Come see MOCA transformed into an interactive art party by some of Toronto’s best emerging artists.

MOCA Goes Dark: Night Visions Dance and Art Party on August 17

For the first time ever MOCA Goes Dark, and invites you to explore  the museum transformed by the artists and curators of the exhibition “An Index” from the Akin Studio Program at MOCA.

Come see MOCA transformed into an interactive art party by some of Toronto’s best emerging artists. 158 Sterling Road was once the site of illicit dance parties, raves, and punk gigs that were legendary. Taking inspiration from its past as an underground nightlife hub, we will relive this wild legacy for one night only with amazing art and music that will light MOCA up in the dark. Starting at nine o’clock, come play with artist-led interactive installations and activities on the ground floor. Dance among art with beats by DJ Lulu Wei on our black light dance floor.

This party is presented with the exhibition An Index, featuring twenty-four artists from the inaugural Akin Studio Program. An Index makes visible the labours of artistic creation through an open and honest charting of the processes, challenges, delights, and failures of making art in the city. Night Visions credits the importance of social play in creative production. For the first time ever MOCA Goes Dark, and invites you to explore the museum transformed by local artists. Cash-only bar will be available.

MOCA Toronto aims to be a barrier-free and accessible museum for all.

Doors at 9:00pm

Advance tickets are encouraged and are available at https://experience.museumofcontemporaryart.ca/452/802

$15 dollars regular, $10 MOCA members and students.
MOCA members log in first to add tickets to your cart.

The 2019 Toronto Outdoor Art Fair

The Toronto Outdoor Art Fair is happening this weekend in Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square and over 360 artists and makers are ready to welcome you, including a large group of Akin artists! Art: Unwalled' is the theme this year, as part of TOAF's core belief that art should be available and accessible to everyone - with no barriers.

Location: Nathan Phillips Square

Dates & Times: Sat. (10am–7pm, Beer Garden open til 9pm), and Sun. (10am–5pm).

FREE.

The following Akin artists have booths at this year’s fair. They are scattered across the square and range from painters and illustrators to textile artists and sculptors.

1. Andrew Pierce, Booth E320, Akin St Clair

2. Chris Harms, Booth C229, Akin Alumni

3. Dorota Dziong, Booth A116, Akin MOCA Year 2

4. Elycia SFA, Booth A114, Akin Alumni

5. Eugenia Elder, Booth E355, Akin MOCA Year 2

6. Felicia Cirstea, Booth D290, Akin Ossington

7. Jamileh Salek Ostadtaqi, Booth Lawn 372, Akin Alumni

8. Japneet Kaur, Booth A94, Akin Ossington

9. Leone McComas, Booth B182, Akin MOCA Year 1

10. Liang Wang, Booth E312, Akin MOCA Year 1

11. Linds Miyo, Booth B187, Akin Lansdowne

12. Loren Kaplan, Booth E361, Akin Dupont

13. Raoul Olou, Booth B179, Akin MOCA Year 1

14. Valentina Churilova, Booth E327, Akin Dupont

15. Zach Atticus, Booth B184, Akin Dupont

16. Natalie Waddell, Toronto Potters, Booth D269-269, Akin Alumni

17. Nicole Crozier, Booth 377, Akin Ossington

Today Akin will be onsite visiting the fair and the exhibiting members of Akin’s talented community. Follow along with us by tuning into the Akin Projects Instagram account!

The Toronto Outdoor Art Fair is Canada's leading contemporary outdoor art fair and has been happening every second weekend in July since 1961, rain or shine, in the heart of downtown Toronto at Nathan Phillips Square.

Image Source: Toronto Outdoor Art Fair, 2019.

An Index: Exhibition of Artists from the Akin Studio Program at MOCA

An Index
July 25 - September 8, 2019
Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada - Floor 4

An Index Opening Reception
Wednesday, July 24, 6-9pm
Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada - Floor 4

The exhibition, An Index, exposes work by the first cohort of residency artists who entered Akin’s Studio Program in September 2018. While the participating artists’ practices range widely in terms of conceptual approach, style and media; they have also been influenced to some degree by the experience of sharing and conversing within Akin’s open-plan studio structure for the last nine months.

