Beaver Hall Gallery

Y.M. Whelan "Paint Like Skin: Figurative work - past and present"

2012-01-05T22:28:00.000-05:00

Opening Reception Friday January 13th, 2012
8:00 - 10:00 p.m.
Beaver Hall Gallery
The exhibition will run three days only - Friday January 13th to Sunday January 15th, 2012
Gallery Hours are 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. or by appointment (ymwhelan@yumart.ca)

JERZY GALECKI • RECENT PHOTO WORK

2011-11-17T18:35:00.001-05:00

Opening reception
Friday, November 25, 2011, 7 – 9 pm
Beaver Hall Art Gallery
29 McCaul Street, Toronto, ON

Gallery hours – November 26 and 27, 2011, 3 – 6 pm
The work remains on the gallery walls until December 3rd –
For appointment contact: jerzyga@sympatico.ca

RESIDUE part of Nuit Blanche 2011

2011-09-27T21:10:00.000-04:00

Scotia Bank Nuit Blanche:

Independent Project Zone B #33

October 1, 6:59pm - Sunrise

Exhibition Hours: October 4-7, 7-10pm daily

October 8, 12-5pm

Artists Reception: October 6, 7-10pm

Beaver Hall Gallery, 29 McCaul St. Toronto, ON

RESIDUE

The thrill of urban adventure, extraordinary installation and exhibition

www.theresiduegroup.com

Peter Brickell

Richelle Forsey

Kevin McBride

Sandros Valencia

Rimma Skeini

Jamie Thompson

The Art Show

2011-09-13T08:38:00.000-04:00

GRADUATING GRAPHIC DESIGN STUDENTS INVITE YOU TO
THE ART SHOW
Opening Reception – Wednesday, September 14, 2011
5:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Complimentary wine & cheese
Beaver Hall Gallery, 29 McCaul Street, Toronto
3 blocks west of University Avenue, just north of Queen Street
5 minute walk from Osgoode subway station
R.S.V.P. 416 - 599 - 6996 or info@tor.herzing.edu

Doc Now :: Ryerson University Media Arts Festival

2011-06-08T17:46:00.000-04:00

DOC NOW is a free media arts festival showcasing the work of graduating students from the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) Documentary Media program at Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario. This unique program was established in 2007 and is the only MFA degree program in Canada dedicated to developing tomorrow’s documentary filmmakers, photographers, and new-media artists. The festival presents the final works of twenty-five emerging documentary media artists from June 10 to 25 with additional exhibitions and events taking place in mid-May.

Ryerson University Media Arts Festival

The Wall Unit

A multi-media installation

by Barbara Greczny

Beaver Hall Gallery June 10 - 25

29 McCaul St, Toronto, ON

Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 12 pm - 5 pm

Opening Reception: June 10, 7 - 10 pm

The Wall Unit is a mixed-media, multi-layered installation project inspired by Greczny's mothers death in 2006. The project explores the process of memory in relation to dementia. Challenging notions of public and private, The Wall Unit is an intimate portrayal of this difficult life experience. The use of the actual wall unit that belonged to her mother is the focal point of the installation. With the wall unit isolated off-centre, in a large empty gallery space, the physical viewing environment has the sensation of a strange remoteness surrounding its core, much like the feelings of loneliness dementia patients experience. The wall unit is metaphorically the keeper of memories and the witness to her mothers demise.

http://www.barbaragreczny.com

The Toronto Observation

2011-05-24T10:16:00.000-04:00

Performance: The Toronto Observation

Friday June 3, 8pm

Curated by Willy LeMaitre
Featuring Annie Onyi Cheung, Kika Thorne and Claudia Wittman
"Pay what you can" at the door

The Subtle Technologies Festival in partnership with the Beaver Hall Gallery presents The Toronto Observation.

Sometimes it's hard to see the city because we're already in it. We see the city like we see the artist's body; by looking at what it does. A body's engagement with its interior is through its negotiations in its exterior.

The unusual staging of The Toronto Observation situates three live artists working in disparate locations around the city, each of them visible to the audience gathered on the rooftop observatory of a downtown apartment building. The presentation conflates scientific method with artistic presentation.

At the limits of human vision are aspects of the imagination - intuitive, creative thought that shapes our understanding of what we see. On one level, the event is an opportunity to gaze out over the city and compare what goes on with what we may think goes on. The artist's work, nestled in this expanded field, will be magnified and framed by video equipment. Contrasting the qualities of observation, the situation will pit human with machine vision. The event will include a reception at the venue.

Mayworks Festival: The Boilermakers and Ironworkers Union

2011-05-05T16:15:00.000-04:00

The Boilermakers and Ironworkers Union brings together the work of artists Camille Turner and Rick Hill, curated by Jennifer LaFontaine. Growing up in the family of boilermakers and ironworkers respectively, both Camille and Rick have carved out their own life paths from these working families to becoming working artists. Both draw on their family experiences and infuse these identities into their artistic practices.

Monday May 9 - Sunday May 15, Free
Opening Reception: Monday May 9, 6-9 pm
Artists' Talk: Monday May 9, 7:30 pm
Beaver Hall Gallery, 29 McCaul Street

Distilled

2011-04-28T12:25:00.001-04:00

April 29 - May 1, 2011
Beaver Hall Artists Gallery 29 McCaul Street, Toronto
hours:
OPENING PARTY on Friday April 29th from 6pm to 10pm
Opening remarks by Richard McNeill Jazz duo featuring Gordon Hyland and Jim Sexton www.gordonhyland.com
Saturday April 30 from 12pm to 6pm Sunday May 1 from 12pm to 4pm

Y.M. Whelan :: Recurrence

2011-03-17T19:52:00.000-04:00

Opening Reception

Saturday April 9^th 4 – 6 p.m.

Beaver Hall Gallery

29 McCaul Street

Toronto, ON M5T 1V7

April 9^th – 24^th, 2011

Hours: Friday, Saturday, Sunday 12:00 – 7:00

Miss Canadiana's Heritage and Culture Show @ Nuit Blanche

2010-09-29T23:22:00.001-04:00

Miss Canadiana is expanding our notion of Canadian history by leading a series of walking tours making hidden histories visible across the country. Most people are familiar with the rich Jewish history of the Grange/Kensington area and its transformation into a vibrant Chinese community but few know about the thriving Black businesses, families, artists and institutions that have contributed to this city since its the genesis in the early 18th century.

James Mink, a Black millionaire, owner of Mansion House Inn and Livery on Adelaide had several livery stables in Toronto and an estate in Richmond Hill. He paid a white man $10,000 to marry his daughter Minnie. On pretense of taking her on a honeymoon, her new husband sold his young bride into slavery. It took Mink 7 years to get back his beloved daughter.

