Kent Monkman, Miss Chief’s Wet Dream, 2018. Acrylic on canvas, 365.7 x 731.5 cm. Gift of the Donald R. Sobey Foundation to the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, 2018.
Big Wins
Miss Chief’s Wet Dream, the largest painting ever produced by Kent Monkman, is now on view in Halifax. The 7.5-by-3.5-metre painting was gifted to the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia by the Donald R. Sobey Foundation. The AGNS contends it’s “the first work by Monkman to be centered around a maritime theme.” Unveiled yesterday, it is on limited view until November 11 alongside Monkman’s touring exhibition “Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience.” Free extended viewing hours are available November 1 and 2 from 5 to 9 p.m. (AGNS)
Lindsay Montgomery has won the national 2018 Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramics. The $10,000 award “allows practising early career ceramic artists to undertake a period of independent research, or other activities that advance their artistic and professional practice,” says a release. Lindsay Montgomery is based in Toronto and Montreal. She uses painting and puppetry as well as ceramics to create videos, performances and objects. Montgomery holds a BFA from NSCAD and an MFA from University of Minnesota, and she teaches at Concordia University. She will formally receive the award on December 1 at the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, and use it to undertake a Medalta residency in the spring. (Akimbo)
Artists Afield
Geoffrey Farmer is opening a new solo show of works on paper tonight in New York. “MUDPUDDLERS, CORN BORERS, POLYMORPHIC PLATYFORMS,” opens on November 1 at Casey Kaplan. “This is the artist’s third solo exhibition with the gallery, and first to focus singularly on works on paper,” says a release. (Casey Kaplan)
Howie Tsui’s Vancouver Art Gallery exhibition “Retainers of Anarchy” is touring to China. The exhibition will be at OCAT Xi’an Museum from November 3, 2018 to January 31, 2019. “Incorporating martial arts characters depicted in the epic tales of the Condor Trilogy written by Hong Kong writer Jin Yong, this exhibition first premiered to wide acclaim at the Vancouver Art Gallery in 2017,” says a release. (Vancouver Art Gallery)
Funding Alternatives
The Art Gallery of Ontario wants to crowdfund $1.3 million in 30 days to buy a Yayoi Kusama Infinity Room. The news broke this morning with articles in the Globe and Mail, National Post, CBC and CTV News. Canadian Art has tried to offer some deeper analysis. The $1.3 million supplements $1 million from an as-yet-unnamed private donor. Previously, in 1958, the AGO crowdfunded the equivalent of $700,000 to acquire a Tintoretto. (Globe and Mail, National Post, CBC, CTV News, Canadian Art)
BTZ, the alternative Bunz “cryptocurrency,” can now be used to purchase some art. In particular, the zero-commission gallery Freedom Factory in Toronto is partnering with Bunz to offer roughly 40 works by the late J.F. Albert at the Lisgar Park Art Crawl on November 8. “After the art crawl, the Freedom Factory will continue to accept BTZ towards all works for sale, as well as offering artists the ability to pay in BTZ to put on shows or attend workshops, as a part of their quest to support and nurture the local community,” says a release. (press release)
Shifting Positions
Kate Taylor is the Globe and Mail’s new visual arts critic. The longtime arts-section contributor, and previously theatre critic, is starting immediately. “She will cover gallery and museum exhibitions and art-world news in Toronto and across Canada,” says an editor’s note on a recent article. (Globe and Mail)
New Creative Spaces
The new central branch of the Calgary Public Library opens today, with a performance hall and permanent installations by Indigenous artists. “Calgary’s long-awaited $245-million downtown library opened its doors to the public Thursday, boasting 240,000 square feet of spectacular architecture, four floors of learning spaces and 450,000 new books and collections,” says the Calgary Herald. Artworks by Keegan Starlight, Kalum Teke Dan, Roland Rollinmud, Lionel Peyachew, Glenna Cardinal and Brittney Bear Hat are on permanent view. Nicole Wolf is the library’s first artist in residence, while Kevin Allen of the Calgary Gay History Project is its first historian in residence. Snøhetta and DIALOG were the architects. (Calgary Herald, Calgary Public Library)
Artscape Daniels Launchpad opens to the public today in Toronto. The facility on the Toronto waterfront offers 30,000 square feet of creative facilities including a gallery, a performance and event hall, and production studios for textile and fashion, fine metal and jewellery, woodworking, digital fabrication and electronics. A digital media lab, opening in December, offers sound and video recording facilities, an audio/video VFX studio, editing suites, a green room, and a photography studio. There will also be a co-working space, and it will be home to Artscape‘s main offices as well. The spaces were all designed by Quadrangle. (Artscape Daniels Launchpad)
Art Fair Updates
Canadian galleries and artists are headed this weekend to Artissima in Turin and SOFA in Chicago. Toronto’s Unique Multiples will be part of the sound program at Artissima, which runs November 2 to 4. Halifax’s Studio 21, Toronto’s Spence Gallery and Montreal’s Galerie Noel Guyomarc’h are at the fair which runs November 1 to 4. (SOFA Chicago, Artissima)
Sales were afoot at Art Toronto. The AGO and TD Bank were particularly forthcoming about their acquisitions at the fair. (Canadian Art)
Biennials Coming Soon
The Toronto Biennial of Art has announced its preliminary artist list. It was accompanied by notes on how the curatorial vision came to be, too. (Canadian Art)
Manif d’art is trying new things in Quebec City. Since the demise of the Biennale de Montréal, it’s the only major biennial in the province. And it’s making moves. (Canadian Art)
