!!!!!A BUZZ IN THE AIR!!!!!!

Art with Heart is just 2 days away, and attending the reception at Edward Day Gallery on Thursday night has fed the excitement surrounding this event....the art was being talked about, looked at and enjoyed....this is the best collection to be assembled for the auction, 84 lots from the best in Canadian Art....I'm looking forwarded to auctioning some of this fabulous work....you can view the catalogue at www.artwithheart.ca

A GESAMTKUNSTWERK @ The Canadian Opera Company

"A gesamtkunstwerk  (often translated as universal artwork, synthesis of the arts, comprehensive artwork, all-embracing art form, total work of art, or total artwork): is a work of art that uses all art forms or strives to do so."

...I'm paraphrasing here from Wikipedia............................

On Saturday night I witnessed this term first hand...I was at the performance of Robert Lepage's new opera The Nightingale and Other Short Fables....a smart, spectacular staging, it simply blew my mind...

Lepage brought every art from together to create a wonderful sensory experience...you felt you were a witness to something very special-check out the COC's website at:

www.coc.ca

BABES FOR BAYCREST

https://www.womenofbaycrest.com/babes.php

Here is the link to an event I will be the auctioneer for on November 10th....check it out!!!!

GREG GIRARD @ Clark and Faria

HALF THE SURFACE OF THE WORLD on til the 15th of November....is the latest show at Clark and Faria for Greg Girard....and it is fantastic.........

Walking in the the front gallery you realize something is different about these photos...I was told by Daniel they are early works,  some taken when the artist was as young as 18!!!......The 2 works that stood out for me were Sailors Home, Vancouver, 1973 and Americana II, Pusan, Korea, 1976, the colours and settings of these compositions show the beginning of what would be come the artists signature style, as you move into the main gallery where more recent works are hung...... these are mostly of air force bases in Japan, I really liked Off-Base, View #2, Yokohama, Japan, 2009.... the vibrancy of these works is unbelievable, I love where he situates the viewer and the cropping of the composition.....

"I still prefer the cake....."

I was back at Lennox Contemporary on Friday, to see the Flash forward show before it comes down on the 25th.....my friend and I were the only ones in the gallery, which gave us the opportunity to really look at the work....as I said before the opening was packed...There are some very talented aritsts in this show, but why have the majority of  artists/photographers decided to mount their works on foamcore??? is it a cost issue???...as can be seen it is a very unstable mount, one drop or bang and there goes a corner!

The Joshua Jensen-Nagle interior is beautiful....but it is the artist featured in the promotional material for the show,  American photographer Amy Stevens that in my mind sticks out. Visiting her website, she is working on series based around confections. The photo in the show is of an artistically iced yellow cake on a yellow decorative backdrop; a wonderful interplay of patterns and textures create a push and pull between the foreground and background.

On our way out of the exhibition, my friend was beside me at the top of the stairs....we both looked to our right, to the spot where Ms. Stevens work is installed......after a pregnant pause my friend exclaimed......"I still prefer the cake............."

Heffel....leading the way?

Looking through Heffel's upcoming offering this fall auction season, the collection from Helen E. Band stands out!!!!!!!!works from the cream of the Group and a Henry Moore!!!!!!!.....a double session on Nov. 26th, all eyes will be on this auction to see if the market has recovered enough in Toronto to support a high end art sale.  We still haven't seen anything from Sotheby's..... everyone is waiting to see if they can recover from the events of the summer!

Flash Forward 2009

I was at the Flash Forward opening at Lennox Contemporary on Ossington on Thurs. night....on show is a fantastic exhibition of photographs from the Magenta Foundations photo competition...................

The gallery was packed with people, it definitely calls for a second trip:

"TO BE CONTINUED"

ART WITH HEART CATALOGUE NOW ONLINE

check out the fab work......

http://www.artwithheart.ca/

Trust Accounting

I was sitting at my local Starbucks on Saturday morning reading through the Globe and Mail, starting my caffeine regiment for Nuit Blanche....In the main section I saw the ad for Bonhams, The Canadian Sale, coming up on Nov. 30th, featured was, Summer Landscape, Knowlton, Quebec by Henreitta Mabel May, carrying a presale estimate of $100,000-150,000....however what caught my attention was a black band with white lettering at the bottom: Bonhams features Trust Accounting: a safe haven for client funds. After what occurred in the Toronto auction world at the end of the summer, placing this line prominently in the ad was a very smart move, as confidence in selling at auction has taken a beating!!!!!!......

Starbucks, waiting in line and Skry-Pod

 What a wonderful night!!!!!......Nuit Blanche 2009 was amazing, the buzz, the vibe..... the streets were filled with people all to look at contemporary art!!!!! Jeff Koons' Rabbit Balloon @ the Eaton Centre was pretty cool as well as was Imminent Departure by Heather Nicol @ Union Station....but my favourite work was the performance/multimedia installation, Skry-Pod  by FASTWURMS@ The Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel...it was definitely worth the 2 hour wait.....