For the Out of Site exhibition during Nuit Blanche Miss Canadiana will present an intimate evening recounting this and other stories from the history of the area.

bio:
Camille Turner has presented exhibitions, talks and workshops at numerous educational institutions, conferences and community events. Like many Canadians, her cultural identity has been defined through the guise of "multiculturalism", as a fetishized display of "diversity" rather than an integral part of the fabric of Canadian culture. In response, she has transformed herself into Miss Canadiana, an icon that challenges assumptions about Canadian identity and normative beauty. The public becomes a part of this project that blurs the line between "reality" and fiction. Another hybrid media/performance work, The Final Frontier, features astronauts who are descendants of the Dogon people of West Africa, returning to earth after 10,000 years to save the planet. Camille is the founder of Outerregion, a performance art company that produces her work including Miss Canadiana and the Final Frontier. Miss Canadiana has traveled across Canada from Victoria to Halifax and she has represented Canada in Germany, UK, Australia, Senegal, Mexico and Cuba.

where:
Beaver Hall Gallery 29 McCaul Street (just north of Queen)

when:
October 2, 2010, from 9pm – 2am

The artist would like to acknowledge her collaborators:
Afua Cooper, Historian/Researcher
Darren O'Donnell, Dramaturge

Supported by Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council and Queen West BIA
This event is a part of the Out of Site exhibition curated by Earl Miller of the Queen West BIA
Many thanks to Erica Simmons.

The Art Show: Herzing College Graphic Design Students Graduate Exhibition

2010-09-13T17:04:00.002-04:00

Opening Reception - September 15, 2010 • 5 - 8:30pm
Beaver Hall Gallery, 29 McCaul Street, Toronto
The exhibition remains open on Thursday, September 16, and Friday, September 17 from 12 to 6pm

2010-06-08T23:11:00.012-04:00

RYERSON UNIVERSITY
GRADUATE DOCUMENTARY MEDIA FESTIVAL

JUNE 9–19, Hours: Wed–Sat, 12–7 pm
Beaver Hall Gallery, 29 McCaul St.

DOC NOW
RETHINKING SOCIAL SPACE
Paul Eekhoff, Erwin Lee,
Sarah Sharkey Pearce, Cynthia Shulak
Opening Reception: June 10, 5–9 PM

The varied works in this exhibition take us from the edges of historical space into the density of contemporary and future spaces. Meeting at the intersection between public spaces and private lives, the works protract the boundaries, structure, and construction of documentary, asking us to consider documentary not just as a temporal practice, but a spatial one.

In Between Desire, photographer Paul Eekhoff examines the moment where suburban expansion collides with and undermines the natural landscape.

Erwin Lee’s photographic diptychs take us into the center of the suburbs. Rethinking Suburbia depicts a new shift in urban building design showing an aspect of shared space not often associated with suburban sprawl.

Documentary filmmaker Sarah Sharkey Pearce, working with designer Mariangela Piccione, investigates the complexity of youth experience in public space in Weston-Mount Dennis, Toronto. A series of short documentaries projected through specific architectural models, Weston Public is exhibited as a multi-channel video installation.

Moving from the physical to the virtual, Cynthia Shulak’s online video work, Not Just Boy’s Fun: The Rad Ladies Project, looks at subcultures and engendered spaces. Creating a space for self-expression through online media, the project attempts to bridge the gap between filmmaker and subjects by shifting the director’s role from that of creator to one of facilitator. —Erin Riley

DOC NOW is a media arts festival showcasing the work of graduating students from the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Documentary Media Program at Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario. The festival presents the final works of 25 emerging documentary media artists from June 7 to 26 with additional exhibitions taking place in mid-May. This year’s lineup includes a wide variety of works in film, photography, and new media, which range from the personal to the political, exploring a gamut of documentary subjects. Canada has a world-renowned reputation for excellence in documentary media and the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Documentary Media Program is committed to nurturing new talent in this important area. All screenings and exhibitions are FREE and open to the public.

http://www.docnow.ca/

Make it: A show and sale of stuff we do

2010-05-26T10:53:00.006-04:00

One day only! Saturday June 5th, 2010
at BeaverHall Gallery 29 McCaul St.

Make It is a one-day showcase highlighting works for sale by over 15 local artists, designers and craftspeople. Vendors will be showcasing a wide range of items, from paintings, furniture, jewelry, clothing to one-of-a-kind housewares and accessories. Plus, visitors can also buy tasty baked goods and guests will be treated to music from DJ Matt Gracie.

Show Participants:

Cherry Bomb Vintage

Pretty Cre8tive

Pixelsnow

Paintings by Jo

Katia Calderon

The Artisan House

Zom-B

Brewer’s CRAP

Nightmonkey Gifts Niya Melodie Designs

The Silver Bobbin

WH Designs

Ludic

Knotted Nest Daniel’s Oven

May Contain Nuts

Sean Grant

The show has a suggested $2 entry donation to benefit the Furniture Bank. Entry includes one ticket to a raffle of prizes generously donated by our vendors. The Make It Arts & Crafts Show is open to the public between 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Please come out and support this great cause and your local entrepreneurs!

26IN28: Twenty-Six Artists in Twenty-Eight Days

2010-04-30T15:10:00.007-04:00

MAY 4 - MAY 31, 2010
BEAVER HALL GALLERY @ 29 MCCAUL ST.

(OSGOODE STATION / UNIVERSITY & QUEEN WEST)

OPENING RECEPTIONS: THURSDAY MAY 6, 7-10PM &THURSDAY MAY 20, 7-10PM

GALLERY HOURS: TUESDAY - SATURDAY 12-6, MONDAY CLOSED
www.26in28.blogspot.com

FEATURING NEW SCULPTURE/INSTALLATION/PERFORMANCE FROM:

FIRST HALF: NICK ALLINSON. DANIELLE BESSADA. SOPHIE BLUMENTHAL. GEORGIA DICKIE.

PIFFIN DUVEKOT. PATRICK EAST. DANIEL EASTMAN.
KEVIN HARRISON. PALMER JARVIS. JOEL STAPLES. AMANDA TRIGGS. ERIK TONATIUH. ALLEN HUYNH.

SECOND HALF: CLAIRE BATLER. LINDSAY BROWN.
ARIELLE BUSH. MORGAN EADIE. MAYA ELRAN. MAGNOLIA MARIN. JORDAN MAY. SARAH MCCAW. LEIGH MCLAUGHLIN. SAŠA RAJŠIC.

ERYN RUSSELL-HILL.
ANDREW STEWART. LIAM WYLIE.

Mayworks Festival of Working People and the Arts

2010-04-08T20:41:00.003-04:00

The Mayworks Festival of Working People and the Arts presents Homage to the Heart and Scouring City, Brushing Sky at the Beaver Hall Artist Gallery Saturday April 24 - Thursday April 29th, Free

Opening Reception: Saturday April 24, 2 pm Q&A: Saturday April 24, 3 pm

Homage to the Heart: Brenda Joy Lem’s grandfather opened the first hand laundry in Oshawa around 100 years ago. This physically grueling and relentless work during the time of the depression and the years of the Chinese Exclusion Act, made family life at the Ontario Laundry far from ideal. Meditating on themes of memory, class, family history and the enduring heart, Homage to the Heart, was developed from oral histories, told to her by her father and her aunt. Four prints, focusing on the lives of the women in the family, were selected for this exhibition.