To find common points of departure for an exhibition, MOCA has invited curators Marsya Maharani and Marjan Verstappen, associated with the Younger than Beyoncé Gallery, to work with the 24 participating artists. The curators’ proposal, An Index, speaks to process and production, to the varied artistic approaches found within one context and the relationships built through this programme.

Left: Photo of artist Samar Hejazi. Photo by Shannon McClatchey. Right: Adria Mirabelli’s studio. Courtesy of the artist.

Taking their inspiration from Akin’s residency at MOCA, in the former Tower Automotive building, Maharani and Verstappen drew on the site’s history as a car parts factory and also a venue for raves and artist studios. “Throughout the past year, the fourth floor of MOCA served to extend this legacy by opening space for studios, residencies, as well as programmes exploring art’s utilitarian role in contemporary society,” they explained.

“In the context of the site’s histories, this exhibition features works by artists who have produced within this space as part of the inaugural Akin Studio Program. An Index makes visible the labours of artistic creation through an open and honest charting of the processes, challenges, delights, and failures of making art in the city.”

The exhibition comprises work in a variety of media from sculpture, to video, to new wall murals by:

Adria Mirabelli, Carrie Chisholm, David Constantino Salazar, Emily Woudenberg, Emma White, Eva Kolcze, Helen Liene Dreifelds, Humboldt Magnussen, Jennifer Dany Aubé, Jessica Thalmann, Jieun June Kim, Leone McComas, Liang Wang, Maren Boedeker, Nuff, Polymetis, Raoul Olou, Raquel Da Silva, Samar Hejazi, Sara Mozafari, Stephanie Avery, Su Bin Ee, Tanya Louise Workman, and Walter Segers.

Over the next couple of months, Akin will be sharing profiles on our blog of all of the artists from Year 1 of the Akin Studio Program at MOCA. Click here to see the most recent posts in the Akin MOCA Series.

Photo of artist Leone McComas. Photo by Jessica Thalmann

Accessibility
MOCA Toronto aims to be a barrier-free and accessible museum for all. Each floor has elevator access. Two wheelchairs that are available to borrow. Service animals are welcome.

MOCA Artist Series: Jessica Thalmann, Helen Liene Dreifelds, Samar Hejazi and David Constantino Salazar

Year 1 of the Akin Studio Program at MOCA , a unique studio residency program in partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada, is approaching it’s conclusion this September.

This summer we have been profiling the talented group of artists from our inaugural cohort on the Akin blog. Today we are pleased to share profiles of four of the Year 1 artists, Jessica Thalmann, Helen Liene Dreifelds, Samar Hejazi and David Constantino Salazar. You can click here to see previous posts in the MOCA Artist Series.

Image source: Jessica Thalmann.

Jessica Thalmann

Jessica Thalmann is an artist, curator and writer currently based in Toronto and New York City. She received a Master of Fine Arts in Advanced Photographic Studies from ICP-Bard College and a BFA in Visual Arts from York University. She has worked at the Doris McCarthy Gallery, Toronto International Film Festival, C Magazine, the Art Gallery of York University and Yossi Milo Gallery.

She has shown at various venues in Toronto, Vancouver and New York City including the Art Gallery of Mississauga, Flash Forward 2010, Whippersnapper Gallery, Nuit Blanche, the Artist Project, VIVO Media Arts Center, Aperture Foundation, the International Centre of Photography, Photoville, the Camera Club of New York and Printed Matter’s New York Art Book Fair.

jessicathalmann.com
www.instagram.com/jthalmann1

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Image source: Helen Liene Dreifelds.

