Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Art Toronto 2018

Art Toronto -- the 2018 edition, kept William Kimber, Shelley Savor and me absorbed for almost three hours. We saw lots of great stuff. Here are some highlights.
We liked this print by Alison Lambert, Anaru, (monotype), 2018. That's Kimber leaning in at left.
We were pleasantly surprised to see an early Jean Dubuffet  hidden away in a corner-- Deux Arabes aux Palmiers, 1947. What a delight.
Fun to see this Michael Snow ink and collage on paper from 1958 -- "Study of Off Minor".
Love this 1972 Fred Herzog photograph -- Curtains.
 Ken Lum, "I don't know whether to laugh or cry." (2003). An attractive print on nice matt paper.
 The curators hung Bradley Wood's, Alligator (2018), near the entrance to the art show. We filed happily past its approving gaze.
 Shelley and I were drawn to Bro Thorsen's City Night series (2018). 
Worth waiting to get closer to these paintings by Wanda Koop!
Here we go. That's Northern Alberta 2017, on the left and Capitol, 2018, on the right; both from her "Standing Withstanding" series. Wonderful.
We were drawn like bees to a blossom by the sight of Gary Evans' Garage Door View, 2018. What a beauty!
And so we found Paul Petro's booth. He's one of our fave gallerists in Toronto.
One highlight at Petro's booth was Joyce Wieland's 1988 painting, Entrance to Nature.
 Nearby we found a stirring new Kent Monkman -- With Our Bodies We Protect the Land (2018).
 Emily Carr's Trunk and Glade, circa 1930s.
We haven't been quick to warm up to Jean-Paul Riopelle, so we were pleased to see this untitled painting from 1964. Love it.
Always fun to see work by Greg Curnoe. That's me leaning in to one of Curnoe's "shaped collages".
 Greg Curnoe, Moustache #9 (detail), 1965.
Hadn't seen this Aganetha  Dyck honeycomb sculpture before. Nice one. Clear Platform Stiletto Shoes, 2000.
OMG --it was love at first sight with Laura Moore's soapstone series, "all my old cellphones". Samsung, 2018
 Laura Moore, Blackberry Q5, soapstone, 2018. I'd love to carry one of these in my pocket.
 Left: Erica Rothenberg, America, A Shining Beacon to the World, 2018, at Charlie James Gallery.
Dave Eggers. From his Ungrateful Mammals series. Yes, Eggers is the novelist and publisher of McSweeney's magazine. 
More "Ungrateful Mammals" from Dave Eggers. I love these prints.
We normally can't look at art for more than about two hours, but Art Toronto held our attention for almost three. Suddenly thinking about lunch we enjoyed this elevated view of Anish Kapoor's Mountain in Simcoe Park as we left the Metro Convention Centre.