What Will the Future Hold for Toronto’s Beleaguered McMichael Gallery?
The McMichael Canadian Art Collection – famous for its works by members of the Group of Seven – has hired Dr. Victoria Dickenson as it’s new Executive Director and CEO as well as President of the...
View ArticleWhen a Writer Sues a Critic…
Did you know that UK-based Canadian author Sarah Thornton successfully sued a critic from the Daily Telegraph for a “spiteful” review of her book Seven Days in the Art World? Author Sarah Thornton, and...
View ArticleVisit to Canoe Lake: Tom Thomson’s Grave
Last weekend, we went up to a friend’s cottage on Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park. You may recognize the name – it’s well known as the lake where Group of Seven painter Tom Thomson mysteriously died at...
View ArticleMax Dean: Album at CONTACT 2012, Toronto
Over the past ten years, artist Max Dean has collected other people’s photo albums. He’s got about 500 of them, which are being used as part of his latest project at this year’s CONTACT Photo festival...
View ArticleGuest post: The Search for Business Models in the Arts
Jeremy Deller, “The Battle of Orgreave” (2001), in which original participants in a 1984 miners’ strike reenacted the events. Image: hyperallergic.com Buzz Hargrove or Lee Iococca: The Search for...
View ArticleReview of Karsh: Beyond the Camera
I recently reviewed a new book about the famed portrait photographer Yousuf Karsh. Karsh’s portrait of Georgia O’Keefe. Image:lalumiereetlobscurite.com Karsh arrived to Canada from Syria in 1925 and...
View ArticleGuest Post: Cultural Espionage
Micheal Laverty writes about his soon-to-be-published satirical first novel, about a “21st century troupe of court jesters – a collective of artists dubbed Apollo’s Army.” Micheal Laverty graduated...
View ArticleBook review: Leonardo and the Last Supper by Ross King
Among Leonardo da Vinci’s writing and journals, one note in particular reveals his genius: his desire to paint “Man, and the intention of his mind.” Da Vinci’s constant search for new ways to reveal...
View ArticleThe Archive of Modern Conflict: CONTACT Photography Festival, Toronto
This year’s CONTACT photography festival kicked off with a bang at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (MOCCA) in Toronto. I was pleasantly surprised by this year’s show, Collected Shadows: Archive...
View ArticleBook Review: Christopher Pratt: Six Decades by Tom Smart
Christopher Pratt is widely acknowledged as an important Canadian painter, but he has long been viewed in the shadow of his better-known East Coast compatriot, Alex Colville. This gorgeously designed...
View ArticleBook Review: Harold Town by Iris Nowell
Harold Barling Town, Canada’s “enfant terrible” over the course of an artistic career that spanned the 1950s to the ’80s, was a celebrity in his day. A compulsively prolific artist with a theatrical,...
View ArticleBook Review: Emily Carr – From the Forest to the Sea
A strong affinity for the natural beauty of western Canada and First Nations culture is clearly visible in the work of Emily Carr, one of Canada’s best-loved artists. Her point of view resonates...
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