Ineffable Plasticity @ MOCCA

Some of the XPACE crew went around the corner last week to check out The Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art's most recent exhibition, "Ineffable Plasticity." Here is the first in a short series of posts about some of the work in the show!



Jordan Laura James Maclachlan, Unexpected Subway Living (2010-2011)

Toronto-based artist Jordan Laura James Maclachlan creates a chaotic subway train filled with an array of figures, from a woman giving birth and an ape mating with a lemur, to a baby holding a gun and a man performing open-heart surgery. Her emotionally-charged piece is based on her take on everyday life: “complex, contradictory, exquisite, and oftentimes tragic.” The chaos and detail put into every inch of the 10ft+ work keeps us engaged and each new visit promises the discovery of a detail overlooked the first time.



 

 

Once More With Feeling

"Once More With Feeling presents a series of paintings and sculptures that explore the body as a canvas for the narratives of relationships. Each artist works through familiar and unfamiliar territory in the discovery of the nature of his or her own relationships with themselves and others. Interested in the physical and emotional endurance of the body, the artists weave narratives based on their own life experiences to show moments of complete alienation and total joy."

Showing at OCAD's Transit Space until December 9th.

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A Full Frame After Party II

Ryerson run photo zine Function, Maximum Exposure and the Ryerson Student Lecture Series are teaming up and hosting quite a bash!

It's an after party for all of the holiday shows/sales/fundraisers in the city and a great way to spend a Thursday night!

When: December 1st
Where: Double Double Land, 209 Augusta (Kensignton Market)
Time: 10pm
Website: www.function.ryerson.ca
$5 cover and $3 beers

Go out, support a fantastic publication and have great time!

Some Inspiration From Dan Sternof Beyer

As winter sinks and the air gets colder it gets a lot harder to want to go outside. If you've got the November (soon to be December) blues, Dan Sternof Beyer has made a collection of his public art ideas into a PDF that you can see HERE on thehinge.net
There's tons of great ideas on there, some a little more complex than others, but at the very least, we're hoping this will inspire you to either get involved in some public art projects or come up with an idea of your own!

The Gang Takes a Field Trip II

Eh bien. What's this? After leaving the Meredith Keith Gallery, the gang stumbled upon a lovely little print shop. Just east of Landsdowne, "Someone" has relocated their Cabbagetown printing studio to Dundas West. Deborah kindly answered our questions while we browsed through prints, posters, and invitation cards, weaving in between the printing presses nestled within the shop.

Someone's Studio is located at 1691 Dundas Street West, Toronto.

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The Gang Takes a Field Trip I

Nothing beats a Thursday afternoon field trip. In a bout of spontaneity, the XPACE gang closed shop for an hour and headed to the Meredith Keith Gallery to check out "Sweet Asbestos" by Montreal-based artist Cythia Girard.

Girard makes a sociopolitical statement of Canadian right-wing conservative politics through her pieces that combine various media, ranging from sculpture to painting to quilting. If you'd like to read more about her project, visit her blog at http://sweetasbestos.blogspot.com/

Sweet Asbestos is running from November 18 to December 22, 2011
The Meredith Keith Gallery is located at 1695 Dundas St. West, Toronto.

 

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OCAD Gets Festive

OCAD had it's annual gingerbread house competition this afternoon. Here's a few of the entries to satisfy your sweet tooth.

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Dying Breed

The OCADU Student Gallery is hosting an exhibition titled, "Dying Breed" featuring a series of analogue photography by various artists.

"'Dying Breed' features six photo-based artists who are working in a medium they fear will soon be extinct: analog photography. As film types are discontinued, printing papers become less accessible and analog cameras are only available for purchase used, the methods favoured by these artists are fading into the past. While few still hold a passion for film, Rosemary Flutur, T. Reilly Hodgson, Dimitri Karakostas, Matt Moreland, Laura Nowak and Ashley Van Der Laan consider their analog processes a labour of love that they don't plan on giving up any time soon."

On exhibit from November 17 to December 10, 2011.