Scouring City, Brushing Sky is a community arts project of Red Tree and c3 collective with community partner Working Women Community Centre and union partner Service Employees International Union. The project expresses the important social contribution, hopes and dreams of women who work as cleaners in Toronto, part of the invisible workforce. Project participants including Liliana Chavez, Jamesha Durrant, Alba Mondragon, Patricia Quiroga, Maria Teves, Beatriz Salazar, Noemi Valle, along with former participants Griseldina Camilo, Luz Vazquez and Sandra Gonzales came as immigrants and refugees in search of safety and a new life for themselves and their families.

The full Mayworks program, including more visual art, can be found at: http://www.mayworks.ca

DON'T GET GOOD AT WHAT YOU DON'T WANT TO BE DOING

2010-02-04T21:12:00.007-05:00

MorenaMedia's 10-Week Business Development Intensive for Self-Employed Artists

March 15th to May 17th, 2010
Mondays, 6:00 to 8:30 p.m.

Beaver Hall Gallery
29 McCaul Street
Maximum 6 participants

REGISTRATION FEE: $500
CARFAC Ontario members receive a 10% discount if they register by March 1st.

Download a copy of the course poster [pdf]
CONTACT: info@morenamedia.com

ABOUT THIS COURSE: Do you need help with or are you starting a new creative or healing arts business? Are your goals overwhelming you? Do others perceive what you do differently from how you see your business? Are your visual materials out of date or inconsistent? Has your business changed focus? Do you lack a strong client base? Are you able to identify what is unique about what you do? Are you harnessing the Net effectively? Does a poverty mindset interfere with how you price your services?

The creation of a solid marketing action plan will help clarify your goals, identify your perferred clients, and enable you to understand and convey your unique hook.

WHAT TO EXPECT: A small group, seminar course that allows participants to benefit from peer feedback and mentorship of the instructor. Upon completion, participants will have a personalized, year-long action plan comprised of a promotional and sales strategy, a basic on-line administrative structure, PLUS a bonus follow up session to be held four weeks after the end of this course.

DATES: March 15th, 22nd, 29th
April 5th, 12th, 19th, *26th (*location TBA)
May 3rd, 10th, 17th
Bonus Follow Up Session: June 14th

ABOUT MORENA MEDIA: MorenaMedia empowers artists who work in the creative and healing arts by teaching practical business approaches to marketing, promotion and planning, in keeping with their artistic passion and social purpose.

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR: Karen Miranda Augustine is a visual artist, writer and artist business consultant. With over 15 years of working experience for artist-run centres, non-profits, small presses and independent film companies, her strengths lie in communications and marketing, fundraising and sponsorship development, volunteer management and Web development for creative small and micro business.

To register and for more information, please contact: info@morenamedia.com
Full course details can be found at: MorenaMedia.com

DON'T GET GOOD AT WHAT YOU DON'T WANT TO BE DOING is generously supported by CARFAC Ontario: The Professional Association for Visual and Media Artists.

UNDEREXPOSED: Ryerson MFA program in Documentary Media Exhibition

2009-12-07T14:50:00.002-05:00

Members of the Ryerson MFA program in Documentary Media, in conjunction with Beaver Hall Gallery, are proud to present Underexposed, a showcase of photography, new media and performance installation by Ryerson's latest crop of documentary interrogationists. At once reflective and eye-opening, the first group show from this diversely talented collection of artists stretches the boundaries of the documentary forms in which it is rooted. From Ben Lenzner's participatory photographic work with the nomadic Van Guijjar community of northern India, to Paula John's interactive installation examining sexual voyeurism, to Julie Pasila's metaphysical study of constructed memories and histories of The Oxford Hotel, Underexposed provides a candid glimpse into the new creative shapers of a dynamic tradition.

Beaver Hall Gallery
29 McCaul Street
Toronto, ON M5T 1V7

Gala Opening:
Thursday, December 17th, 2009
6:30-9:30 pm
Live Performance by Layal Al-Haidari
FREE!
Gallery Hours: December 16th-22nd: 12-5 pm

Artists:
Layal Al-Haidari
Colleen Ayoup
Joel Elliott
Barbara Greczny
Tanja Grinberg
Paula John
Ben Lenzner
Eduardo Lima de Oliveira
Julie Pasila
Garett Walker
Lulu Wei
Maja Zonjic
contact info:
Maja Zonjic
647-886-0884 or maja.zonjic@gmail.com
Ben Lenzner
718-866-7989 or ben@benlenzner.com

350 Time Capsule: October 24/09

2009-10-20T20:09:00.006-04:00

Join the Regenesis Project's Toronto event for the International Day of Climate Action and the 350.org campaign.

350 Time Capsule
Reception & Art Installation

Saturday, October 24, 2009
6:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.
Beaver Hall Gallery
29 McCaul Street

FEATURED ARTISTS
dAeve Fellows | Dani Crosby
Evin Collis | Kristy Fogel
Andrea Manica | Claudia Rodriguez-Larrain

Reception, networking event, art installation and silent auction.
$3.50 Cocktails! Not to be missed!

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

(Click to enlarge: Toronto Studs by Evin Collis)

dAeve Fellows’ impressions of dark urban conduits and timeless landscapes are impregnated by demonic entities, whimsical machinery, and cryptical masses of dripping viscera, created — partly as a vehicle to explore the artist's confusion and frustration with modern life — and thus projected through dirty lenses of trans-humanism and the post-surrealist.

Dani Crosby is a graduate of the Sheridan BAA Illustration program (2009). She generously donated her print illustrations at the Regenesis Art and Eco Fashion Show n September, helping to raise funds for the Urban EcoVillage project. She is back again, to inspire and give back.

Evin Collis was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Currently, he is completing his BFA at the Ontario College of Art and Design here in Toronto. Specializing painting and drawing, Collis’ work has been exhibited in Winnipeg, Toronto, Italy and Ottawa.

Krista Fogel presents Conversation with Nature, a slideshow of photographs and accompanying poetry. The poetry will be made available through the projection booth of the gallery, where guests can enter into the intimacy of her thoughts, while watching the accompanying photographs from the main event wall.

Andrea Manica is a second year Illustration student at the Ontario College of Art and Design. She is inspired by animals, nature, fabric and photographs. She loves making things by hand: sewing, gluing, printing and pressing. She feels a passion to give, to help, and to share her gifts with others.

Claudia Rodriguez-Larrain is a visionary, activist, artist, and co-founder/President of the Regenesis Project. Incorporating used and recycled materials, her artwork focuses on social, environmental, and humanitarian issues. To create awareness on fluoride’s toxicity to Toronto's public water supply, featured will be a mobile installation of the Vote Out Fluoride campaign.

ABOUT REGENESIS
The Regenesis Project is a grassroots, environmental and social justice not-for-profit organization that seeks to bridge the gap between individual and planet, by fostering a sense of community, leadership, and accountability.

