The Ryerson Image Centre
Announces its Grand Opening Exhibition
Archival Dialogues: Reading the Black Star Collection

The Ryerson Image Centre, Toronto's newest cultural destination, will open its doors on Saturday, September 29, 2012 with a spectacular exhibition that features never before-seen works by eight of Canada's leading artists. Archival Dialogues: Reading the Black Star Collection focuses on the Black Star Collection of approximately 292,000 historic black and white photojournalistic prints, as seen through the eyes of internationally-renowned Canadian contemporary artists Stephen Andrews, Christina Battle, Marie-Hélène Cousineau, Stan Douglas, Vera Frenkel, Vid Ingelevics, David Rokeby and Michael Snow.

"This exhibit, featuring multiple artists who provide a brave new perspective on the classic photography of the Black Star Collection, is a tremendous way to open the Ryerson Image Centre - a great new cultural destination in the city of Toronto," said Sheldon Levy, President of Ryerson University. "As one of the top facilities in the world for the study, research and exhibition of photography and related media, the Ryerson Image Centre will benefit our students, faculty, and researchers - both here and around the world, and it will be a great asset to our city, province and country."

"We are honoured to be launching our new Centre with a multi-disciplinary exhibition featuring eight of Canada's leading artists, who have created revelatory new work based on their engagement with Ryerson University's prestigious Black Star Collection," said Doina Popescu, Director of the Ryerson Image Centre. "It has been a deep pleasure to curate Archival Dialogues together with independent curator, thinker and writer in the field of contemporary art, Peggy Gale."

The photojournalistic press prints of the Black Star Collection at Ryerson University portray the personalities, events and conflicts of the 20th century. The Collection is home to iconic images that were placed in major news publications such as Life magazine, Look, The Saturday Evening Post and many others. The eight artists featured in Archival Dialogues: Reading the Black Star Collection are breathing new life into these images from contemporary points of view that have grown out of their respective art practices.

In Archival Dialogues: Reading the Black Star Collection:

• Stephen Andrews breathes movement back into selected stills, exploring the cracks in the realism of photojournalism and cinéma vérité, as well as reportage and fiction.
  
• Christina Battle's multi-media project examines photographs of disastrous events across several decades to take us into the uncanny realm of science fiction.
• Marie-Hélène Cousineau gives memory and history a new life in an installation inspired by portraits and snapshots found in the Black Star Collection, which were taken in Baker Lake during the 1960s.
  
• Stan Douglas' photographs in Archival Dialogues were chosen for their sophisticated relationship to an aesthetic that would ultimately be eclipsed in photojournalism, and for their connection to the Black Star Collection in particular.
  
• Vera Frenkel's video-photo-text installation, The Blue Train, centers on a key phase of the journey of escape taken by the artist's mother at the outbreak of World War II via a combination of stills, drawings and video that trace the journey through the minds of passengers with whom the experience was shared.
  
• Vid Ingelevics' Conditional Report examines the contradictions inherent in the archiving process that the Black Star Collection at Ryerson University is subject to.
  
• David Rokeby's installation, presented on the Salah Bachir New Media Wall in the gallery's entrance colonnade, separates the mechanism of seeing from the habit of seeing, as he reconstructs the way the fovea (the small central part of the eye which can see detail) passes over the image like a searchlight cutting through a murk of blurry forms.
  
• Michael Snow's new installation TAUT utilizes some of the extraordinary Black Star Collection crowd photographs in a video projected on classroom chairs, tables, lectern and green board covered in white paper, creating a three-dimensional white screen for the two-dimensional images of three-dimensional events and places.

Reflecting on their respective processes of working with the Black Star Collection, each of the contributors to Archival Dialogues has also produced six artist pages for the catalogue.

Archival Dialogues: Reading the Black Star Collection is made possible through the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, Ryerson University, the Goethe-Institut Toronto, The Howard and Carole Tanenbaum Family Charitable Foundation, and The Paul J. Ruhnke Memorial Fund.

The Ryerson Image Centre (the RIC) is a centre of excellence dedicated to the exhibition, research, study and teaching of photography and related disciplines, such as new media, installation art and film. International in scope, this cutting-edge centre boasts three interrelated areas of activity; an exciting program of public exhibitions wherein innovative work by professional Canadian and international artists addresses social, cultural, historical and aesthetic issues; a world-class research centre that conducts research into the history of photography and documentary media, and offers an array of workshops, conferences and publication programs; and the collection, which is home to the famous Black Star Collection of black and white photojournalistic prints, as well as important fine art photographic holdings and artist archives.

Designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects of Toronto, the Image Arts Building at the intersection of Bond and Gould Streets houses both the Ryerson Image Centre and Ryerson University's renowned School of Image Arts. The new Ryerson Image Centre is a museum-standard facility consisting of approximately 4,500 square feet of exhibition space; a glassed-in entrance colonnade with the 16-foot Salah Bachir New Media Wall that is visible from the street; a Great Hall for lectures, conferences, screenings and receptions; a temperature and relative-humidity controlled vault for the growing photography collection; and a state of the art, professionally staffed research centre. The public can find more details, and subscribe to the Ryerson Image Centre email newsletter, at www.ryerson.ca/ric.

