A Lovely Blog

I am a lazy blogger, I’m a facebook addict and I’ve started adding more stuff on Twitter lately cause I can do a shout out in 150 words or less.

M-C Turgeon a female artist, blogger and mover & shaker in Montreal has inspired me. Other than having a lot of shared interests, her site is a great example of how you can showcase your work and share your life and passion with the world through blogs, podcasts and the like. Plus, I love the design of her really cheery site, not to mention that her CreaCamps sound awesome!

Ryan McGinness = Cool Show @ Artcore

I was wandering about the Distillery District yesterday after a meeting and stumbled upon the Artcore gallery and an ‘eye tingling’ show that is not to be missed. New York based artist Ryan McGinness is presenting his first Canadian show ever  ‘Aesthetic Comfort‘ until November 15th. It’s a fun series of visual & sculptural work that screams of pop culture, icons and flourescent colours. The black light room is too much fun and I was thoroughly impressed by the depth of field that he creates with a bit of black light, layering and flourescent paint.

Don’t miss it.

Ryan McGinness

Aesthetic Comfort

September 27 – November 15, 2008
Artcore ~ 55 Mill Street, Pure Spirits Building 62

McGinness’s new Aesthetic Comfort works present a Jackson Pollock-esque all-over cacophony of icons, drawn from the artist’s vast and ever increasing repertoire of graphic drawings. Assuming the power of logos and authoritative signage, McGinness subverts those corporate branding strategies toward universal legibility of visual modes of communication, and creates baroque mash-ups that result in beautiful collisions which inundate viewers with his personal playful stories that do not clearly convey any specific meanings but are somehow never confusing. Numerous references from our pop culture landscape find their way into McGinness’s kaleidoscopic visual mindscapes to promote a new, beautiful, if utterly quixotic, form of communication.

Ryan McGinness, 36, grew up in Virginia Beach and was influenced by skate and surf culture, rock concert poster design, and street art.

80 Swedish Men will Sing for You on Sunday

Once upon a time I had a two week summer romance in Paris with a lovely Swedish man named Par. So it is no wonder that I am particularly interested in checking out Soundstreams Canada’s presentation of Orphei Drangar (Sons of Orpheus) the Internationally renowned Swedish 80 voice all-male choir, who will perform R. Murray Schafer’s Magic Songs to celebrate the composer’s 75th year.

Don’t miss it if choral music and hot men are your thing

Sunday, October 19th, 2008 @ 3 pm – Metropolitan United Church

Here’s a little sound clip of the choir.

Here’s a little info from Soundstreams….

Orphei Drängar is an iconic example of the great Swedish choral tradition and a central player in the development of new music for male-voice choir. The choir, which dates back to 1853, has always been a torch bearer of the great Swedish choral tradition, in addition to playing an important international role in the development of the male-voice choir in modern music.

Meet Orphei Drängar!
Meet the member of the World’s Greatest Male Choir immediately following the concert at the Metropolitan United Church. Tickets are $10 and wine and light refreshments will be served.

Vote for the Arts!

There is no doubt in my mind who I’m voting for next week. It will be strategic and while there are many issues that are important to me, culture is at the top of that list.

It’s so exciting to see the arts community and general public rally together in support of the arts. I’m thoroughly inspired by the newly created Department of Culture which is making incredible strides across Canada to raise awareness on key issues, gain further support for culture and steer all votes away from the Conservatives. Plus they’re making it all so much fun – don’t miss This is NOT a Conservative Party tonight @ The Phoenix!

Check out the CBC site to see where ALL political parties stand on art.

Opening Parties, Autumn, Line Dancing and more..

Photo of Karen & Allen Kaeja by Ella COoper

After taking the summer off from blogging, I am officially back.

I’ve decided that autumn, is in truth, my new year. As the weather cools down, the work load mounts, and a barrage of openings and season launches hit the city, I am filled with a new sense of drive and inspiration for all those projects that slowed down with the hot steamy weather. Autumn is a new beginning.

Yeah, ok but seriously, what isn’t happening this week? It’s no wonder that everyone I meet has that frantic little look in their eye. If they’re not working their ass off, then they’re desperately trying to figure out what they should do this week.

If you’re feeling truly ambitious here’s a little list of ideas:

Tuesday, Sep 30
HUMDINGER – A Fundraising Smorgasbord
Great Hall – 1087 Queen West
7:30 – 11:pm

Susanna Hood is one of Toronto’s most unique performance artists and Mike Tong does some of the best catering in the city. The other acts looks great and for $10 who wouldn’t want to support them?

