Part IV: Toronto Art at its finest

This is the last installment of the Art Toronto art fair.  I hope you like these selections as much as I do. There is much to choose from. I hope next year is as good as this year's. Tim Okamura Reiko's Dream celebrates the artist's Japanese roots. The contrast between black and light is ever present and we wonder what exactly the artist is trying to tell us. Does he miss his distant land or we just living through him? Time will tell. Isabel Okoro's Spirit Traveller shows a masked man with seashells waving through his face hiding the man's identity. Is the headpiece a part of a ritual of sorts or is it sartorial? We don't know. Kristy Templeton Davidge's, Working Hands II is a wonderful painting which cuts off the face of subject. We'll never tell who we are looking at. All we see are the hands and shirt she is wearing, forever steeped in mystery. The A. Y. Jackson is in keeping with Canadian tradition weaving together Canadian identity with the landscape. It is snowy and so reminiscent of Canadian winters. We go to it to find solace and something to call home.

 

1 Tim Okamura Reiko's Dream, 2022, Canadian

Part Three: Art Toronto Remembered

This is the third edition of Art Toronto 2022, the art fair that celebrates Canadian artists like no other. It is international as well, and brings together art from all over the world making Toronto an art center to reckon with. Here we have Steve Driscoll's beautiful rendering of a Canadian landscape. The colours so sharp and bold you wonder whether it has been photoshopped. Ayla Dmyterko's Anthropichka is a luminous landscape full of rebirth and femininity. Drawing on her Ukrainian heritage she shows us a new landscape filled with emotion and layers of identity. Danny Gretscher,'s Amost Trendy No.1 is a playful abstract work that displays circles encased in a structure. Playing with colour he celebrates the harmonious rhythm that sets before us. Richard Thomas Davis's Jill, shows a woman relaxing on a Muskoka chair; she's at peace with her surroundings and celebrates the good weather with drink. Skawennati's Etow Oh Koam (King of the River) celebrates her Mohawk heritage and shows a figure dressed in traditional gear. Meanwhile, Erin Armstrong's Time Moves Slow pivots the real and the dreamlike scenario that appears before us. What is the woman doing and why?  Robert Strickland's Subway shows an everyday scene this time of a subway in Toronto. It gives a peek at urban life of a woman enjoying her day with a coffee. She's waiting by herself with few people around her for the subway that will take her away.

1 Steve Driscoll, One thing that never changes, 2022, Canadian

Part Two: Art Toronto 2022 Continued

Art Toronto may be over but the art remains. Here is the second edition of Art Toronto, the art fair that is putting Canadian art on the map. There are of course other artists from different countries peppered throughout this post but the majority are Canadian. Michael Dumontier and Neil Farber's artwork is quirky and witty and well established in Canada. Hans Wendt and Gathie Falk are two of my favourites. Each one unique in its way, the first a collage of cutout pieces of paper makes for an interesting composition. While Gathie Falk's Cherry Basket brings memories of summer time together. Both are available from Michael Gibson Gallery. Meanwhile Regine Schumann's Colour mirror rainbow orange white Knokke is a fascinating light sculpture. Part installation part sculpture it brings to mind the colour fields of various paintings. Joyce Weiland's Squid on the other hand is a playful spin of kisses that celebrates femininity. I hope you enjoy these and look forward for more to come.

1 Michael Dumontier and Neil Farber, What you've always known, 2022, Canadian