Ryerson University is Canada's leader in innovative, career-oriented education and a university clearly on the move. With a mission to serve societal need, and a long-standing commitment to engaging its community, Ryerson offers more than 100 undergraduate and graduate programs. Distinctly urban, culturally diverse and inclusive, the university is home to more than 28,000 students, including 2,300 master's and PhD students, nearly 2,700 faculty and staff, and more than 140,000 alumni worldwide. Research at Ryerson is on a trajectory of success and growth: externally funded research has doubled in the past four years. The G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education is Canada's leading provider of university-based adult education. For more information, visit www.ryerson.ca

Ryerson Image Centre Grand Opening Exhibition
Archival Dialogues: Reading the Black Star Collection
Works by Stephen Andrews, Christina Battle, Marie-Hélène Cousineau,
Stan Douglas, Vera Frenkel, Vid Ingelevics, David Rokeby and Michael Snow
September 29 - December 22, 2012
Ryerson Image Centre, 33 Gould Street, Toronto
Info: www.ryerson.ca/ric

- 30 -

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Heather Kelly
Director of Marketing and Communications, Ryerson Image Centre
Ryerson University
416-364-5701
heatherkelly@ryerson.ca

Johanna VanderMaas
Public Affairs
Ryerson University
416-979-5000 x 4630
johanna.vandermaas@ryerson.ca
Follow us @RyersonNews

If you require this in another format, please contact Ryerson University Public Affairs at 416-979-5000 x 7134.

The Future of Mobility:
Pedestrians & the Livable City

May–July 2012: exhibition "Berlin on the Go", walks, talks & more on the idea of shared streets

Presented by the Goethe-Institut
in collaboration with Urbanspace Gallery


© Julien Brachhammer

Taking steps towards a pedestrian-friendly city

This spring and summer, we are happy to present our new series The Future of Mobility, featuring an exhibition as well as participatory walking projects and a design charrette. In dialogue with our environmentally themed series The Future of Cities 2011-12 and following our artist project Transit Kitchen 2011, we now take a closer look at our streets and how pedestrians, bikes, public transport and cars can best share them.

"It is not so much new development that is the key to the future, but more a restructuring of what is already there in the cities." This is how Heribert Guggenthaler, Head of Planning and Design of Roads and Public Places in Berlin, describes his strategic plan. We took a meeting with him in 2010 as a starting point for an exploration of urban renewal in Berlin and Toronto. Our exhibition "Berlin on the Go" features innovate initiatives of the City of Berlin to encourage more people to walk. For this Toronto edition, we have solicited feedback from Berliners on their everyday walking experiences as discussion points for the Canadian audience.

The timing could not be better: As the City of Toronto's brand-new report The Walkable City shows, "walkable neighbourhoods tend to encourage better habits even among people who don't particularly value them." (The Toronto Star).

The Program:

June 5– July 31, 2012

Berlin on the Go – Towards a Pedestrian-Friendly City
Exhibition
Opening June 4, 5.30-7pm, with a talk by Toronto's star flaneur Shawn Micallef (Spacing Magazine)
Urbanspace Gallery, 401 Richmond Street West, Toronto, ON
free; open Monday-Saturday, 9am-7pm
The exhibition was developed and organized by the Goethe-Institut with FUSS.e.V, a Berlin pedestrians' rights organization, and the Senate Department of Urban Development in Berlin.

May 18, 2-6pm

The Future of a Walk
A future charrette & walk run by German-Canadian designer Ruth Spitzer with props such as walking sticks, coloured glasses, absurd objects. Followed by a workshop to initiate an envisioning process, to be documented and used as a platform for an Augmented Reality digital walk coming soon!
Centre for Social Innovation [Annex]
Meeting room #1, 2nd floor
720 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON
Limited space! Please register with your name & phone number to ruth@dorkenwald-spitzer.com!
free

May 19, 10am-c. 5pm

Ambassadors of Coincidence
A participatory City Walk Game
Berlin super 8 filmmaker Dagie Brundert will conduct a creative exploration in downtown Toronto.
Brundert: "We choose a starting point by chance (dice or telephone book). We go there, find something, any stranded goods, doodle, debris, sign, scene that gives away its secret and inspires us to find the next station. There can be beauty in banality and we'll find it. We film and record -- the magic points are what we see, what we think ... it can lead us to surprises or boredom. That depends on us. And a little on the weather. Super 8 helps make a jewel out of it!"
Dagie Brundert is the inaugural Goethe-LIFT Filmmaker-in-Residence 2012.
Across Toronto; Limited space! Please register with your name & phone number to registration@lift.on.ca!
free

June 5 + 25, 6-7pm each

Spine Walk
An Embodied Audio Walk
Toronto performance artist Cara Spooner creates a participatory tour along soon-to-be pedestrianized John Street. Participants will listen on headphones as they walk from John's sacrum (Front St) to its head (Grange). Other cues, movement instructions, narrations and sound scores will accompany the tour. Themes will be critiques of leisure, entertainment, amusement and distraction. The project personifies the street in an attempt to create empathy between the walkers and the physical infrastructure, social codes, movement, others using the street as well as urban nature elements.
Long after the scheduled walks are complete, the audio tour will continue to be available for download and self-guided free tours at www.goethe.de/toronto.
Limited space! Please register with your name & phone number to caraspooner@gmail.com!
free

More information, updates and calls on our website www.goethe.de/toronto.