Helen Liene Dreifelds

Helen Liene Dreifelds is an emerging artist ad workshop facilitator working in sculpture and installation based in handweaving. Positioning textiles as tools, performers, and archives, her work investigates theme related to affective labour, social geography, interpersonal relationships, and duration with attention to combined sensory experiences such as sight a touch.

www.helenlienedreifelds.com
www.instagram.com/h__l__d/

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Image by Adam Coish.

Samar Hejazi

Samar is a trilingual woman of Palestinian descent, born in the U.S. and raised in diverse communities in the Middle East and Canada, she uses her art to question ideas surrounding identity. Through meditations on traditional practices and her present environments, her work merges eastern and western styles to express how the crossing of cultures can form new identities. Her choice in medium follows the conceptual needs of the piece which has primarily been embroidery, but also includes works on paper and new media.

www.samarhejazi.com
www.instagram.com/samarhejazi

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Image by our friends at Samara Contemporary.

David Constantino Salazar

David Constantino Salazar is a Toronto based sculptor who holds a Master in Fine Arts degree from OCAD University. His work explores the borders between necessity and excess, desires and addiction. Salazar's goal is to create work that is approachable through humour with the intent that the viewer can explor their own relationships with desire and overindulgence through his allegorical sculptures.

www.davidsalazar.ca
www.instagram.com/dc.salazar

You can see work by Jess, Helen, Samar and David from July 25–September 8, 2019 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada (MOCA) as a part of An Index. The exhibition An Index comprises work in a variety of media from sculpture, to video, to new wall murals by the first cohort of Akin residency artists who entered the year-long studio programme in September 2018.

While the participating artists’ practices range widely in terms of conceptual approach, style and media; they have also been influenced to some degree by the experience of sharing and conversing within an open-plan studio structure for the last nine months. 

Join us on Wednesday July 24 for the opening reception of An Index from 6-9pm on Floor 4 of the Museum.

Akin Projects at Zine Dream 12 - Don't miss this FREE, one-day-only event

Akin is excited to exhibit at ZINE DREAM 12 alongside over 100 creative vendors at the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada (MOCA). Exhibitors will be showcasing self published books, comics, music, zines, handmade crafts, prints & much more! One day only!

Date: Sunday July 21
Time: 10am-5pm
Location: MOCA - 158 Sterling Road
Cost: FREE!

The Akin Projects table will be featuring work by Akin artists:

Emily Woudenberg - www.strikedesignstudio.com
Enas Satir - www.instagram.com/enas.satir
Jessie Elliot-Brunning - www.stomatacollective.com
Mia Zhou
Nuff - www.designbynuff.com
Minerva Mullally
Sherlyn Choe - www.smchoe.com
Stephanie Avery - www.stephanieavery.com

Akin artists Jenn Woodall, Loretta Miauw and Wenting Li as well as Akin alumni Jenn Kitagawa and Jackie Lee will be at Zine Dream exhibiting their work independently.

Art Metropole will exhibit their back catalogue of zines, featuring work by local and international artists collected by the organization over their 45 year history. This extensive zine library will be available to browse and buy at Art Metropole's storefront space on the ground floor of the MOCA all weekend long.

As a bonus you can enjoy free admission to the Museum exhibitions from 10am-2pm while you’re at Zine Dream!

Visit zinedream.com for more information including a full exhibitor list.

Also, we hope that you can join us for the official launch party of Zine Dream co-presented by Art Metropole featuring Readings & Musical Performances!

Date: Friday July 19
Time: 8pm
Location: MOCA
Cost: $10

Akin Summer Programming

Akin is pleased to present our July and August programming. We hope to see you at some of these events this summer! 

Pointillism at the Beach, an Afternoon with Seurat
July 14 / 12pm-2pm / $5-$10 (sliding scale) / Woodbine Beach

Calling all creatives, artists and hobbyists! Join us for some Georges Seurat style pointillism on the beach! Come meet other creatives, explore and draw beachy scenes from life with us in this fun-filled and summer space!

We will begin with some quick and expressive warm ups, moving on to more focused Summer forms and scenes and we will end the day with a free-for-all drawing period. All levels and media are welcome - no toxic materials please. Bring your own materials. 

