November at Ossington & Queen

War at a Distance, at Gallery TPW. A group exhibition of diverse works by both Canadian and international artists and journalists. Francesco Simeti Wallpaper installation. Richard Johnson Postings from Afghanistan drawings, in a PowerPoint slide show, still shown here. 56 Ossington Avenue

Dark Lady Dark Fight at Katharine Mulherin Art Projects, 1080 Queen St W. Dark (!); halloween creepesque; fun too. B&W ink drawings. Artists is past participant of Sketch.

TO East West Text Work

Lauri Lynnxe Murphy's unique works are “designed to interact with one another as a series of thoughts, or ideas, that when viewed together create a greater meaning. Each painting is like a phrase, word, or sentence, or perhaps even a rebus, whose subtext expands beyond its obvious parts”. Also John Will with a humorous, astute, (foreboding of more trouble to come?) piece shown here. Look for upcoming feature in Canadian Art Top 10 Canadian artists. Seen at Text-based, a group show at @ Brayham Gallery on Queen East until Nov 1st
brayhamcontemporaryart.blogspot.com

At Birch Libralato until Oct 10th, Andy Patton. “Andy Patton's new paintings are deeply influenced by his immersion in the study of Song period calligraphy in classical China. Like those works, they are both paintings and poems; they weld vision and language together.” Shown here, Fallen Blossoms. The work reads in vertical rows running top to bottom; big pieces.

Mischievous Bunnies & Cast Art

Robert Farmer at Rouge Concept gallery. Lucky Charms - mythic travel and evident "tension between dream and nightmare", shown here. http://www.robertfarmerworld.com/

Philip Read reimagines the material world in Cast Porcelain Coke Bottles. Classic (once disposable) form turned art.

Wendy Walgate's enviro/whimsy Five Litres - Red, Yellow and Blue 2008, earthenware, slipcast, glazed and installed in glass laboratory beaker ('Yellow' shown here).

rouge concept

732 Queen Street East

http://www.rougeconcept.ca/

At Trias Gallery

A friend recently asked "I have a $500 budget for my husband's birthday." Here are 4 original paintings I showed her from Trias Gallery, just to start; the options are vast.

Above are from Christopher Griffin's Bear and Bull (allusion to financial markets) series.

One of Griffin's figurative paintings:

And a Ruth Dwyer abstract, Surf Hitting the Shore...

Cosmic Ferocity

Now at Show and Tell Gallery to Oct 4th, BRIAN DONNELLY's Blasphemies, Monstrosities and other Perversions. CONJOINT FEROCITY AGAINST COMMON ENEMIES shown here (& speaks to me in particular en ce moment). Donnelly's work here "... is a view past the traditional world of figurative painting, distorting common perspectives, perverting it with his own brand of zoological influence." A good date show? Which could follow with one of those blood orange margarita's around the corner @ Reposado.

www.showandtellgallery.com

1161 Dundas St. West

Also on Dundas West, Kristan Horton's Orbit at Jessica Bradley Art + Projects

A "series of photographic works.... Digitally repositioned as spatial dispersions on a single plane and derived from the artist's initial photographic records of his movements around his subject matter, these images are quasi-abstractions that recall Futurist and Cubist paintings."

Zen, shown here.

www.jessicabradleyartprojects.com

1450 Dundas Street West

William Lazos

At Engine Gallery, Toronto based muralist and painter William Lazos. Shown here, "Hostess", 5.5' x 6.75', acrylic on canvas.

Commissioned Work + Blundstone's Sketch Fundraiser

Queen West's Art Crawl is possibly my favourite Toronto art fair.

Danielle Hession's work shown here.

Options for unique, personal, high value gifts via commissions pieces are vast.

Douglas Coupland's Word Totems; witty (office?) art by a recognized Canadian art brand. Now at Clark and Faria. Big Cheese and Glamour shown here.

Cathy Daley at Birch Libralato. Pastel on vellum. Untitled 2009 shown here.

James Robert Durant + Casey House Art Auction

Memories are “a reconstruction of one’s past, likewise, part of Durant’s technique involves distressing the surface of his paintings in order to create an aged and weathered appearance suggestive of the passage of time.”

James also works from original photography to produce commissioned projects.

Upcoming: TD Waterhouse Art with Heart fundraiser for Casey House. Previews at Edward Day Gallery. I'll be there.

Clark & Faria’s group exhibition, BOWIE, “is a selection of works paying homage to the dynamic and extensive artistic career of David Bowie... [who] has had an undeniable influence on music, fashion and art... His long flirtation with the contemporary art world began in 1971 with his song “Andy Warhol”, who he eventually played in Julian Schnabel’s 1996 film “Basquiat”.