Program & Media Contact:
Jutta Brendemühl
Program Coordinator
Goethe-Institut Toronto
100 University Ave, North Tower,
2nd floor, mailbox 136
Toronto, ON M5J 1V6
Tel. +1 416 5935257-205
arts@toronto.goethe.org
www.goethe.de/toronto
blog.goethe.de/arthousefilm
www.twitter.com/GoetheToronto

GERMAN CULTURE NOW

[Left] Cover Image. One for Me and One to Share: Artists' Multiples and Editions (2012).
[Right] Libby Hague: Be Brave! We are in this together (2012). Photo credit: Allan Kozmajac


BOOK LAUNCH | ONE FOR ME AND ONE TO SHARE: ARTISTS' MULTIPLES AND EDITIONS.
EDITED BY DAVE DYMENT AND GREGORY ELGSTRAND
SATURDAY 26 MAY 2012, 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM

LIBBY HAGUE | BRAVE INTERVENTIONS
SATURDAY AFTERNOONS, 1:00PM – 3:00PM


BOOK LAUNCH | ONE FOR ME AND ONE TO SHARE: ARTISTS' MULTIPLES AND EDITIONS

Edited by Dave Dyment and Gregory Elgstrand
Published by YYZBOOKS
Retail $34.95
Launch Price $30.00
ISBN: 978-0-920397-52-7
205 pages softcover, 36 colour reproductions
Distribution: LitDistCo ordering@litdistco.ca

Artists' multiples have been at the forefront of alternate means of artistic circulation and exchange for the last fifty years. Artists' multiple production is frequently concerned with ideas of distributions, reception, value, and commerce, either to mimic, mock, or as an attempt to circumvent predominant economic systems entirely. Artists have frequently taken on the role of proprietor, retailing their works in stores, market stalls, and vending machines of their own design. Others have produced magazines, mail-order catalogues, and e-commerce sites in order to distribute works. Some have pegged the price of a multiple to value of gold while others have produced work to be given away. Reflecting these artistic considerations, the essays and interviews in One for Me and One to Share address artists' multiples as a means for production, circulation, and reception.

Featuring essays and interviews by Nicholas Brown, Mark Clintberg, Océan Delleaux, Dave Dyment, Gregory Elgstrand, Cary Leibowitz, Roula Partheniou, Harry Ruhé, and Jonathan Shaughnessy.

Illustrated with over thirty-six colour reproductions of artists' multiples by John Baldessari, Fionna Banner, Joseph Beuys, BGL, Barbara Bloom, George Brecht, Maurizio Cattelan & Ali Subotnick & Massimiliano Gioni, Marcel Dzama, Fluxus, FM3, Ken Friedman, General Idea, Marie-Ange Guilleminot, Martí Guixé, Jesse Harris, Jenny Holzer, Alice Hutchins, Miranda July, Germaine Koh, Jeff Koons, Barbara Kruger, Cary Leibowitz, Micah Lexier, George Maciunas, Piero Manzoni, Christian Marclay, Kelly Mark, Josephine Meckseper, N.E. Thing Co. LTD., Maurizio Nannucci, bpNichol, Claes Oldenburg, Yoko Ono, Mitch Robertson, Tom Sachs, Paul Sharits, Mieko Shiomi, David Shrigley, Ben Vautier, Lawrence Weiner, Ai Weiwei, and Rachel Whiteread.


LIBBY HAGUE | BRAVE INTERVENTIONS

As part of the YYreZidency program, Libby Hague has curated several interventions and performances to take place in her interactive installation Be Brave! We are in this together; we anticipate the super-energy combo of sculptural drama and live human performance. The interventions are scheduled for Saturday afternoons from 1:00pm-3:00pm, with open rehearsals happening any time during regular gallery hours. A variety of documentation will be made and presented as a small video series through the social media outlet YouTube.

       Every exhibition can provide a formal clarity and distance, which furthers self- understanding. Interventions are distancing filters, which connect us to another creative mind in the short window of our availability. The format layers rather than blends ideas so that each contributing flavour stays visible, distinct, and delicious.

-Libby Hague

SCHEDULE:

MAY 26 | PHILIP ANISMAN: A READING FROM INFINITE JEST BY DAVID FOSTER WALLACE
Philip Anisman practices law, mainly securities law, in Toronto –most of the time- and has written legal books,, articles, and op-eds. He also reads literature sometimes aloud at Libby Hague's shows. May 26 is one of these times.

JUNE 2 | CATHERINE CARMICHAEL: I FOUND IT IN THE STREET- A MOVEMENT BASED SOUNDSCAPE
Carmichael's exhibitions include a solo show at the Parisian Laundry (Montreal) and an upcoming group show at the Zweigstelle (Berlin); her performances include the New Soundworks Festival (Meaford). Carmichael's cycle of poems: Ecstatic Shift was published in Hamilton Arts and Letters. She was a founding member of Niagara, an improvised sound performance group in the 80's (Toronto).

JUNE 9 | ERICA IRIS: A VOCAL EXPLORATION
Mezzo-soprano Erica Iris, emerged onto Toronto's music scene with "a gorgeous big voice, seamless from top to bottom, dramatic, and highly expressive." (Howard Dyck). Winner of the 2011 Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition, she has made numerous performances with the Aldeburgh Connection, and is one of eight rising Canadian musicians who were recorded for broadcast on CBC Radio 2's In Concert.

JUNE 16 | ANDREA CERSWELL: A VOCAL EXPLORATION
Hailed as the possessor of a "bright, pretty voice with surprising power" (Opera Canada). Canadian soprano Andrea Cerswell is emerging as an exciting presence on opera and concert stages. Highly praised as Antonia in Les Contes d'Hoffmann, she also performs as an Oratorio soloist and was featured as the soprano soloist in Carmina Burana with Brampton Symphony Orchestra. In July, Cerswell will travel to Milan to perform Despina in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, as part of the Accademia Europea dell'Opera.

