From a Purple Pope to Iron Mike - John Scott has a new show opening Thursday night, King Street Toronto 6pm

Media Alert: The official opening of the DARK COMMANDER – THE ART OF JOHN SCOTT.  Thursday night, 6pm. Nicholas Metivier Gallery. King St

From a purple pope to Iron Mike - an exhibition of new works by Governor General Award winning artist John Scott.

The media are invited to join Toronto’s art community for the opening of this important Canadian art exhibition. Opening runs 6-8pm. The artist will attend. Blog followers welcome too.

What & When:

Opening reception – Thursday September 11 - with artist, Canadian art buyers, Toronto’s art community, musicians and actors. Scott’s new work to be unveiled. Brief speeches at 7.00pm. Event 6-8pm.  The show will continue through to October 11.

Where:

N I C H O L A S  M E T I V I E R  G A L L E R Y  

451 King Street West, Toronto, Ontario, M5V 1K4 T 416 205 9000

Why:

This fall marks two important milestones in Scott’s distinguished career; his fifth solo exhibition opens in September at Nicholas Metivier Gallery and his first comprehensive survey exhibition, Dark Commander – The Art of John Scott, opens in October at the Faulconer Gallery in Iowa.

The title of the exhibition, Dark Star - an object composed of dark energy that outwardly resembles a black hole – is a nod to Scott’s long-time fascination with space and science. The oxymoron also references the sinister side of our notions about heroes. In his drawing and canvas of Iron Mike, (Mike Tyson), Scott highlights the vulnerability of this fallen athletic giant. Tyson’s boxing gloves are lowered and he dons bunny ears, (a trademark symbol of Scotts’ representing humans’ likeness to scared animals). These, as with many other works in this exhibition, are poignant examples of Scott’s everlasting creativity and timeless voice.

The exhibition will also include two recently released lithographs. The prints were published by Scott and Nicholas Metivier Gallery and printed at Open Studio in Toronto.

Scott was born in Windsor, Ontario in 1950. In 2000, Scott was awarded the inaugural Governor General’s Award in Visual Arts and Media. He has exhibited extensively across Canada for the past 30 years and is collected by almost every major institution in the country including the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto and the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Scott’s work is also held in numerous museum and private collections outside of Canada including the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Scott is currently an instructor at OCAD University where he has taught for the last 15 years.

How:  

      

All media are welcome to cover the event

Media Contacts

Stephen Weir

Phone 416-489-5868

Cell: 416-801-3101

Email: Stephen@stephenweir.com

George Socka Mash-Up of King Street. 1927 and Now!

 HISTORIC MASH-UP OF CITYSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHS

George Socka's historic 1927 King St. near the Royal Alexander Theatre, Toronto

Photographer George Socka on the streets of Toronto

A friend of mine, videographer / photographer George Socka, has developed a mash-up technique for historic and modern Toronto streetscape photographs. His works will soon be on display here in Toronto.

What George does is find old B&W archival pictures from the last century and then takes his camera  out onto the street to make history of his own.  He finds  where an old photograph was taken and then retakes the picture from the same spot and angle using modern digital photographic equipment. Back in his studio he does a mash-up of old and new, black and white, film and digital. Amazing results. His Toronto pictures are going to be part of a new free exhibition at Todmorden Mills here in the Big Smoke. 

Above is one of his streetscape mash-ups taken on King Street near the Royal Alex. 

What follows  is a listing I will soon be sending out about George's mash-ups and the Citscapes free exhibition.

Beach Photo Club presents Toronto Cityscapes

The Exhibition: 19 photographers from the Beach Photo Club will be taking over the Papermill gallery at Todmorden Mills on Pottery Road from February 27 to March with a collection 45 images of Toronto Cityscapes. This exhibition features works that explore all of the beauty that Toronto landscape has to offer.