OCADU Student Gallery is located at 285 Dundas St West, just east of McCaul St.

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A Declaration from Broken City Lab

I think this is a declaration that we can all get behind!  Thanks Broken City Lab!

XPACE's Opening Reception

Here are a few photos from Friday night's Opening Reception @ XPACE.
It was a great turn out and a great display of works by artist Kuh Del Rosario, Suzanne Caines, Steven Beckly, Lanie Chalmers, and Laura Paolini.

Check out the exhibits, on display until December 10th.

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What is Work Worth?

TFG's Bridge dinner on Internships and the value of work has been postponed.  We will keep you updated about the new date.

Toronto Free Gallery Presents
THE BRIDGE DINNER SERIES: WHAT IS WORK WORTH?

A dinner & talk about working for free in the cultural sector
This is the sixth talk in the Toronto Free series: The Bridge

When: Wednesday November 23, 2011
Dinner & Talk: seating at 7 pm

Where: Toronto Free Gallery
1277 Bloor Street West
416-913-0461

$15/person for dinner (vegan) & talk (meaty)

Seats are limited. Please contact amber@torontofreegallery.org to reserve your spot.    

Opening Reception @ XPACE

Join us for an Opening Reception on Friday, November 18 for our Window Space, Main Space and XBase exhibitions.

When: November 18 - December 10, 2011
Where: 58 Ossington Avenue, Toronto

Drinks and snacks will be served, with the artists mingling and available for conversation.



WINDOW SPACE:
artist: Laura Paolini
title: 'I'm tired of being fucked.'

MAIN SPACE:
artists: Suzanne Caines, Steven Beckly and Lanie Chalmers
title: 'Love in Translation'

XBase:
artist: Kuh Del Rosario
title: 'Synthetic Phenomena' 

What does Jeff Koons have to do with the XPACE Window Space?

Above: Laura Paolini's I'm Tired of Being Fucked, 2011; below: Jeff Koons' Balloon Dog, 1994-2000

This month, from November 18th, XPACE's window space will be showing a piece by Toronto artist Laura Paolini that references artist Jeff Koons' attempt to sue San Francisco gallery Park Life, and Toronto design company Imm-Living for copyright violation. Imm-Living manufactured a pair of bookends that look like dogs made from children's party balloons, which Koons claimed copied his series of sculptures that also imitate the shape of dogs made of balloons. His pieces are, however, in a much larger scale, and made of shiny metal. The irony is that Koons is known for reproducing versions of images from mass culture and other people's work, for which he has been sued four times.  Here is a little more information about Koons' long history of suing and being sued for copyright.

Upcoming Submissions Deadlines at Artist-Run Centres Across Canada!

There are lots of deadlines coming up soon for artists' proposals and project proposals at artist-run centres across the country. We thought we'd compile a list of these deadlines and spaces as well as list the centres that take submissions throughout the year. Just in case you're looking for something to do over the holidays.......

Call for submissions: Gleaner December cover-art

The Gleaner Community Press is a local independent press that serves
Toronto's west downtown communities with two monthly newspapers, The
Annex Gleaner and The Liberty Gleaner.

Every holiday edition, the Gleaner features community and
holiday-themed artwork on our December covers. They are currently
looking for submissions reflecting this theme.

TYPE on Queen

Located on 883 Queen Street West TYPE is one of two book stores in Toronto (the other at 427 Spadina Road) specializing in art/design/culture reads. As well as mushroom chairs, Lego architecture, and a children's section in the back with neat illustrated stories and toys.

Check out their website for events, flyers, and photos.

Art Metropole!

It is always a good time to go to Art Metropole. The space specializes in selling multiples made by Canadian and international artists, and is a great way to buy your own piece of affordable art or give them as gifts (in time for the holidays perhaps?). Founded in 1974 by members of the Canadian conceptual artist group General Idea, it has since been an artist run cultural center hosting lectures, events, and exhibitions.

Located on 788 King Street West. Art Metropole is a fun engrossing place to visit, so go check it out!