JUNE 23 | ZOJA SMUTNY: A DANCE-BASED PERFORMANCE
Zoja Smutny spends her time creating dance works, performing, and teaching in Berlin, Toronto, and Montreal. Smutny's work, both performance and video, has been presented at international festivals including Hop Scotch at the Cultural Olympiad, 2010, and the 64th Festival des Cannes, 2011. Her new solo work this I LOVE YOU thing, premiered at UFERSTUDIOS in Berlin and will be presented in Tel-Aviv in May.

JUNE 30 | MAEV BEATY: A PERFORMANCE WITH VOCAL EXPLORATION
Maev Beaty is a Toronto based actor, writer and voice artist. Her favourite stage credits include Civility (Necessary Angel), The Penelopiad, The Happy Woman (Nightwood Theatre), Ritter Dene Voss (La Mama, NYC, One Little Goat), and Parfumerie (Soulpepper). She has been nominated for Outstanding Performance Dora awards for Montparnasse and Dance of the Red Skirts (Theatre Columbus). Beaty is also co-Artistic Director of Belltower and Sheep No Wool Theatre companies, and an associate of Groundwater Productions. www.maevbeaty.com

YYZ
140-401 Richmond St. W.
Toronto, ON M5V 3A8
T: 416.598.4546
F: 416.598.2282
E: yyz@yyzartistsoutlet.org
W: yyzartistsoutlet.org | yyzbooks.com


GALLERY HOURS TUESDAY – SATURDAY, 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM
For images and interviews contact Ana Barajas at 416-598-4546.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
loop Gallery presents:



Lorène Bourgeois
Entourage

Ingrid Mida
Constructions of Feminity

May 26 – June 17, 2012
Reception: Saturday, May 26th, 2012, 2-5 PM
Q&A Session, moderated by Peter Legris: Sunday, June 17th, 2012, 2-3 PM

loop Gallery is pleased to announce exhibitions by loop members Lorène Bourgeois entitled Entourage, and Ingrid Mida entitled Constructions of Femininity.

With Entourage, Lorène Bourgeois juxtaposes large-scale drawings on paper with smaller paintings in oil on slate. Her images investigate the ambiguity of the face, the head, and the body, disclosed or obscured through clothing, framing and head-dress. Here, head-dress is examined not only for its social or utilitarian functions, but also as a framing device and a theatrical artifact. A woman's bonnet, the veil of a nun, or a bow tied upon a girl's head are reconsidered in these works as objects of strange beauty.

Lorène Bourgeois lives and works in Toronto. Her work has been exhibited across Canada, as well as in France, Korea, Russia, and the U.S. She is represented in numerous collections, including the Canada Council Art Bank, the Banff Centre for the Arts, The Department of Foreign Affairs, Ernst & Young, the MOCCA, the National Bank of Canada, and the Hart House and Donovan Collections at the University of Toronto.

This latest installation by Ingrid Mida is an exploration of the artifice of feminine dress and identity. This work juxtaposes the extreme silhouettes of the 18th century dress with the armour of the modern day hockey warrior in a whimsical celebration of the power of sport to redefine femininity. Inspired by young women hockey players who display feats of courage, strength and power, hockey equipment has been transformed with feminine signifiers of ribbon, sequins and beading, and then paired with historical silhouettes made from mesh.

Ingrid Mida is a Toronto-based artist, and author of the popular blog Fashion is my Muse! She was the keynote speaker at the Costume Society of America mid-west conference in the fall of 2011 on the topic of "When does Fashion Become Art?" and will speak at the Fashion Tales Conference in Milan in June 2012 on "The Metaphysics of Fashion Blogging."

Please join the artists in celebrating the opening reception on Saturday, May 26th from 2-5 pm.

Images: (left) Lorène Bourgeois, White Mantle, conté drawing on paper, 57" x 45 ¼", 2012; (right) Ingrid Mida, Stephanie, mixed media, 2012.

Find out more on the loop blog.

loop Thanks

Audax.ca . Sumac.com

loop Members
John Abrams . Mark Adair . Elizabeth Babyn . Lorène Bourgeois . Yael Brotman . Kelly Cade . Heather Carey . Gary Clement . Tara Cooper . Tanya Cunnington . Elizabeth D'Agostino . Audrea DiJulio . Chris Dow . Sheryl Dudley . Larry Eisenstein . Martha Eleen . Eric Farache . Maria Gabankova . Candida Girling . Charles Hackbarth . Libby Hague . Linda Heffernan . Isabelle Hémard . David Holt . Sung Ja Kim . JJ Lee . Jane LowBeer . Ingrid Mida . Suzanne Nacha . Mary Catherine Newcomb . Maureen Paxton . Ester Pugliese&nbsp ; . Barbara Rehus . Thelma Rosner . Rochelle Rubinstein . Lanny Shereck . Yvonne Singer . Sandra Smirle . Adrienne Trent

loop Gallery
1273 Dundas Street West, Toronto, Ontario, M6J 1X8 (3 doors west of Dovercourt).
Gallery Hours: Wed - Sat 12 to 5 pm and Sun 1 to 4pm.
Artist is in attendance on Sundays and for the reception.
For more information please contact the gallery director at (416) 516-2581 or loopgallery@primus.ca. Website: www.loopgallery.ca

Blog: http://loopgallery.blogspot.com/

2012 Visiting Artists Residency Exhibitions
Mark Crofton Bell: More Sad Presentiments of What Must Come to Pass
Catherine Lane: Farm
May 25 – June 23, 2012

Artist Talks with Mark Crofton Bell & Catherine Lane: Friday, May 25, 6-7 pm
Opening Reception: Friday, May 25, 7-9 pm

Open Studio is pleased to present the first of two 2012 Visiting Artists' Exhibitions featuring Toronto-based artists Mark Crofton Bell and Catherine Lane, May 25 – June 23, 2012. Each year, Open Studio selects four professional artists with or without printmaking experience to create works in the print medium of their choice, working closely with a professional print artist to realize their projects. These exhibitions by Bell and Lane are the result of this intensive work period.



