by Ashley Johnson
A sign of cultural maturity in developed societies is the wholehearted support and celebration of its artists. Their contribution is recognized as ‘cultural capital’, to be nurtured and exported, whether as art objects or social ideas. Value is attached and upheld by institutions that generate knowledge and shows about that product.
by Phil Anderson
Upon meeting with documentary photographer , Vincenzo Pietropaolo at Toronto‘s De Luca Fine Art/Gallery, on Queen St. West, he explained of how he captured images of the Italian community as a young boy, an immigrant child. The camera allowed him access to another world. As a young man he played pool in a then local pool hall which is now part of a trendier world for visitors to the neighbourhood.
By Rae Johnson
Upon opening its doors under the new ownership in October 1981, the Cameron became a magnet for the most talented and ambitious in the ‘hood. It came together as a kind of social experiment in the form of a hotel, similar to hotels like the Chelsea in New York, but fundamentally different in that it’s reason d’etre from the beginning wasn’t to sell beer and collect rent, but to provide a place for Culture.
By Gary Michael Dault
I came into the Drake Hotel coffee shop a couple of weeks ago and there was anarchist-wildman-artist Istvan Kantor at a window table in the sunlight and when he smiled a greeting—for we hadn’t seen one another for a couple of years—there was suddenly a visionary gleam in the coffee shop, an effluence of light that made looking at him feel like looking directly at the grille of a 1948 Buick.
By Emese Krunak-Hajagos
Looking at the exhibitions of Contact always remind me of my childhood. My relationship with photography started at a very early age since my mother was a professional photographer. She had a portrait studio from the 1950th for 40 years in Budapest. Through her work staged photography filled my life and as a passionate reader I always connected stories to the photographs.
By Matt Macintosh
“Illuminated Manuscript“, a site-specific installation curated by Bonnie Rubenstein at The Coach House as part of this years CONTACT festival themed, “Figure + Ground” is part of Robert Bean’s ongoing research project on Marshall McLuhan, technology and obsolescence. With access to the back-rooms of the Canadian Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa, Bean has presented 2 videos and 18 mid-scale photographs in the house where McLuhan famously conducted his research and Monday evening seminars.
By Von Bark
The art of eating is the very substance which gives us life. The art of preparing food for consumption is an alchemical/transformative process which simmers our cultural influences in complex ways. ‘Best Before‘ is a group show of Aboriginal artists that bites into this feast. There is a light-handed but sharp sense of teasing our dominant culture. The artists all contributed recipes related to their conceptual pieces.
By Amanda Pignotti
As visitors walk toward the blackened room of the E-Gallery located on the UTM (University of Toronto at Mississauga) campus, sound before sight entices the crowd. One by one, visitors unconsciously emerge as “listeners” of a work of art, prior to becoming the “viewer”. Intimidating and boisterous tones stampede out from the E-Gallery, drawing in curious yet skeptical listeners before the piece is even seen!