Dates and Times: February 27 to March 10, 2013
Reception: Saturday March 2, 2013 2 pm to 4 pm
Gallery hours: Saturday, Sunday 12 - 4:30 pm
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 12 - 4 pm
Monday, Tuesday Closed

Photo artists include: Adam Tatarnic, Andrew Oliver, Anthony George, Catherine Mackinnon, Chris Borcsok, David Sweeney, Deborah Ryan, George Socka, Jennifer Vieira, Joanne Quinn, John Wallace, Jude Marion, Mark Kremblewski , Maureen Littlewood, Michael McAuley, Randy Rebolos, Robert Greatrix, Sarah Boutilier, and Selby Shanly. Images will be available for sale by the artists.

About the Beach Photo Club: The Beach Photo Club's mandate is to promote members interest and knowledge of photography, to provide activities and services as agreed by the members and to promote the appreciation and participation in the photographic Arts website http://www.beachphotoclub.com/

About the Papermill Gallery: Set in the scenic Don Valley, Todmorden Mills Heritage Site is a complex of historic buildings which were once part of the small industrial community of Todmorden. Today the site consists of two historic millers' homes dating from the early
19th century, the Brewery building and the recently renovated Papermill Theatre and Gallery. Access is from Pottery Road off Bayview Extension, or south off Broadview Avenue

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Contact Andre Oliver andrewo@chass.utoronto.ca for more information

Canada's Biggest and Most important Photography and Book Prize. Short List this Friday. (Join Us!)

SCotiabank Photography Award (SPA)

 

2012 Shortlist to be announced friday, march 16

 

TORONTO, ON (29/02/2012) -  The Scotiabank Photography Award (SPA) will announce its three shortlisted finalists on Friday, March 16 at 10:00 a.m. at Scotia Plaza, 44 King St. West, 4th floor, Schooner Room. Now in its second year, the SPA was created to raise the international profile of Canada’s leading photographic artists and is the largest annual peer reviewed celebration of excellence in Canadian contemporary photography. 

 

“The SPA helps build recognition for Canadian artists with a developed body of work and who are building a following,” said Jane Nokes, Director of the Fine Art Collection and Corporate Archives at Scotiabank. “The award celebrates contemporary Canadian photographers whose work is enjoyed by, and adds to, the richness of communities across the country."

 

The SPA was conceived and developed by Ed Burtynsky, one of Canada’s most respected photographers and Jane Nokes, Director of the Fine Art Collection and Corporate Archives at Scotiabank Group. Mr. Burtynsky is Chair of SPA and Jane Nokes is Executive Director. Both serve on the Board of the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, the largest photography festival in the world.

 

The three 2012 SPA shortlist finalists were chosen from a field of 12 nominees. The SPA winner will receive a cash prize of $50,000 and have a book of their works published and distributed world-wide by internationally-renowned art photography publisher Steidl (Germany). The winner will also be featured at their own curated exhibition at the following year's Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival. This year's SPA winner will be announced on May 9, 2012. A $1500 honorarium will be awarded to the nominator of the winning photographer and the two runner-up finalists will each receive a $5000 cash prize.

 

For more information on SPA please visit: http://www.scotiabankphotoaward.com/index.html

 

About Scotiabank
Scotiabank is committed to supporting the communities in which we live and work, both in Canada and abroad, through our global philanthropic program, Scotiabank Bright Future.  Recognized as a leader internationally and among Canadian corporations for our charitable donations and philanthropic activities, Scotiabank has provided on average approximately $45 million annually to community causes around the world over each of the last five years. Visit us at www.scotiabank.com.

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Media are requested to contact Stephen Weir & Associates to cover the announcement & unveiling:

Stephen Weir:            416-489-5868       cell: 416-801-3101   stephen@stephenweir.com

Linda Crane:                 905-257-6033      cell: 416-727-0112   cranepr@cogeco.ca

or

Crystal Jongeward, Scotiabank

Phone: 416.933.3056

Email: crystal.jongeward@scotiabank.com