Top: Mark Crofton Bell, Crime Spree, aquatint, sugarlift, and open bite on paper 8" x 12", 2011. Printed by Laine Groeneweg under the auspices of the Open Studio Visiting Artist Residency, 2011-12; Bottom: Catherine Lane, detail from the Farm Series, screenprint on paper 30" x 22", 2011. Printed by Daryl Vocat under the auspices of the Open Studio Visiting Artist Residency, 2011-12.

Mark Crofton Bell has long used media imagery culled from newspapers, and in his first foray into printmaking he continues this trajectory. Inspired by his interest in how the narrative of a photograph shifts once it is rendered in a different medium and separated from explanatory text, during his Visiting Artist Residency at Open Studio, Bell has created a series of aquatint prints based on newspaper photographs, which distill the current state of the world into a cross section of images. Despite attempts at accuracy, there are inevitable imperfections inherent in the translation process; imperfections that are a result of allowing the etching process to dictate as much as possible the outcome of the final image. The various constraints of etching tend to emphasize this (mis)translation, resulting in prints that, although similar to the original source material, remain independent of it. A text by Katie Bethune-Leamen accompanies the exhibition.

Through the use of drawing-based installation, Catherine Lane focuses on the idea of the multiplicity of fragmented storytelling, where connections and conclusions are not definitive, but where the focus is instead placed on the numerous possibilities of what the story can be. During her Visiting Artist Residency at Open Studio, Lane has created Farm, a series of prints wherein an image of a barn structure acts as the base for each individual print. Providing a setting for the narrative, the barn serves as the one constant, over which multiple images/fragments of the story are printed. While the barn exists as a fixed point in time, the images around it occur at various moments in the narrative timeframe, collapsing in on one another, yet anchored to a single location. The narrative information given varies from one print to the next and allows for interpretive variation. A text by Sholem Krishtalka accompanies the exhibition.


Showing Concurrently



Daryl Vocat & Peter Kingstone, Every Time We Played House, I Wanted to be the Pet Monkey, screenprint, 22" x 30", 2010.

Daryl Vocat & Peter Kingstone: Sissies and Psychopaths
George Gilmour Members' Gallery
Presented in partnership with the 22nd Annual Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival

Sissies & Psychopaths is a collaborative suite of prints examining popular representations of queer sexuality through a child's eyes. These screenprints are evidence of a conversation between artists Kingstone and Vocat — responding to one another in a playful manner, addressing their histories and understandings of growing up and developing a queer sensibility. From dragons and death metal, to disco balls and pin-ups, a varied world of queer archetypes emerges. By adopting pop culture imagery as their own, the artists suggest that queerness is as much about an understanding of the world as it is about sexual identity.



Left: Rose Hirano, Obscured, woodcut on Fukunishi Udagami paper, 11" x 16", 2009; Right: E.J.(Ted) Howorth, Vermilion by Dawn, image size 6" x 8", mezzotint/chine collé, 2012.

Rose Hirano: Along the Grain
E.J. (Ted) Howorth: Off My Rocker
Print Sales Gallery
Presented as part of the Washi Summit

Rose Hirano's works are pages from a visual journal — a log of ideas and points of view using images instead of words. Searching for balance and personal peace draws Hirano to the simplicity of abstracted imageries using a muted palette. She is drawn to bare trees, which are akin to observing the true nature of people: the way they truly are - unadorned and without pretense. She is equally intrigued by reflections, which impart what only appears to be – on the surface.

E.J. (Ted) Howorth has, in the past year, traveled to a number of print shops in North America and Europe. As a result, his work has had to be very portable and he's chosen to work on small copper plates prepped for mezzotint, using the rocker referenced in the title, which raises a burr on the plate surface that grabs ink and produces a rich, velvety black. The direct mark-making of a burnisher pulls light into this blackened world. Although not intended as a record of the artist's travels, these images are influenced by the locales and experiences of the journey.

Pawel Zablocki
Varied Editions: Open Studio Members' Online Gallery
An initiative of Open Studio's Membership Committee, this online art gallery showcases the work of Open Studio members on a rotating basis.

Open Studio gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council and the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council. Open Studio also acknowledges the generous support of its members and numerous foundations, corporations and individuals.




Open Studio
401 Richmond Street West, Suite 104
Toronto ON M5V 3A8
416-504-8238
office@openstudio.on.ca
www.openstudio.on.ca
Find us on Twitter and Facebook

Share This Akimbo On:  |

InterAccess is pleased to present:

Constructed Land



David Bouchard, Alex Geddie, Bruno Lessard and Pierre Tremblay
May 25 - June 30, 2012
Opening Reception: May 25, 7PM

There is a webcam and a website, hosted by KimmirutWeather.com, that records the weather in Kimmirut, Nunavut via continuous still images and it runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The collective David Bouchard, Alex Geddie, Bruno Lessard and Pierre Tremblay came across the website in 2010 and found the images so compelling they began to create a database of the images.

"On June 21st, 2010, the longest day of the year, we started capturing images from the Internet with the help of a webcam in Nunavut with a program specifically created, and data was collected four times every hour, twenty-four hours a day. As of April 2012, the archive contains about 60,000 images."