CONTACT
For more information, please contact Claudia Rodriguez
(905) 417-8918 | regenesiscanada@gmail.com | Facebook

Alan Wong & Jerzy Galecki: October 16-23

2009-10-09T11:15:00.007-04:00

Alan Wong & Jerzy Galecki: Recent Work

October 16th – 23rd, 2009

OPENING RECEPTION: Friday, October 16th

7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

Beaver Hall Gallery

29 McCaul Street

Toronto

Exhibition Hours: 2:00 – 6:00 p.m.

Contact:

jerzyga@sympatico.ca or alanidesign@gmail.com

Jewels in the Machine: September 28th - October 3rd

2009-09-26T14:10:00.008-04:00

Toronto Palestine Film Festival ‘09 presents

Jewels in the Machine: New Media Works
September 28th - October 3rd

OPENING: Tuesday, September 29th

5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Beaver Hall Gallery
29 McCaul Street
Toronto
Admission: PWYC
Exhibition Hours: 12:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Jewels in the Machine is a group exhibition of new media works in conjunction with the Toronto Palestine Film Festival. Curated by Reena Katz, the exhibition integrates TPFF’s mandate to share and celebrate the richness and diversity of Palestine and Palestinians with Toronto audiences. Using an array of technological practices, including video, digital photography, projection and audio composition, the artists in the exhibition explore themes of motion, embodiment, violence, resistance and generational memory. Their work offers nuance and depth to the narratives of Palestine and diaspora so often simplified in the West.

WORKS FEATURED

Jewels in the Machine features works by London, Ontario-based senior artist Jamelie Hassan; Venice Biennale exhibitors Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti; local composer and audio innovator John Kameel Farah; internationally acclaimed video artist Jumana Manna; and, the illustration work of art students from Project HOPE’s Graphic Novel initiative in Nablus.

The Oblivion Seekers, 1985
by Jamelie Hassan (London, ON)

[ 2009 DVD format premiere ]

The Oblivion Seekers, an installation/ performance work, includes two films played simultaneously — a home movie from 1955 in colour and black and white news footage — combined with film of Hassan’s microfiche search of the London Free Press. Audio includes commissioned electronic and guitar music by Gerry Collins, based on a recording of legendary Egyptian singer Umm Khalthoum, with original text by Lillian Allen, based on the 19th century prose of Swiss-Algerian writer Isabelle Eberhardt and fragments from the autobiographical text of Umm Khalthoum.

Wanderings and Places, 2009
by John Kameel Farah (Toronto, ON)
[ short pieces for electronics and piano ]

John’s original composition for TPFF expands on his ongoing explorations of electronic piano works, dealing with musical architecture and complex forms. In this gallery-specific context, musical fragments are positioned as places in the mind, landscapes and rivers — a composer's sketches hanging in the air for someone to eavesdrop on.

Decolonizing Architecture
by Sandi Hilal + Alessandro Petti (London, UK & Bethlehem, Palestine)
[ silent projections ]

Decolonizing Architecture is a multi-faceted project in Palestine, which uses architecture to articulate the spatial dimension of a process of decolonization. It deals with a fundamental question: How can Israeli colonies and military bases — the architecture of Israel’s colonization — be reused, recycled or re-inhabited by Palestinians, at the moment they are unplugged from the military/political power that charges them?

The West Bank: A Collection of Graphic Novels
Project HOPE (Nablus, Palestine)
[ cells from upcoming book ]

Project HOPE provides educational, medical relief and arts instruction to youth in the Nablus area. Under Rebecca Cox’s mentorship, youth participants completed a course on the art of the graphic novel at Al-Najah University. Their collected stories will be published in book format this year. The Promise by Insaf Al-Shahed deals with the emotional experiences of Palestinian siblings separated and divided by war and occupation.

Familiar + Ramallah Computer Game
by Jumana Manna (Oslo, Norway & Jerusalem, Palestine)
[ two video works ]

Manna’s mother/daughter video portrait Familiar viscerally searches for a sense of comfort and satisfaction, as the artist is seen breastfeeding from her mother at an adult age. Her homage to this intensely personal relationship attempts to return to unconditional love.

Ramallah Computer Game is a video installation, which uses sound and digital processing on an aerial shot of a demonstration in Ramallah, showing the eerie similarity between military crowd control and video game aesthetics.

ABOUT TPFF
Conceived to introduce Toronto audiences to the richness and diversity of Palestine and Palestinians, the Toronto Palestine Film Festival strives to inspire new perspectives and celebrate film as a thought-provoking art form. The festival showcases the extraordinary narrative of a dispossessed people living in exile or under occupation. The films examine a wide array of topics from a unique and under-represented Palestinian perspective, and highlight the dynamism of Palestinian culture.

Please visit their Web site at TPFF.ca and view their complete 2009 film programme. Advance film tickets, TPFF 10 Pass or Memberships can be purchased online or at the Toronto Women’s Bookstore (73 Harbord Street).

R3: ReLaunch - August 29/09

2009-08-28T10:48:00.005-04:00

Moyo Wa Africa, Seven Directions, and Sistah Lois Creative Capers present

R3: ReLaunch
A multimedia arts show in support of reparations, resistance, and renewal!

Saturday, August 29th

Beaver Hall Gallery
29 McCaul Street
Admission: $10-$15 sliding scale
Doors open: 7:30 p.m.
Show starts: 8:00 p.m.

Through ceremony, song, poetry, dance, film, visual art, and discussion we address the movement for decolonization and call for change and renewal!

Elder Modesto Amegago shares blessings, insights, and music from West Africa. Rainos Mutamba and Pasi Gunguwo speak about the renewal of Southern African indigenous culture, the AIDS pandemic, and share some of the spiritual music of their people. Amai Kuda speaks to decolonization through words and song. And, there will be previews and discussion of the film Coming Home: Fighting AIDS with Culture by Nadia Buckmire.

Also featured:

Roots music of Rahi High and Sistah Lois
Mata DanZe creating revolution through movement
Ciphering and freestyle session with SKI, Marvel and the youth from THE LOFT
Visual Art by Danilo McCallum aka Equinox 199, Victor, and Belinda Ageda

Plus...
Open Mic Segment and After Party!!

All funds raised go to the African Reparations Fund, Turtle Island Reparations Fund and the R3 Artists Collective.

CONTACT
Sistah Lois: write-justice@myspace.com
Judith Solar: sunraysgalaxy@hotmail.com

Image Development: June 9-17, 2009

2009-06-05T19:56:00.014-04:00

OPENING RECEPTION

Tuesday, June 9th
5:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Beaver Hall Gallery
29 McCaul Street
Toronto

GALLERY HOURS: 2:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Closed: Saturday and Sunday
Image Development is a community art program, which is facilitated by Regent Park Community Health Centre. Comprised of a diverse group of women experiencing long-term poverty, participants came together as artists to create.

Since January, these women have undertaken to explore and expand their own art practices beyond what the current drop-in Art Afternoon Program allowed. They pursued independent themes and, with the assistance of the artist instructors, developed the techniques and specialized skills to realize several works each.