Alison Yip paintings, shown here. "Rapids", triptych, oil on canvas, 51cm x 153cm (20" x 60"), 2008
The Distillery Historic District 55 Mill St. Building #2

Edward Day Gallery

James Ridyard’s paintings capture “a sublime mystery of contemporary landforms through deft atmospheric gestures..."

August at The Distillary District

Steeped in Sanskriti opening reception, Gibson Jessop Gallery

Artist Venkat Bothsa:

“My works are ... simply the reflections of what I am witnessing.

...Inventions are welcomed whether they are threat to the environment or not. Some say life is simple; live simply by looking at nature. Some argue the more you have the more civilized you are. Some say the world is going to end. Some say this is the beginning.”

Fibreglass painted with enamel

At Julie M. Gallery, 'Circular' showing to Sept 6. Alma Shneor's photography shown here.

And from Arta Gallery and group show "i open my eyes", a collection of landscape and figurative art. Outcast, the work of self taught, metis artist laura-lynn Bolan shown here. Oil on canvas, 60" x 30".

Absolutely Urban

Toronto artist Justin Broadbent created an 'art happening' this summer for Absolut Vodka: In an ABSOLUT world opportunities always pop up.

" A select group of Canadian artists will work together to create an optimistic, vibrant and inspiring destination that will make everyone who encounters it believe that in an ABSOLUT® world opportunities always pop up.

An art exhibit by day and an exclusive, eclectic and dynamic party by night, this temporary ABSOLUT® World of Opportunity will celebrate the art of spontaneity, in ABSOLUT® style.

Those who can find this exhibit’s elusive location will be inspired to contemplate the essence of a world of infinite opportunity."

The location? Bay Station. The times for viewing are... ONE DAY. Thursday August 13 2009.

From http://www.absolut.com/popupcanada

http://justinbroadbent.com/absolut

Jean-Pierre Morin, Quebec

Shown here: Sulpture Jean-Pierre Morin @ Gallerie Orange, Montreal.

Sculpture

Brad Copping`s green house - I keep have thought about several times recently, having seen months ago at XeXe Gallery.

From his artist statement ``As nature reveals, change is the only constant. Lakes become swamps, which become meadows, which become forests; plants and animals die and decay... Seeing these moments of transition reminds me of our ties to the natural world. I want to reaffirm these ties by highlighting these moments.`` http://www.xexegallery.com/


Sculpture artist Camilla Geary-Martin was at the 2009 Toronto Outdoor Art Fair. Sanctuary, in bronze shown here.

From Camie's website:

..."a globe of simple branches representing the canopy that surrounds and protects the earth. Cast in bronze, it demonstrates the strength of the canopy, while the delicate twigs expose its more fragile nature."

Montreal + Canadian History

A new Montreal find: artist and boutique owner Lysanne Pepin. Her series Weighlessness features underwater video, translated into paintings of Quebecois artists and comedians. Beautiful work, on wood grain. http://www.pepinart.com/en/collection.php
















And a Montreal favourite - Galerie Orange. Nicolas Ruel`s photography on steel shown here.

Bridget Riley Inspired Sculpture

1. I’m a fan of Bridget Riley's landscape inspired op art. When I read about Peter Bowyer's work The Torrents of Spring which showed at Paul Petro last fall I was excited. The piece is a recreation of Bridget Riley’s painting titled Movement in Squares(1961). Sadly, the installation was over before the Canadian Art news was written, so I missed it. Peter Bowyer has public art installed at Queen's Park and at the Toronto Sculpture Garden.
   
   Matthew Tarini, Toronto 2009 The Artist Project. Portraiture and still life work. matthewtariniart.blogspot.com
   

Fantastic Characters, Glass Sculpture & Works in Paper

Painterly sketchings. Fun, funny, freaky cartoon-esque characters. Episodic, kinda intense and fantastic. The‘ongoing adventures of Griffinlown’ series, Board of Directors, 1080 Queen Street W, Toronto.

Mythic themes: food, aliens, musical instruments, Godzilla and bears. The ongoing adventures of Griffinlown art series is collection of collaborative works between Clint Griffin and Jesse Lown. Art from both artists also showing. See Clint Griffins work here.



Norah Deacon at David Kaye’s gallery, 1092 Queen W. Paper. Phenomenal.

Brayham Contemporary Art

Sko! (everything happens all at once) is the name of the show. Svava Thordis Juliusson's pastel & pencil 2D and her sculpture works buzz with energy.

Lynn Campbell’s weighty delicacies, in her Evocation Series.



http://www.brayhamcontemporaryart.com/