Toronto Art

By Haley Cullingham
Photos courtesy of Christopher Bennell

It's a sunny Friday afternoon, and I'm having tea under the watchful eye of a five foot four inch brown bear from Peterborough. A rooster is perched on the arm of the sofa beside me, and a bottle opener attached to a deer hoof rests on the coffee table.  I'm in the well-appointed West End living room of artist Morgan Mavis, a space more professionally known as The Contemporary Zoological Conservatory. When Morgan invited me over, the note read "I've made cupcakes and we just recently acquired a peacock." That is the definition of an offer you can't refuse. read more...

Summer puts us in mind of retreat-retreat from noise, heat, and stress to something simpler, quieter, more beautiful. If your backyard, balcony, or favourite park is where you'll be escaping to, tuck The Selby Is In Your Place in your bag, and you'll be careening through dozens of different worlds without leaving the city. read more...

by Becca Lemire

Art. Soccer. Art. World Cup. These are not two things I normally think of going together, however Chris Gardiner thought differently. He’s created a solo exhibition containing collages, drawings and sculptures, among other things, to celebrate the concept of “The Beautiful Game” at this year’s World Cup Soccer Tournament. The World Cup will be in South Africa, but this exhibition is much more doable, taking place in Junction hot spot Margret (2952 Dundas St. W). read more...

Bring back the drunken panda bears! Open the gates and let the animals dance! Blow up a gazillion red helium balloons and let the roller derby chicks fly down the candy aisle because this year's Powerball, benefiting the Harbourfront's Power Plant Gallery, was themed THE BEST OF....or the ball that started it all.   

Why? Because it has been twelve years since the inauguration of this fabulous soiree. There is no real rhyme or reason as to why the number twelve equals the best of, but we didn't question it, we just arrived ready to party harder than ever. read more...

THURSDAY

6:30 pm Yoga of Food - Recipes for Health & Happiness @ Lululemon, 342 Queen St. W. Monk and practicing vegetarian Devamrita Swami explores the connection between food, consciousness and happiness. $10 (includes vegan dinner). Tickets available at: http://urbanedgeyoga.com/890 

FRIDAY

7 pm Femiforma @ The Lens Factory, 2186 Queen St. E. Matthew Trotter’s series of black and white photographs showcase the beauty and complexity of women through the use of contrasted light.   read more...

By Becca Lemire

The first Pedestrian Sunday for 2010 (from May to October, visit http://www.pskensington.ca/ for more info) went off joyously, with the streets packed, people getting jiggy with it and everyone and everything in Toronto right there at your fingertips, taking up only a few small blocks. I went yesterday, May 30th, with a few objectives: to see my friend’s bands play, eat tasty food, take pictures and wander around....which is, something I am embarrassed to say I have hardly ever gone to, but always hear so much about. Eventually by around 6pm I checked of my to-dos and finished the day fanning myself with a piece of paper over a pint in the back room at Ronnie’s (patio seats, I wish…those are hard to come by). Here are my favorite things from the day, narrated with photos. See you next month! read more...

by Becca Lemire

Mike Palmer is taking one picture every day this year, and putting it onto his site, almost like a photo diary of his life. He lives in Toronto, so every pic is from there, and if you are a fellow Torontonian its fun to scroll through and see how many you recognize or can identify. www.Palmer365.com read more...

by Monica Heisey
Want to use words like ‘post po-mo’  and discuss paradigmatic shifts in our cultural framework? Want to get crunk and listen to some sweet tunes? Want to get your dance on and watch some performance art? This Thursday night you can do all of the above at the Steel Bananas Art Collective’s inaugural Artichoke Review salon at the Bread and Circus. Steel Bananas Editor-in-Chief Karen Correia Da Silva took some time to explain the online culture zine’s plans for their first of three 2010 nights of art and mayhem.  read more...

Make your way from the Ryerson Gallery to a detour down Dufferin to participate in creating a communal art project.

6 pm: Some Kind Of Divine @ Ryerson Gallery, 80 Spadina Ave. This gallery, just north of King and Spadina, features Ruth Kaplan's MFA Documentary Thesis project. Her work looks at religious faith and skepticism with large-scale photography that forces us to confront the conflicting convictions of Kaplan's subjects.

6:30 pm: Genesis and the Mapping of Memory @ Edward Day Gallery, 952 Queen St. W. Peter Hill shows photographs and paintings that examine growth through memory and synchronicity. Hill's creative process involves paintings that rely on reactions between the materials to incite change-his photography documents that process.

7 pm: Harmann & Audrey, Live Art Making & Panel @ Baitshop, 358 Dufferin St, Ste 117. Be part of a communal art project. Hermann & Audrey artists will provide tools and direction, and there will be a discussion inside about where art ends and commerce begins in relation to photography.

9 pm: Visibile Vestiges @ Gallery 1313, 1313 Queen St. W. Photographers from Gallery 44 Centre of Contemporary Photography create a show that reveals photography's strong power over our perceptions. read more...

by Becca Lemire 

It takes something pretty intriguing for me to get on the northbound Bathurst bus on a Saturday night, but I’m really proud of myself that I did, because The House That Masons Built opening was probably one of the greatest, rarest gems I’ve ever seen. As a die-hard vintage collector and kitsch junkie, this was like one big pink orgasm of retro memorabilia, paired with a ton of exhibits, installations and performances by 20+ artists. Here’s a She Does The City exclusive interview with curator Melissa Koziebrocki.  read more...