The results will be showcased at the Image Development Art Exhibit, with all proceeds from the sales of artwork going towards supporting the artists.

The Image Development Art Exhibit has been generously supported by the Toronto Arts Council and Central Toronto–LHIN.

For more information, please contact:

Josie Ricciardi, (416) 364-2261
Regent Park Community Health Centre

Book & Music Swap: May 23, 2009

2009-05-15T18:21:00.009-04:00

Swap – Don't Shop!

Saturday, May 23, 2009
Beaver Hall Gallery
29 McCaul Street
11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

RSVP: clothing_swap@hotmail.com
ADMISSION: $6.00 / $3.00 if you bring something you created

Show up with all of the books, CDs, and records you regret purchasing or have lost interest in. Check out all of the amazing (and hilarious) stuff everyone else has brought. Enjoy the delicious snacks, and leave with lots of great new stuff!

All books, zines, comics, CDs, records and other reading and listening material, in good condition, are welcome. No more than two magazines per person.

Admission is $6, or a mere $3 if you bring something you've created along with your swapping items. It can be your band's CD, a DJ mixtape, a zine or comic you've created, a book of poetry you've written...whatever, as long as it was made by you. Don't worry if you're not a musically inclined or writerly type, just make a super terrific mix CD, slap a cute homemade cover and song list on it, and bring it along!

Remaining items will be donated to the Toronto Public Library.

EVENT CONTACT:
clothing_swap@hotmail.com
Join the Swap – Don't Shop! Group on Facebook

The Magic Shield: March 19-May 3, 2009

2009-03-09T21:44:00.017-04:00

[ Click to enlarge detail from The Magic Shield by Diane Landry ]

Presented by the Koffler Gallery at Beaver Hall Gallery, The Magic Shield is the second off-site project for the Koffler Gallery and the first presentation of this recent work by Diane Landry in Toronto.

OPENING RECEPTION
Thursday, March 19, 2009
7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Artist Talk: 7:30 p.m.
Beaver Hall Gallery, 29 McCaul Street, Toronto (directions)
Free Admission

FREE GUIDED BUS TOUR
Sunday, April 26, 2009
12:00 – 5:00 p.m.
From Beaver Hall Gallery to Blackwood Gallery, AGYU and Doris McCarthy Gallery
RSVP: (416) 736-2100 x 44021

[ Click to enlarge detail from The Magic Shield by Diane Landry ]

Over the past twenty years, Québec artist Diane Landry has produced a body of playful works inspired by the insignificant gestures and objects that make up our daily existence. Conspiring with cultural and popular imagery, she takes pleasure in swinging between the world's reality and an imaginary, poetic world on the edge of the absurd.

A multi-disciplinary artist, Landry creates what she calls “oeuvres mouvelles” — works whose full effect is dependent on the passage of time. Invoking the wonder of childhood fantasy, her kinetic projects captivate viewers, causing them to stop, linger and experience. Landry’s installations, sculptures and performances often contain an assortment of ordinary recycled and mass-produced objects drawn from our everyday world: teacups, colanders, coffee pots, skates, die-cast toys. Employing subtle combinations of sound, delicate movement, soft light and moving shadow to transform these ordinary things into unpredictable, seemingly organic entities, she participates in recovering the attendant meaning our material culture lost through mass manufacture.

[ Click to enlarge detail from The Magic Shield by Diane Landry ]

In The Magic Shield, two futons covered with white crumpled paper are animated and transformed by different mechanisms and objects placed underneath. One of them stirs as countless keys sometimes rouse as a set of chimes, while fourteen encyclopedia volumes rotate beneath the other creating the illusion of two bodies tossing and turning under covers. The beds seem to go momentarily from restfulness to wakefulness, from object to event, creating a dream-like atmosphere. Enhanced by the dramatic play of light and shadow, the different elements explore the contrast between what is perceived on the surface of things and what can be discovered lurking beneath, between rational and intuitive comprehension.

Complementing the three-dimensional installation, the video piece The Lost Shield brings in the human representation, reflecting Landry’s attempt to mix the notions of performance and installation. By drawing attention to neglected aspects of experience, so quickly erased from consciousness, Landry simultaneously alludes to more profound issues of life and death. Offering different screens of perception, her multi-media works invite the viewer to cross to the other side of the looking glass.

[ Click to enlarge detail from The Magic Shield by Diane Landry ]

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Diane Landry lives and works in Québec City. Since 1987, her works have travelled widely across Canada and in major cities in the USA, Mexico, Argentina, many European countries, Australia and China. Her works have been discussed in numerous publications and recognized by important awards in Québec as well as in the United States. She is the first recipient of the prestigious Giverny Capital Prize, a distinction awarded to a visual artist from Québec. She has been an artist in residence in many centres in Canada, the USA, France, Italy and Argentina. She has just completed a six-month stay in the Studio du Québec in New York, sponsored by the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. Diane Landry holds a MA from Stanford University, California and is represented by SolwayJones Gallery in Los Angeles.

EXHIBITION HOURS
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday & Sunday: 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Wednesday: 11:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Friday: 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Closed Mondays, statutory and Jewish holidays
Free admission

ABOUT THE KOFFLER GALLERY
The Koffler’s mission is to create a more civil and global society by fostering mutual understanding through the exploration of arts and culture. Watch for Koffler Gallery exhibitions in unexpected places all around Toronto over the next three years as the Koffler Centre of the Arts prepares for its brand new 40,000 square foot arts and cultural centre scheduled to open on the Sherman Campus in 2012.

CONTACT
Mona Filip
Curator,
Koffler Gallery
(416) 636-1880 x 270
mfilip@kofflerarts.org
KofflerArts.org

Braiding Histories Book Launch: Friday, February 27/09

2009-02-25T22:55:00.016-05:00

Toronto Women's Bookstore presents a wine & cheese reception to celebrate the launch of:

Braiding Histories: Learning from Aboriginal Peoples' Experiences and Perspectives
a book by Susan D. Dion

Friday, February 27, 2009
Beaver Hall Gallery
29 McCaul Street (directions)
7:00 – 10:00 p.m.
Wheelchair accessible
Silent art auction featuring work by:
Vanessa Anne Fletcher, janet romero, Amy Stubbs, and others.

ABOUT THE BOOK:
Published by UBC Press, Braiding Histories proposes a new pedagogy for addressing Aboriginal subject material, shifting the focus from an essentializing or “othering” exploration of the attributes of Aboriginal peoples to a focus on historical experiences that inform our understanding of contemporary relationships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples.

Reﬂecting on the process of writing a series of stories, Dion takes up questions of (re)presenting the lived experiences of Aboriginal people in the service of pedagogy. Investigating what happened when the stories were taken up in history classrooms, she illustrates how our investments in particular identities structure how we hear and what we are “willing to know.”