Performances by
Susanna Hood, Nial Perera, Christine Duncan and The Elemental Choir

Food by Mike Tong
DJ Chandra Bulucon

Wednesday, Oct 1
DEMON BLOG - OPENING PARTY
*Hotshot – 181 Augusta
8:pm – midnight

Think $3 beers, bad boy art by the likes of Demon Claw’s band member Jeff Clarke and Vice Magazine staffer Tim McCready.  Think of this as a debaucherous way to appreciate art.

Thursday, Oct 2
STEERS & QUEERS
Dakota Tavern
10pm – $5

I love my burlesque and my boys, throw in a little dirty line dancing and I’m happy to stay up late on a school night.

Don’t miss the special guest appearance by Boylesque TO – Can anyone say whip cream cowboy fight?

Friday
Get your sleep because you’ll be staying up late for Nuit Blanche on Saturday….

Hopscotch Video

This video is the highlight of my day today (thanks to Laura Nanni for posting it on her facebook profile).

I saw Hopscotch perform two summers ago at Hub 14 – they were great. Kudos to Victoria Cheung for an exceptional editing job.

Dusk Dances in Toronto! July 5 – 15

There is something so magical about wandering through a park on a summer night so see short dance pieces performed amongst the trees. Dusk Dances is one of my favourite free outdoor events and it’s totally everyone friendly. The outdoor dance festival kicks off in Toronto on July 5th and then moves around to select parks in the city and across Ontario. Also, for those of you who are not familiar with Toronto’s dance scene it’s a great way to get a taste of some really great company work.

Jane/Finch in Toronto (July 5 – 8); Withrow Park, Toronto (July 10 – 15); Haliburton (July 19 – 22); Manitoulin Island (July 26 – 29) and Deep River (August 2-5). The host for this year’s Dusk Dances season is Madame Beaucoup, performed by Lisa Anne Ross.

Performances nightly at 7:00pm; Admission is pay-what-you-can

Information: www.duskdances.ca

 

Photography by me – see more at http://dance.aminus3.com

Contact Photography Festival!

Well, it’s finally here again. The much anticipated Contact Photography Festival. All the gallery openings going on at once makes me feel like I’m trick or treating as I walk in and out of each space with friends, eating hors d’oeuvres, drinking multiple glasses of complimentary wine and YES appreciating some really excellent photography.

To date I highly recommend checking out:

Thrush Holmes Empire exhibit – if not to just check out the truly awesome space.The Stephen Bulger Gallery exhibit of Sara Ann Johnson’s work is incredibly playful and fun.
Pierre Dalpe’s twin series is really intriguing and a bit of a brain teaser at the Gladstone Hotel.
But of course there is sooooo much more.

Don’t miss the Official Contact Festival launch party at Brassai Bistro- 461 King St. W from 7 – 11pm tonight. But be warned that a glass of wine starts at $13 bucks a glass (yikes)

Also MOCCA known for having some of the best openings and art events in the city, will be having a launch worth checking out this Saturday.
So much do, so much to see, how will I ever manage!

Emerging Arts Professional Network!

Yay! the Emerging Arts Professional Network is finally here.
www.eapnetwork.ca

A new online community network, podcast, blog magazine, discussion forum (coming soon) and career resource for Canadian arts professionals is officially online!

Over 300 arts professionals from across Canada answered EAP’s survey and helped direct the content and vision of this project. Each monthly theme is based on your feedback and the site will continue to be tailored to your responses.

The EAP Network would like to invite you to participate in the discussion, give your feedback and help us make this a successful online community.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

EAP is looking for more article submissions for our monthly blog magazine see www.eapnetwork.ca/pages/submit/ for more details

They are also seeking emerging arts professionals from across Canada to interview seasoned arts leaders in your community, contact the EAP Network – info@eapnetwork.ca if you’d like to get involved!

You can also join the EAP Network Group in Facebook

He-Man! She-Ra!

I grew up with He-Man & She-ra dolls and the Saturday morning cartoons, so please forgive me as I get WAY too excited about this exhibit. It’s obviously going to be great because it’s got BlogTO and the Torontoist salivating all over it.

Save by Art and the Sick Kids Foundation are hosting MOTU: The He-Man She-Ra Silent Auction and Exhibit at the Magic Pony Gallery, bringing together over 20 artists from around the world to share their Masters of the Universe-inspired art. All proceeds from the auction and exhibit will go to the Sick Kids Foundation.

The exhibit begins today and runs until Saturday. The opening reception goes down tonight, and tickets are available at Magic Pony or at The Beguiling.

MOTU: The He-Man She-Ra Silent Auction and Exhibit
Opening Reception
Thursday, March 29 @ 7pm
Magic Pony Gallery (694 Queen West)