Click here to register or for more information

Akin Projects at Zine Dream 12
July 21 / 10am-5pm / FREE / MOCA Toronto Canada

Akin is excited to exhibit at ZINE DREAM 12 alongside over 100 creative vendors this July. Exhibitors will be showcasing self published books, comics, music, zines, handmade crafts, prints & much more! One day only!

Click here for more information

An Index - Opening Reception
July 24 / 6pm-9pm / FREE / MOCA Toronto Canada

An Index comprises work in a variety of media from sculpture, to video, to new wall murals by the first cohort of Akin residency artists who entered the year-long studio programme in September 2018. While the participating artists’ practices range widely in terms of conceptual approach, style and media; they have also been influenced to some degree by the experience of sharing and conversing within an open-plan studio structure for the last nine months. The exhibition runs from July 25–September 8, 2019 at MOCA Toronto Canada. Join us on July 24 for the opening reception! 

Click here for more information

Akin River Launch Party + Potluck
July 25 / 4pm-10pm / FREE / Akin River

Akin invites fellow artists, friends and family members to celebrate the opening of our new 3rd floor River Studios 2 & 3 !! Please join us on the patio Thursday July 25th for food and drinks and a little summer camaraderie. Let's get to know each other and the space!

Click here for more information

There is more coming soon! Save the date for these August Events at Akin: 

August 7 - Show & Tell at Akin MOCA - 4th Floor Studios at MOCA

August 14 - Flag Book Workshop with Jessica Thalmann - Remote Gallery

August 17 - MOCA After Dark Dance Party - MOCAToronto Canada

August 22 - Akin Ossington Launch Party + Backyard BBQ - 888 Dupont St.

MOCA Artist Series: Stephanie Avery, Raquel Da Silva and Jieun June Kim

There are only three months left in Year 1 of the Akin Studio Program at MOCA , a unique studio residency program in partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada.

Akin is honored to have a remarkable group of artists as a part of our inaugural cohort and are excited to profile them here on our blog over the next few months. Today we are happy to share profiles of three of the Year 1 artists, Stephanie Avery, Raquel Da Silva and Jieun June Kim. You can click here to see all the blog posts in the MOCA Artist Series.

Photo source: www.instagram.com/stephvonawesome

Stephanie Avery

Stephanie Avery is a Toronto-based artist. Focusing on themes of play, discovery, identity and memory, Stephanie uses humour and absurdity to intervene with familiar objects and imagery to give them new meanings and narratives. Her goal is to inspire new perspectives and initiate critical dialogue about elements of contemporary culture that are often taken for granted.

www.stephanieavery.com
www.instagram.com/stephvonawesome

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Photo source: www.instagram.com/raquelnaia

Raquel Da Silva

Raquel Da Silva is a Toronto based artist, working primarily with painting and installation. Raquel has been able to combine her interests of street art, animation and acrylic painting to develop her current visual language. Da Silva's current work is an exploration of how 2 and 3 dimensional forms and shapes work together to create an environment. She uses unconventional characters and shapes as the representational figures of our environments, and how they can coexist with one another in one space. The works involve alternative color palettes and shaped canvases to allow the surface, colors and composition to work with one another to deliver the message of unity in space through shape and form.

www.raqueldasilva.com
www.instagram.com/raquelnaia

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Photo source: www.instagram.com/junekima.rt

Jieun June Kim

Jieun June Kim (b. Seoul, Korea) is a painter and muralist who lives and works in Toronto. In her paintings and murals, she explores different ideas of “home” using colorful patterns and dynamic natural forms. Since she moved to Canada in 2016, her works has been shown at notable galleries and events in Toronto and she has been commissioned to paint numerous murals across GTA. Jieun is co-founder of KJ Bit Collective who create murals and street art events such as “Laneway Light Up” project (2018). She is also the recipient of the Newcomer and Refugee Artist Mentorship grant from the Toronto Arts Council (2018).

www.jieunjunekim.com
www.instagram.com/junekima.rt

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You can see work by Stephanie, Raquel, and Jieun from July 25–September 8, 2019 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada (MOCA) as a part of An Index. The exhibition An Index comprises work in a variety of media from sculpture, to video, to new wall murals by the first cohort of Akin residency artists who entered the year-long studio programme in September 2018.