Braiding Histories illuminates the challenges of speaking/listening and writing/reading across cultural boundaries as an Aboriginal person to communicate Aboriginal experience through education. It will be useful to teachers and students of educational and Native studies and will appeal to readers seeking a better understanding of colonialism and Aboriginal/non-Aboriginal relations.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Susan D. Dion is an Aboriginal scholar (Lenape/Potawatami) who has been working in the field of education for 25 years. Her teaching and research focuses on understanding the relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in Canada. Dion is cross appointed to the School of Woman Studies and the LaMarsh Centre For Research on Violence and Conflict Resolution.
Her research interests include social and political contexts of education; disrupting memories of post-invasion First Nations-Canadian Relations; resistance strategies of Aboriginal adolescent girls; Aboriginal Women and the policy of forced assimilation; and, violence prevention in Aboriginal communities.

CONTACT:
Toronto Women's Bookstore
T: (416) 922-8744
E: events@womensbookstore.com.

This event is sponsored by Toronto Women’s Bookstore and University of British Columbia Press.

Obama-Nation: Monday, February 23/09

2009-02-20T22:46:00.008-05:00

N(erd)-word productions presents:

OBAMA-NATION Comedy/Art Show

Monday, February 23rd, 2009
Beaver Hall Gallery
29 McCaul Street, Toronto
Doors open at 7:00 p.m.
Show starts at 8:00 p.m.
ADMISSION: $7.00

Hosted by Gavin Stephens
featuring Marvel & DC artist Ken Lashley
and comedians Gilson Lubin, Makasi Arthur & Daniel Woodrow

Shallow obtuse ethnic humor has no place in our future. Tired comedians, perpetuating old one-dimensional racial and ethnic stereotypes through overused premises, need not apply….

“It’s about time. It’s about change.”
— President Barack Obama

Intelligent comedy fans the future is bright! Already successful comedians creatively celebrating their heritage on stage without being “hacky” have entertained large audiences across America and the UK. Now that same spirit has sprouted up north of the border through a group of like-minded individuals calling themselves the Obama-Nation (stand-up for change).

“President Obama is iconoclastic,” says comedian Gavin Stephens. “He represents the very idea of not accepting imposed limitations on one's self based on social constructs.” N(erd)-word productions have reached out to comedians and comic book artists all over Canada to show the world that there are many different styles to the ethnic voice. “Comedians will now have to work harder in regards to Obama — him simply being Black is just not funny.”

N(erd)-word productions will kick off their inaugural event during Black History Month with the Obama-Nation Comedy/Art Show, Monday, February 23rd, at Beaver Hall Gallery. In addition to prolific performances from comedians from CTV, MTV, Spike TV, HBO and much more, the show will spotlight the President's other passion: comic books! Marvel and DC artist Ken Lashley will be showcasing his works from Black Panther, Marvel's new comic book series.

Hosted by Gavin Stephens, and featuring comedians Gilson Lubin, Makasi Arthur, and Daniel Woodrow, Obama-Nation will also have Ken Lashley's comics Black Panther #1 and Amazing Spider-Man #583 (various printings with the President-Elect Obama's appearance) available for purchase. This is a night to take in a different side of North American ethnic culture and to remember: It's not just enough to change the players. We've gotta change the game.

A portion of proceeds will be going to Sickle Cell research and Adult Literacy programs.

FOR MORE INFO, PLEASE CONTACT: idamahn@yahoo.com

Clothing Swap Party: February 21, 2009

2009-02-16T17:08:00.009-05:00

"Swap - Don't Shop!"

Clothing Swap Party

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21st
11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Beaver Hall Gallery
29 McCaul Street (directions)
ADMISSION: $8

Gather up your unfortunate holiday gifts, regrettable impulse sale purchases and other unwanted clothing, and come out to our first co-ed clothing swap, where you'll leave with bags of wonderful new wardrobe favourites!

All men's and women's clothing, shoes, and other accessories (with the exception of socks & undies) that are clean and in fairly good condition are welcome.

As well as fabulous clothing and yummy snacks, sewers will be on hand to do basic alterations and demos on reinventing your wardrobe.

At the end of the day, all unclaimed clothing will be donated to a local charity.

For more info on this or future swaps:
E-mail clothing_swap@hotmail.com
Join the Clothing Swap Facebook group

Liminal Domains: January 29 - February 1

2009-01-23T10:45:00.010-05:00

Liminal Domains
paintings by
Chuck Beamish / Janet Gasparotto / Judy MacIntosh

January 29 - February 1, 2009
Beaver Hall Gallery
29 McCaul Street, Toronto

OPENING
Thursday, January 29th
6:00 – 10:00 pm

Exhibition Hours:
10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

For more information, please contact Janet Gasparotto.

Swap – Don't Shop: January 22, 2009

2009-01-15T12:32:00.014-05:00

Book & Music Swap

Thursday, January 22, 2009
Beaver Hall Gallery
29 McCaul Street
7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

RSVP: clothing_swap@hotmail.com
ADMISSION: $6.00 / $3.00 if you bring something you created

Show up with all of the books, CDs, and records you regret purchasing or have lost interest in. Check out all of the amazing (and hilarious) stuff everyone else has brought. Enjoy the delicious snacks, and leave with lots of great new stuff!

All books, zines, comics, CDs, records and other reading and listening material, in good condition, are welcome. No more than two magazines per person, though.

Admission is $6, or a mere $3 if you bring something you've created along with your swapping items. It can be your band's CD, a DJ mixtape, a zine or comic you've created, a book of poetry you've written...whatever. As long as it was made by you. Don't worry if you're not a musically inclined or writerly type, just make a super terrific mix CD, slap a cute homemade cover and song list on it, and bring it along!

At the end of the night, everything that is left will be donated to the Toronto Public Library.

EVENT CONTACT:
clothing_swap@hotmail.com

Join our group on Facebook!

Mayworks Poetry Marathon: New Year's Day

2008-12-23T02:49:00.007-05:00

Start the New Year Poetically!

Mayworks Festival is pleased to announce our
SECOND ANNUAL NEW YEAR’S DAY POETRY MARATHON!
Thursday, January 1st, 2009
Beaver Hall Gallery
29 McCaul Street
3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

A fundraiser for the Mayworks Festival of Working People and the Arts
ADMISSION: $5 to $20 (sliding scale)

Join local, published, first-time and established poets, reading five minutes each, non-stop for five hours.

Featuring:

Inexpensive vegetarian-friendly meal available for purchase.

This event is wheelchair accessible.
All are welcome to attend.
No one turned away for lack of funds.

About Mayworks Festival
Mayworks Festival of Working People and the Arts is a multi-disciplinary arts festival that celebrates working-class culture. Founded in 1986 by the Labour Arts Media Committee of the Toronto and York Region Labour Council, Mayworks is Canada's largest and oldest labour arts festival. The Festival was built on the premise that workers and artists share a common struggle for decent wages, healthy working conditions and a living culture. Mayworks' goal is to promote the interests of cultural workers and trade unionists, and to bring working-class culture from the margins of cultural activity onto centre stage.

Please visit Mayworks.ca for more information.