The result is Constructed Land, an exhibition and multi-format (multi-channel video, interactive projections, sound) project which proposes various experiences of reading this amazing database. The Kimmirut scene remains a constant throughout, but it is transformed, re-imagined, and presented under a different light by each process. The artists have assembled and recombined this vast array of images as new visual compositions representing different facets of this fascinating town on the edges of our imagination.

"The work investigates the role of the webcam as an unbiased and unrelenting image collector, unimpeded by aesthetic judgment, as well as the use of natural data to define structure in time-based media."

Through the multiplicity of a single image, the viewer is given a narrow perspective on this remote landscape, while at the same time exposed to a variety of ways of seeing. Evoking notions of solitude and encroachment, the fragility of "settlement" and the powerful forces of nature, the work exposes us to a region of the country few of us have ever experienced.

An essay by Steven Loft accompanies the exhibition.

Biographies:
David Bouchard - http://www.deadpixel.ca
David is an omnivorous New Media artist, technologist and educator. His work explores the expressive potential of computation, both in software and hardware forms. His research interests include interactive and responsive environments, digital fabrication, display technology for public spaces, electronic music interfaces, wireless sensor networks and generative art, to name a few. David has worked as a freelance consultant on a wide range of multi-disciplinary interactive projects at the intersection of art, design and science. He is currently an Assistant Professor of New Media within the School of Image Arts at Ryerson University.

Alex Geddie -
Alex Geddie is a Toronto new media artist, computer musician, technologist, and huge nerd. He has exhibited his installation works and performed in Canada, France, Belgium, Germany and Taiwan. He studied at Ryerson, OCAD and Le Fresnoy, and teaches continuing education courses at Ryerson.

Bruno Lessard
Bruno Lessard, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of film and new media within the School of Image Arts at Ryerson University. His research and teaching interests can be divided into two areas: the contemporary moving image (fiction film, documentary, media arts, animation, and videogames) and French critical thought. He also teaches in the joint graduate program in Communication and Culture and in the Documentary Media program. He has published extensively in both English and French in the fields of contemporary cinema, film music, new media arts, and digital preservation.

Pierre Tremblay - http://www.nunavutlights.com/pierre
An interdisciplinary artist, Pierre Tremblay is an Associate Professor in the School of Image Arts at Ryerson University. His artistic practice, combining new technologies and video, questions the world in flux, how we see and perceive. Recently completed is a film series on Michael Snow, David Rokeby and R. Bruce Elder as well as work on various new media projects: Continuum and Portraits in a sentence. Exhibitions of recent note include Dans la nuit des images, Grand Palais, Paris, and le Mois de la Photo 2009, Montreal, along with festival screenings in Canada, Italy, Australia, China and Brazil. His work can be found in France at the Musée Carnavalet, Bibliothèque Nationale and the Musée Rodin. In his role at Ryerson, Tremblay has facilitated conferences and edited books that have brought scholars and artists from Ontario, Quebec and France together for cross-cultural exchange on a variety of new media topics.




Please note: InterAccess is now open extended hours on Wednesdays and Saturdays, 12-8pm.

Media Contact:
Alex Snukal
Programming Coordinator
InterAccess Electronic Media Arts Centre
9 Ossington Avenue
Toronto, ON
T: 416.532.0597
alex.snukal@interaccess.org
www.interaccess.org

Fusion: The Ontario Clay and Glass Association

is pleased to present the 2012 Annual FUSION Conference
taking place at Fanshawe College, London, Ontario
May 25 - 27, 2012

www.clayandglass.on.ca

FUSION's Annual Conference provides attendees with an opportunity to witness presentations and work by exceptional artists, share knowledge with other members, network and build the Ontario Clay and Glass community.

This year, the Conference will feature presentations by renowned ceramic artists Deborah Schwartzkopf and Fong Choo.

Deborah Schwartzkopf artistic style evolved in her undergraduate years working as a wheel thrower and handbuilder. Currently she combines aspects of both processes to create complex composite functional forms. Raised in a family of makers, a familiarity with sewing skills from an early age informs her work, which utilizes extensive pattern drafting. She acknowledges the architecture of Frank Ghery and the industrial designs of Eva Zeisel as her influences. Her glaze palette is a combination of matte glazes developed during the year of study in California with colourful shiny glaze accents. She fires porcelain in gas oxidation for purposeful variation of the glaze in a salt kiln.

The internationally recognized teapots of Fong Choo are inspired by the Yixing style dating back to 14th century China. Highly energetic, his wheel-thrown teapot forms sprout like mushrooms on fast forward. His technique is accompanied by verbal quips that amuse and give insight into teapot design. He fabricates his own specialty tools to accomplish his forms.

We also invite you to participate in the innovative Clay and Glass Workshops offered by leading Ontario Ceramic and Glass Artists:

Casting using Recycled Glass with Michelle Prosek

From Powders to Form with Jayne Cornelis

Glass Embellishment with Jamie Gray

Glazing and Decorating with Cone 6 Maiolica with Richard Mund

Imagery on Clay with Chris Hierlihy

Lettering & Decorating with Slips with Beth Turnbull Morrish

Pit Firing with Anne Armstrong

The Fine Line with Andrea Vuletin

Ultimate Pattern Bars and Strip Construction Designs in Kiln-Formed Glass with Jerre Davidson

For more information about the Conference, please visit our website:
www.clayandglass.on.ca

Exhibition One:

Gordon Monahan / Seeing Sound / sound art, performance and music 1978 - 2012
College Art Galleries
University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada

May 25 to September 22, 2012

Artists: Gordon Monahan

PUBLIC RECEPTION: Friday, May 25th, 2012 at 8pm 

The exhibition looks at 30 years of work by sound and multimedia artist Gordon Monahan. Monahan's works for piano, loudspeakers, video, kinetic sculpture and computer-controlled sound environments hybridize various genres from science, music, performance art and avant-garde concert music to multimedia installation and sound art. As a composer and sound artist, he juxtaposes the quantitative and qualitative aspects of natural acoustical phenomena with elements of media technology, environment, architecture, popular culture and live performance.