While the participating artists’ practices range widely in terms of conceptual approach, style and media; they have also been influenced to some degree by the experience of sharing and conversing within an open-plan studio structure for the last nine months. 

Join us on Wednesday July 24 for the opening reception of An Index from 6-9pm on Floor 4 of the Museum.

Akin Vitrine Gallery + Laura Kay Keeling

Akin Vitrine Galleries are delighted to welcome Akin Dupont artist, Laura Kay Keeling back into our exhibition spaces for the months of June and July! Working primarily in collage, Laura is bringing one of her prints to life with her installation, Rocks and TV LIVE.

Opening this month on the second floor of 1485 Dupont St, Rocks and TV LIVE will move to 1747 St. Clair Avenue West for the month of July and will be visible at street level on St. Clair West.

“As an artist, I strive to explore and capture the magic that comes from everyday life. From the way the sunshine catches my eye, how the flowers look after it rains, a well groomed front lawn. I try to take moments that sometimes may be overlooked and give them a second chance to be admired. I am obsessed with landscape and how it changes in different regions, how nature’s colour palette is so vibrant and engaging and how we are so fortunate to have such beauty around us in so many different shapes and sizes. I love allowing the viewer to create their own narrative from a captured moment in time and hope my work evokes feelings from the viewer, whatever that may entail such that they can be engaged with the piece. With my 'HOT ROCKS' collage series, I feature interesting and beautiful images found in gemstone field guides which have been cut apart and put back together in a new way. Not only do I love photographing nature, I love allowing it to inspire me and guide my collages to become a new representation of things organically found in nature. My current digital collage series feature sourced imagery from National Geographic Magazines, old field guides and 35mm photos I have taken merged
together to create interesting, vibrant and engaging imagery.”

www.laurakaykeeling.com
Email: laurakay.keeling@gmail.com
Instagram: @laurakaykeeling & @lllllllllllllllllkk

Rocks and TV LIVE
Mixed media
Dimensions variable

For more information about our artists and our programming, join us on Instagram @akinvitrine.

Rocks and TV LIVE will be on view for the month of June 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 July at 1747 St. Clair Avenue West. Gallery is street level and can be viewed at any time.

For more information about Laura’s work, follow our Instagram account @akinvitrine.

Introducing Akin's newest staff members

Earlier this year, Akin issued a Call for Applications for new employees and received an overwhelming response from artists and creatives in our community. Many thanks to everyone who applied. It was a challenging interview process and unfortunately we were not able to offer positions to all the candidates, but we are pleased to announce that we have hired four new employees and they have recently begun their work for Akin!

Welcome to the Akin Team: Özge Aytekin, Soroush Dabiri, Hana Elmasry and Laura Keeling!

You can expect to see these four helping out around the studios, and at our upcoming spring and summer events and programming. We are thrilled about these new additions to our growing team, and hope you get a chance to meet them soon! 


Özge Aytekin is an Istanbul and Toronto based interdisciplinary artist who has been an Akin member since 2018 at Akin King and Akin Richmond. 
 www.ozgeaytekin.carbonmade.com

Soroush Dabiri is a multi-disciplinary visual artist, mainly focused on painting. He has been Akin member since March 2019.
www.soroushdabiri.com

Hana Elmasry is a visual artist, educator and counsellor. Her intention is to create community and allow for participatory engagement, empowerment and healing. 
www.instagram.com/miserably__happy

Laura Kay Keeling is a film photographer and collage artist with an interest in installation works. She has been an Akin member since the fall of 2016.
 www.laurakaykeeling.com