I LIKE BIG ART: November 29, 2008, 2 to 6 pm

2008-11-20T18:13:00.013-05:00

Young Womyn's Performance, Art & Poetry

Womynation,
in association with
Toronto Community Housing & ArtReach,
presents:

I LIKE BIG ART AND I CANNOT LIE
SATURDAY,
NOVEMBER 29
2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
at Beaver Hall Gallery
Admission: FREE

Come out and enjoy:

– Good food and music
– Artwork created by young womyn in your community
– Live performances: spoken word, rap, breakdancing, and more...

WHO/WHAT IS WOMYNATION?

Womynation is an art-based, by-youth-for-youth project targeted at young womyn of colour. Womynation runs as a summer program in the Kingston–Galloway and Jane–Finch areas. Through our workshops called Flow/Lines and Photovoice, we work with young womyn on issues surrounding identity and self-expression through the arts.

ABOUT OUR WORKSHOPS:

Flow/Lines: is about exploring process, process as art, and poetry as thought process. In this workshop participants learn the foundations of different types of poetry and different types of art-making (sustainable and cheap) where you start from the ground up with materials and the narratives that come out of them. Art-making includes found objects, priming a painting, egg tempura and other forms of process art. This workshop series is all about collaborating with the process and translating this into your daily practice. The poetry explored includes Haikus, spoken word and sensory poems.

Photovoice: is about finding relevant truth — a truth in your life, and capturing it visually. In this workshop, participants learn and reflect on their identities and what is true within the context of their lives. Participants get the opportunity to have their photographs taken in a studio by a professional photographer. They also study other photovoice artwork and undergo anti-oppression training. The object of this workshop is to develop a better understanding of photography and the surrounding world.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Please visit the Womynation Web site at Womynation.org.
Contact Womynation by e-mail: info@womynation.org or phone: (647) 208-6141.

Scotiabank Nuit Blanche

2008-09-26T09:50:00.007-04:00

Urbanity Humanity: Saturday, October 4th, 2008

An Independent Project of the 2008 Scotiabank Nuit Blanche, on Saturday, October 4th, Beaver Hall Gallery presents a diverse range of work created by Toronto resident artists. From photographic documentation of urban decay to HIV+ propaganda posters, a pop culture trivia contest and mixed media to the sounds of live jazz, participants showcase a remarkable selection of art across disciplines.

[ click to enlarge 111 Elizabeth Street by Lee Dickson ]

Audiences will be welcomed by artist Y.M. Whelan’s sculpture installed in the garden outside, as video artist Michael Alstad of Year Zero One displays a photo series documenting time's passage on the McCaul Street strip. Alstad, along with Jerzy Galecki and Isaac Applebaum, are just one of the many photo-based works included in this exhibition.

[ click to enlarge HIVOGUE: Ofra Haza by JORIAL ]

JORIAL JO.hn RI.chard AL.lan’s altered fashion magazine covers speak to the (in)visibility of living with HIV+ status through his HIVOGUE series. Screen captures of corrupted video from torrented television shows are what comprise prints by K.D. Thornton while pop artist Les Paterson officiates over a pop culture trivia contest based on his portraits of The Simpsons.

[ click to enlarge Escape by Barbara Greczny ]

Painter Deirdre Whelan creates minimalist works that speak to the issue of “home,” while photographer/video artist Barbara Greczny presents a video streeter that ventures into the connection between big banks and homelessness. Mixed-media artist Karen Miranda Augustine’s 2-dimensional paintings use elements from the city’s street to explore the metaphysical, while the black and white photography by Lee Dickson documents the physical transformation of the city's landscape.

[ click to enlarge Jada Fire as Òsun by Karen Miranda Augustine ]

Join us. The honey-coated sounds of Toronto’s sultry jazz performer Sharron McLeod will set off the night. Urbanity Humanity is produced by residents of the Beaver Hall Artists’ Co-operative, a Toronto housing co-operative that is dedicated to providing live-work space for working visual artists, as well as providing affordable gallery space to the city’s greater arts community.

CONTACT:
beaverhallgallery@gmail.com

Calendar

2008-09-26T09:21:00.006-04:00

Ladyfest at Beaver Hall: September 14th to 27th

2008-09-09T00:30:00.016-04:00

Ladyfest Toronto is a multidisciplinary celebration of feminism and the arts, which showcases the experiences and talents of women and trans male artists.

Ladyfest events take place at various venues across the city, September 14th-21st, 2008. Exhibitions run until September 27th.

The following Ladyfest events will be taking place at Beaver Hall Gallery:

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14th
Young Ladyfest
3:00 p.m. / PWYC
Beaver Hall Gallery

A showcase of youth performers and artists featuring:

QUEER YOUTH DIGITAL VIDEO PROJECT: a group of queer youth selected by the Inside and Out Film and Video Festival and Charles Street Video who are lead through workshops of film development, editing, and post-production. Their final project will be featured at Young Ladyfest.

ART GALLERY OF YORK UNIVERSITY'S ARCHITECTURE OF THE IMAGINATION: a program of new video works by twenty-six grade eight students from Brookview Middle School.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 15th
Supplement Film Night
7:00 p.m. / $5.00
Beaver Hall Gallery

Ladyfest is pleased to offer a series of short films of varied dialogue including artists Sarah Boothroyd - Down and Derby, Andrea Bennett and Kaitlin Schwann - Change Now/Now What?, Audrey Huntley - A Warrior Woman's Journey, Sarah Claudon - F to M, Caroline Koebel - hole or space.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16th
A Night of Words and Dance
7:00 p.m. / $5.00
Beaver Hall Gallery

Featuring Farzana Doctor reading from her recently released novel, Stealing Nasreen, Jennifer LoveGrove reading from her novel-in-progress, Watch How We Walk, U of T's LGBT Dance Crew, and the talented crew of spoken-word artists taking on his- and her-stories of gendered and racialized oppressions.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16th – SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27th
Ooh-La-La Visual Art Exhibit
Beaver Hall Gallery
Featuring artists: Paige Gratland, F Square, Christy Kunitzky, Lyndsey Cope, Liz Knox, Tamiko Winter, Jennifer Linton, Anita Agrawal, Diann Chea

Ladyfest Toronto is pleased to introduce Ooh-La-La, a show of works by Lady-identified artists. Ooh-La-La is an art show of mutual support. The Ladyfest art committee believes that an artist showing their work in the context of a feminist festival is still, in 2008, a brave gesture. We have chosen works that reflect a valuable contribution to various conversations in the visual arts and are showcased based on the originality and advancement of dialogues, regardless of the "feminist-ness" of the artist or work. We think that this is a welcome change for artists and our festival, and an invaluable lesson to us in the tendencies of external politics to shortchange the richness of group shows.

Artists offer sculpture, drawing, photography, and even performance in a exhibition that will reassure you that "sisters are doing it for themselves." Or, at least, they are discussing issues from Edward Gorey, to 60s girl groups, racially-specific femininities, the evidence of human interference in a space and, of course, sexuality and motherhood.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19th
Asian Arts Freedom School
7:00 p.m. / $5.00–$10.00 (sliding scale)
Beaver Hall Gallery

Activist rappers, spoken-word artists, musicians, writers and beatboxers.

