There are many exciting galleries and artists at Art Toronto this year—including some new faces. “The contemporary art community and important actors from across the country get together at Art Toronto—and we want to take part in the conversation,” says Julie Côté of Projet Pangée in Montreal, exhibiting at the fair for the first time.
Other gallerists, like Sabine Schmidt of PSM Gallery in Berlin, have close connections with Toronto, but have never exhibited in the main section of the fair before. Yet others, such as Todd Hosfelt of San Francisco’s Hosfelt Gallery, already have Toronto clients and are part of an increasing contingent of California galleries at the fair. National image is another draw: “For Germans, given their deep desire for the forest and nature, Canada represents a kind of ideal,” admits Düsseldorf gallery director and art historian Roozbeh Golestani. Here, a few first-time exhibitors tell us more about which artists they’re bringing, and what they’re looking forward to.
1. PROJET PANGÉE, MONTREAL
“We are bringing the work of three women manifesting intimate, personal narratives led by intuition and memory. As the focus of the fair is California, rich, fluid paintings by Los Angeles’s Kristy Luck will introduce her to the Canadian scene. There will also be paintings by Toronto’s Darby Milbrath: her personal and confessional canvases, influenced by her career as a professional dancer, are something to discover. Azza El Siddique, a Toronto artist and MFA candidate at Yale University, is creating an immersive installation; I am expecting a bold, organic work, moving and very alive.” —Julie Côté, director/curator
2. PSM GALLERY, BERLIN
“In 2015, I was invited to show in Art Toronto’s Focus: Latin America with Argentinian artist Eduardo Basualdo. I sold well, had a good time, and started collaborating with Toronto gallerist Daniel Faria. Now, I’m in the main section for the first time with four very haptic artists: Marilia Furman from Brazil makes beautiful sculptures in light and wax; Anca Munteanu Rimnic is a Romanian German artist working in textiles; American painter Nathan Peter; and German artist Daniel Lergon.” —Sabine Schmidt, founding director
3. HOSFELT GALLERY, SAN FRANCISCO
“Toronto is a big city with great institutions, so it seems like a natural place to try to get to know some people and put the art we show in front of them. Jim Campbell, from San Francisco, is an MIT-educated engineer and artist who works with LEDs. Patricia Piccinini is an Australian artist interested in science and ethics. And Crystal Liu, who grew up in Toronto, makes beautiful paintings on paper—kind of psychological landscapes.” —Todd Hosfelt, founder/principal
4. PROJECT GALLERY, TORONTO
“We have been quite involved with Edition Toronto before, but have never shown at Art Toronto. So we’re going to have two booths at the fair. One is a booth in the Solo section with Toronto artist Tessar Lo, who will cover the walls of the space with works on paper and hang some recent canvases. The other is a group booth in the main section with works by Ness Lee, Cathy Daley and Camille Jodoin-Eng, among other gallery artists.” —Devan Patel, director and owner
5. GOLESTANI, DÜSSELDORF
“I am interested to show in Canada for many reasons. One of the artists we’ve exhibited before, Erik Olson, studied in Calgary as well as in Düsseldorf, and he recommended Art Toronto as a leading international fair. Our plan is to show two young graduates of the Kunstakadamie Düsseldorf: Arno Beck, a painter who is renowned for his typewriter drawings, and Amadeus Certa, a prize- winning painter who we also showed at NADA New York earlier this year.” —Roozbeh Golestani, director