In partnership with:
doris mccarthy gallery
the robert mclaughlin gallery
blackwood gallery
thames art gallery
owens art gallery
singuhr-hoergalerie
berlin tom thomson art gallery

Image Credit: Gordon Monahan, Piano Airlift, 1988-2006, installation at Doris McCarthy Gallery, Scarborough, ON, 2011, photo by Toni Hafkenscheid

Exhibition Two:

Picasso and His Contemporaries
Kenderdine Art Gallery
University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada

April 3 to May 11, 2012

Curated by: Leah Taylor

Artists: Picasso and Contemporaries

Spanish artist Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) remains one of the most significant and prolific artistic figures of the 20th century. He arguably changed the face of Modern art as he continually experimented with materials, styles, techniques and subject matter. Drawn from the University of Saskatchewan Art Collection, and several borrowed works from the collection of the Mendel Art Gallery, Picasso and His Contemporaries celebrates select pieces with impressive provenance that exemplify the ambitious achievements in Picasso's career.

This exhibition not only looks at important Picasso prints, primarily focusing on Picasso's later period (1955–65), but also celebrates the work of his contemporaries. Ranging from Georges Braque and Sonia Delaunay to Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Picasso's contemporaries are comprised of important artists who were influenced by, worked concurrently, or prefigured his major stylistic movements.

Image Credit: Pablo Picasso, Exposition Vallauris 1952, 1952, linocut on paper. Collection of the University of Saskatchewan. Gift of Frederick Mulder. Dedicated to Don Kerr, 2011.

Itamar Jobani: People of the 21st Century
May 24 – Jul 1, 2012

Opening Reception with artist: Thurs May 24, 6 – 9 pm
Artist Talk: Sat May 26, 2 pm

From Brooklyn, New York, Itamar Jobani works at the cusp of contemporary sculpture. Jobani's signature balance of craftsmanship, innovation, and new technologies has earned him museum shows as well as residencies in Glasgow, Berlin and at the Museum of Art and Design in New York City. His work is informed by studies in fine art, film, and philosophy; it is recognized internationally for its conceptual lucidity.

Jobani's first Canadian solo show, People of the 21st Century, opens as CONTACT winds down. People of the 21st C. explores the life-work of German photographer August Sander (b. 1876) though sculpture. Jobani interfaces with August Sander's aspiration to quantify and visually map his social environs.

From 1911 through 1950 August Sander invested decades in a collection of portraits, Menschen des 20. Jarhunderts (People of the 20th Century), to capture the zeitgeist unique to Germany. Sander witnessed the rise and fall of the Weimar Republic, was persecuted during the Nazi regime, and survived two world wars, all the while utterly committed to objective photography. He used simple, sincere chapter titles to organize Menschen and pin-point identity: The Farmer, The City, The Artists, Woman... His subjects are anonymous, his photos undated, organized by categories that Sander considered "archetypes" of 20th century society.

Using sculpture and installation, Itamar Jobani reboots Sander's project one hundred years later on its centenary. It is fitting that today Menschen is extended into three dimensions—after all, the internet is hailed as a virtual parallel universe, another dimension mirroring our reality. Playing with this analogy, it is particularly interesting that the materials of People of the 21st C. include glossy, reflective surfaces like mirror, aluminum, and resin along with clay and found objects. Identity is not constructed through "archetypes" of profession; instead it is dis/assembled by an excess of paraphernalia. Jobani's figures struggle to resolve their identities, while trapped in the snare of carnival consumerism and technological flux. These mixed-media assemblages are a striking departure from Jobani's preferred materials, plywood and corrugated cardboard—a departure that opens new realms of aesthetic exploration.

In Menschen des 20. Jarhunderts Sander captures a portrait of a century. However, the sculptures in People of the 21st C. reveal Jobani's awareness of the dual utopian and absurd underpinnings of Sander's endeavor. Sander's contemporary Walter Benjamin puts it best, "Every passion borders on the chaotic, but the collector's passion borders on the chaos of memories." Jobani reconstructs Sander's fantasy of an encapsulated history as a conceptual framework, which he uses to reflect on the complex valence of the 21st century. What are the archetypes of today, and how do they exist in a world split by flesh and avatar, globalism and rampant ego-centrism? Will Jobani pay homage to Sander's guiding tenet of objectivity? How will he negotiate "objectivism" in the 21st C. when subjective experience is paramount?

Jobani invariably wows us with technique. People of the 21st C. is impressively cerebral. This project opens up a Pandora's box of complexities—we invite you to the exhibit to try your hand at unraveling them. Meet the artist at the opening reception from 6 – 9, May 24, or at an artist talk at 2 pm, Saturday, May 26th.

For press inquiries, please contact Leia Gore (Research & Communications) at 416.603.2626 or by email at info@juliemgallery.com.


JULIE M. GALLERY
15 Mill Street Toronto ON M5A 3R6
T 416 603 2626 | F 416 603 2620
info@juliemgallery.com | www.juliemgallery.com

Tues to Sat 11 – 6 pm | Sun 12 – 5 pm or by appointment

Xiaojing Yan, Bridge, 2009, Chinese ceramic spoons. Image courtesy of the artist.