For a full schedule of events, venues, and further information, please visit the Ladyfest Toronto Web site at LadyfestToronto.ca.

Reveal Show: July 11th – 26th, 2008

2008-06-28T18:22:00.030-04:00

Christy Kunitzky
Daniel Rocca
Karen Kraven
Lex Buchanan
Natalie Stone
Rachel MacFarlane
Reba Forbes

OPENING:
Friday, July 11th
7:00–10:00 p.m.

Reveal Show: a group exhibition presenting work that pertains to diverse ideas of "revealing the unexpected" or "exposure of the forgotten."

[click to enlarge: Long Way Home by Rachel MacFarlane]

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Christy Kunitzky is concerned with drawing our attention to the residues of human existence in spaces. One of her latest projects was to take a cream coloured pencil crayon and connect all the nail holes in a wall into triangular forms on a white wall. This project creates a beautiful optical vibration of cream on white that was only slightly perceptible at first. She uses common materials to point out visual details in interior spaces that marks minute and seemingly insignificant acts. She calls on the trajectory of minimalism but imbues it with an interest in personal mythologies and warm associations. Similar to the act of writing your name in cement, Christy exposes and reveals the inherent impact we have on the spaces around us. [click to enlarge: Untitled #1 by Christy Kunitzky]

Daniel Rocca is an interdisciplinary artist. Recently, he has been creating animations, a book-a-day drawing series, and has been devoting his year to exploring "stripe painting." Daniel considers himself, and maybe artists in general, as a type of sorcerer. He appropriates visual language from multiple points in history, using their synthesis to stew up new realizations and mythologies. Very much inspired by the language of text and pattern, his recent work with abstract stripe painting was motivated in allowing something simple and drenched in art's historical associations to expose an underlying visual power. In these strange new takes of what is "familiar" art historically, Daniel references its multiple connections from the patterning of time, death, narrative between abstract elements, the experiential device of optical illusions, psychedelia, and a relationship to video game design. [click to enlarge: Minotaur by Daniel Rocca]

Karen Kraven is an artist who practices performance, drawing, and installation. Her work uses materials normally associated with a hardware store. Similar to Christy and Reba, she defines and transforms interior spaces with very specific and restricted formal sensibilities. In the past Karen has cut into walls, defying the restrictions of physical limitations. Scale is pushed, minute and meticulous decision making is executed on a large scale or area, making her work accumulative rather than gestural or immediate. Her work demands a slow and attentive eye. Sometimes a pile up of cut carpet is installed in a ceiling space, other times tiny constructions of cardboard or groat seem to grow from the floor: these details alter and reveal our normal processes of perception. When we would normally look straight, we are forced to tilt our heads up and to sometimes crouch down. [click to enlarge: Trying to make it by Karen Kraven]

Lex Buchanan references the life of a contemporary flaneaur. His paintings depict the view of someone walking through the city or a rural road. Sometimes he paints the scene of an alley way with piles of garbage, or the mundane facade of a logging house. Planks of wood, pylons, stacks of wood and construction refuse are transformed into a depiction of beautifully splayed corporeal paint application (a mixture of "natural" and "synthetic" colour harmonies) and seem more like a wondrous playground than hazardous waste. In these paintings that reference the sublimity and decoration of the Group of Seven, Lex transfigures the unexpected attributes of waste into seductive formal representations. [click to enlarge: Discard by Lex Buchanan]

Natalie Stone makes paintings that are based on suburban settings. She uses a muted palette, crude impasto mark making, and aggressive gestures. Her work simultaneously references the mundane and banal but represents the monstrous and daunting through her depiction of skyscrapers, maps and houses. Sometimes an office building references an infinitesimal chain of jail cells. In the horror of these depictions, a quiet and surreal beauty is derived through a harmonious selection of colours and unexpected breathtaking formal qualities. Natalie reveals the unexpected beauty in the monstrous qualities of the detrimental aspects of suburban communities.

Rachel MacFarlane fabricates paintings that begin with the creation of tiny maquettes made of found refuse. These serve as references for painted "worlds" that fall somewhere between mimetic representation and abstraction. Through a two-step process of translating and transforming, materials that are considered unattractive and unwanted become the basis for artificial and imaginary spaces. This blurs the polarity of the minute and the monumental. In these manufactured places, over, under, and beneath forms, are emphasized to produce an activity of wonder and exploration. In the illusionary settings, materials transcend their original capacities, sometimes becoming weightless, anthropomorphic, and grandiose. The dichotomy between the magnificent and the pathetic illustrates an elevation of the unsuspecting but amazing moments of the everyday. [click to enlarge: Ascension by Rachel MacFarlane]

Reba Forbes creates "paintings" that are wooden constructions, which reference and transform the idea of "framing." She uses these wooden structures to define interior spaces, transforming what is already present. These paintings are beautifully finished and crafted in exotic woods to call upon the synthesis of art that references conceptualist history but roots its making in the laborious and domestic realm of craft. Through these features she re-frames banal spaces into unexpected transformations, exposes the support system of painting as beautiful and important, and redefines craft as not merely domestic but miraculous.

CONTACT: Rachel MacFarlane at chostyle@hotmail.com

Renting Beaver Hall Gallery

2008-06-27T18:38:00.017-04:00

Beaver Hall Gallery is found on the main floor of Beaver Hall Artists’ Co-operative. Located in the heart of Toronto’s Queen West art and entertainment district, the gallery is flanked by CityTV and the club district to the south, with OCAD and the AGO to the north. Fully wheelchair accessible, the 1,000 square-foot gallery is available to rent for exhibitions, exhibition receptions and cultural events by artists, non-profits, festivals and associations who wish to independently produce their own function.

Rental fees include free exhibition and event listings on the Beaver Hall Gallery Web site, along with exclusive use of the gallery space from 9:00 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days per week.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE:

Please submit the following information by e-mail to beaverhallgallery@gmail.com:

A brief description of your event.
Time(s) and date(s) requested.
Your name, address, phone number and e-mail.
A brief description of your organization, collective, or a brief artist bio.
Web links for your organization or collective and/or of the work you intend to show.
If alcohol will be served you must obtain a liquor license and send us a copy a week before the opening reception.

A member of the Gallery Committee will contact you shortly to set up an appointment for an on-site tour.

WHAT THE GALLERY FEATURES:

Projection booth
3 plinths (2 matte white, 1 matte black)
5 folding tables, 13 folding chairs
Kitchen facilities
2 washrooms, plus 1 wheelchair-accessible washroom
11-foot ceilings with suspended copper tube lighting
High-gloss cement floors
1,000 square feet of gallery space

*RENTAL FEES:

$500 per week
$200 for the day (9:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.)

If you have additional questions, please contact the Gallery Committee by e-mail: beaverhallgallery@gmail.com.