 

DANCE YOUR PANTS OFF!

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XPACE will be hosting an UNDERWEAR DANCE PARTY* for the closing reception of Lindsay Denise’s “Dancing With Myself & Others,” which has been on display for the past 4 weeks.
Attendees are encouraged to participate in the exhibit through exhibitionism and share their groovy moves. DJ FoodCourt will take the lid off your id and dish out the dirty dance-pop ditties you secretly crave. Feast on guilty pleasures from across the decades as we launch the bedroom dance party into XPACE.

FEATURING:

OCADU Hip-Hop Collective, I.B. Scene to kick-off the night with a freestyle throw-down! Starting at 8:00pm.

OCADU Zine Collective will be selling zines made by OCAD U students, showing samples of the zines from their library, and teaching people how to make a quick book with just a 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper and a pair of scissors.

*Dress code is definitely not mandatory! Wear what makes you comfortable!

When: Friday November 11 -  7pm-11pm
Where: XPACE Cultural Centre @ 58 Ossington Avenue, Toronto

Good Intentions

Monday's feeling a bit bland?
Stop by Type Books tonight where Jon Sasaki is launching his humourous catalogue "Good Intentions."

"Good Intentions is the first monograph on this dryly hilarious and ever-hopeful artist's multifaceted practice. Through his videos, objects, performance and installation, Jon Sasaki investigates an eternal optimism that is filled with the trappings of failure. Alternatively absurd, hilarious, and tragic, Sasaki's works are about perpetually trying ... really, really hard. Beautifully designed by Lauren Wickware, the publication includes full-colour illustrations and critical essays by curators Ann MacDonald, Crystal Mowry and Ben Portis, looking at themes of failure, pathos, comedy/tragedy and risk as found in Sasaki's romantic conceptual works."

When: Monday, November 7 · 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Where: Type Books at 883 Queen Street West

New Phenomena

Alexandra Mackenzie's solo exhibition, "New Phenomena" is showing at Gallery at 129 Ossington from November 2 to 26, 2011.

"Alexandra Mackenzie’s drawings unfold their intricate details like the hieroglyphs of an advanced urban society, diagramming the grotesque aspects of life and death, and the unexplainable nature of the universe. Expertly drafted, her work explores both the material and non-material worlds, coupling flesh and blood with fantasy, ritual with repetition, and creates a sense of balance and symmetry within the chaos."



Where: 129 Ossington Avenue, Toronto.
When: November 2 - 26, 2011.

Stormy Hands @ XPACE's External Space

Join us at XPACE's External Space (located in the Jim Meekison student lounge to the left of the cafe and Great Hall at OCADU) for an artist talk by Sarah D'Angelo, and screening of her two claymation videos: It Speaks to Me and her most recent, Stormy Hands.


Stormy Hands will be unveiled at the talk, and will continue to be screened for the month of November. The videos will be accompanied by an essay by Xenia Benivolski, about the works.

For more information, check our website:
http://www.xpace.info/externalspace/it-speaks-to-me/

 

Drawing At First Sight

Be sure to check out OCAD's exhibit of First Year students' artworks. Located in Transit Space, works range in medium from graphite drawings to collage to painted works.

Where: 100 McCaul Street
Transit Space
Free

When: Tues November 1, 2011 to Thurs November 17, 2011

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Ghost Hole III

Here are a few photos from Ghost Hole III this past weekend. The event (organized by The White House Studio, Whippersnapper and VSVSVS) took place over three days where guests were surely stimulated by everything going on, be it the wall of graffiti art in progress, the psychic readers who predicted what you'd want to drink, or the variety of bands playing. I got a chance to catch Lemon Bucket Orkestra play on Sunday evening. The 13-piece band from Eastern Europe had the crowd dancing through all their pieces, including their finale which seamlessly switched from a Balkan tune to Benny Benassi's "Satisfaction".

 

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XPACE's Goth Drag Bash

Attendees gathered for a fun filled night of goth, drag, music, and....cupcakes!

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