VARLEY ART GALLERY OF MARKHAM

The Varley Art Gallery of Markham is pleased to present (Da bao)(Takeout) curated by Shannon Anderson and Doug Lewis with assistance from Selena Yang

Please join us in celebrating the launch of the exhibition opening and of the catalogue on Thursday, 24 May at 7 p.m.

(DA BAO)(TAKEOUT)
24 May to 3 September 2012

Sara Angelucci and Han Xu, John Armstrong and Paul Collins, Cathy Busby, Gang Chen, Brendan Fernandes, Nan Hao, Ming Hon, Knowles Eddy Knowles, Laiwan, Minjeong Oh, Ed Pien, Shen Yi Elsie, Laurens Tan, Xiaojing Yan, and Zhang Zhaohui

(Da bao)(Takeout) is an attempt to locate a cross-cultural and social dynamic between China and the West, specifically Canada, by focusing on artists who investigate, adapt and instill ideas from abroad into their practices, while appreciating the palpable slippages that occur in the transference of ideas from one ethnicity to another. The selected artists explore ironic, metaphoric, humorous and even cynical perspectives on the import and export of people, cultures and ideas.

Culture, in general, can be regarded as a system of delivering ideas from one group of people to another. In this way, (Da bao)(Takeout) addresses the metaphorical concept of delivery and interpretation of cultural identity. Artworks from both countries challenge and play with the different cultural conventions and restrictions that exist between East and West.

The seventeen artists in this exhibition are a mix of second- or third-generation Chinese-Canadians, Chinese who have travelled abroad to study art, and Canadians who have travelled to China for residencies or exhibitions. They share the experience of being "taken out" of familiar environments and encountering a strikingly different culture. While their individual voices occupy a unique position, collectively, they speak to issues of cultural transference, highlighting the gaps, distances and misunderstandings inherent in communication across cultural divides.

--------------------------------------------



Laurens Tan, Dan Sheng (Birth) 2, 2011, Fibreglass, Steel, Sanlunche Parts, Baked Enamel, 108 x 210 x 120 cm. Image courtesy the artist and Tally Beck Contemporary, New York.


PUBLIC PROGRAMS related to the exhibition:

ARTISTS IN THE ROUND
Sunday 27 May 2012, 1-4 pm
$10 / $15 including round-trip art bus from OCADU at 12pm / Members free
Gain further insight as exhibiting artists take the floor to discuss their individual approach and practice. The program includes an exhibition tour. Pre-register as spaces are limited.

TASTE OF ASIA FESTIVAL organized by the Federation of Chinese Canadians in Markham
Friday 23 June & Saturday 24 June 2012
Partake in an interactive art project with artist Annie Onyi Cheung as part of Canada's largest Asian festival.

NIGHT IT UP! organized by Power Unit Youth Organization
Saturday 14 July 2012
The Varley Art Gallery and artist Annie Onyi Cheung will facilitate an exhibition-based site-specific art project during this exciting event, which features Asian food and local performers.

WORLD MUSIC AND DANCE FESTIVAL in partnership with the Unionville BIA
Travelling Through Time and Space
Saturday 21 July 2012, 2-4pm
As part of the festival, celebrated pianist/composer Lee Pui Ming will team up with improvisational dancer Mary Ganzon to dialogue with the artworks in the exhibition through sound and movement.

THE WAY OF TEA: TRADITIONS AND TASTINGS in partnership with Tea Leaves
Sunday 26 August 2012, 1-4pm
$10 / Members free.
Certified tea sommelier Karen Hartwick talks about the origins, culture, rituals, and tasting profiles of tea in both the Eastern and Western tradition. Experience tea presentation and savour high quality, exotic loose-leaf teas at 1pm or 3pm. Participants are invited to join us for an exhibition tour at 2pm.
Pre-register as spaces are limited to 25 participants in each program.

PUBLIC GALLERY TOURS
Every Saturday and Sunday at 2pm

For more information on these programs and (Da bao)(Takeout) visit www.varleygallery.ca

--------------------------------------------

SUPPORTED BY: IBM, Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Varley-McKay Art Foundation, Town of Markham

COMMUNITY PARTNERS: Federation of Chinese Canadians in Markham, Power Unit Youth Organization, Unionville BIA, Tea Leaves

HOURS: Mon. (July and August), Tues., Wed., Fri., Sun. 11a.m. - 4p.m., Thurs. 11a.m. - 8p.m., Sat. 10a.m. - 5p.m.

ADMISSION: Adults $5.00 | Seniors and Students $4.00 | Youth (6-11) $3.00 | Children (under 6) free | Family (up to 2 adults and 4 children/youth) $12.00 | Gallery members free | Reciprocal members free (plus *HST).

FREE ADMISSION: Beginning 24 May, free admission provided by IBM to mark its 100th anniversary

Image Credits:
Xiaojing Yan, Bridge, 2009, Chinese ceramic spoons. Image courtesy of the artist.
Laurens Tan, Dan Sheng (Birth) 2, 2011, Fibreglass, Steel, Sanlunche Parts, Baked Enamel, 108 x 210 x 120 cm. Image courtesy the artist and Tally Beck Contemporary, New York.

Media inquiries: Anik Glaude | 905.477.9511, ext. 3262 | aglaude@markham.ca

The Varley Art Gallery of Markham
216 Main Street Unionville
Markham, ON L3R 2H1
905.477.9511