Exhibit 28 is a birthday show. gallerywest is a room for contemporary art.
For the past few years, visual artist Nathalie Quogliotto (Montreal/Toronto) has curated a mixed selection of artworks to celebrate the event(s). This year, on her 28th birthday, the show was held at one of my favourite local Queen West galleries, gallerywest in Toronto, and focused on artists in the Toronto arts community. The result was an orgy of paintings, prints, drawings, installation and more. For two days, the gallery space was inhabited by a colourful assortment of works, which proves in a nutshell Toronto has a diverse and pretty amazing art scene – and that Nathalie knows a lot of people.
From Tibi Tibi Neuspiel‘s replica of a sand-sculpted Michael Jackson’s nose, which hung over the door to snub the viewer to the romantically ball point pen-drawn boys by Shauna Born, the multitude of talent in one room blew my mind. I only wish the show had been up longer so that you could have experienced it!
Because the show is no longer up doesn’t mean you can’t take a few moments and check out the following local artists that contributed a piece to the Exhibit 28 show! Click to be linked to their website and maybe, just maybe, you will find your new favourite artist!
Basil AlZeri
Marvin Antonio
Cindy Blazevic
Chris Boni
Shauna Born
Matt Crookshank
Alex Fischer
Melissa Fisher
Stephen Paul Fulton
Brette Gabel
John G Hampton
Lee Henderson
Barbara Hobot
JP King
Brendan George Ko
Adam Krawesky
Denise St Marie
Kirsten McCrea
Faye Mullen
Tibi Tibi Neuspiel
James Olley
Luke Painter
Pascal Paquette
Ryan Park
Geoffrey Pugen
Evan Tyler
Jessica Vallentin
Vince Vining
Mark it in your calendar, young professionals! gallerywest has a fantastic upcoming show – check it out.
Whitney’s Biennial by Jaimie Cooper
Opening Reception: Thursday, February 7 from 7-10 PM
1172 Queen Street West, Toronto ON M6J 1J5
It is only one year since Whitney Houston’s life tragically ended. gallerywest is transformed into a fictional biennale exhibition of works inspired by Victoria-based artist Jamie Cooper’s ardent admiration for pop icon Whitney Houston. Star performers have long been an integral component of subjectivity, a resource for survival, as well as a source of inspiration for generations of queer children, adults and artists. Tracing the aesthetic lines that connect and separate kitchen-table craft projects and art, décor from installation, artifice and reality, Cooper’s project is equal parts collage, shrine, scrapbook, installation and assemblage. Through critical exploration of the tropes and conventions of both “high” and “low” cultural production, Cooper’s homage to legendary diva Whitney Houston moves beyond irony and towards the sphere of the intimate and subjective.
Exhibit runs from February 7 – 28, 2013.
Have fun & HEART ART!