Hello everyone,

 

Whew! I’m still catching my breath after a whirlwind week of speaking at IDS and then seeing as much DesignTO programming as possible; several shows I mentioned in the last newsletter have been extended including Ehiko Odeh’s Golden Beauty Supply, which now runs until this Friday. And if you missed my interview with Ehiko a few weeks ago, you can find it at this link.

 

I also managed to check out two new shows in Toronto, which I’ll fill you in on shortly. First, I wanted to mention a new art-centric happening that recently launched called Last Thursdays, which sees a group of galleries band together to host rotating, extended-hours monthly gatherings. The only info I’ve been able to sleuth out is here, but I will keep my eyes peeled for more!

Caroline Monnet, Okikad, 2023. Bronze (15 x 22 x 12 inches). Photography by Charlie Leroy. Courtesy of the artist and Blouin-Division Gallery.

Art Museum at the University of Toronto, University of Toronto Art Centre

University College, 15 King's College Circle

On until March 23

 

In her first solo exhibition at a public gallery in Toronto, Montréal-based multidisciplinary artist Caroline Monnet presents recent and older works in a monumentally heady assemblage. One that connects uncanny materiality with the power of language, environmentalism with anti-colonialism, and past with present and beyond.

 

When you enter the gallery space, you’re confronted with the glorious copper work The Future Itself Has a Future (2018) – sweeping strands of the sultry-toned metal are hewn to the effect of resembling telephone cables, providing commentary on “the transmission of knowledge systems that do not rely on the written word but rather assert continuity and interconnectedness between body, land, and water.” Copper, the work’s didactic additionally notes, is “a mineral closely tied to Algonquin culture”.

 

The rest of the exhibition’s offerings are equally rich in meaning and defiant in the manipulation of each respectively symbolic medium. Rippled wood sculptures percolate with energy throughout rooms that eventually lead to others filled with Monnet’s signature staggeringly complicated embroideries; swaths of construction materials like air barrier membrane are transformed into canvases for the deft woven application of Anishinaabe traditional geometries and text including phrases like “WE ARE EARTH”. In other instances like the piece Okikad (2023), seen above, an element of trompe l'oeil shines through bronze sculptures that replicate the look of wood to an unbelievable degree.

 

The intangible – that is, sound – is also utilized in Monnet’s works to exceptional effect, and the film elements found within the show are singular and riveting. And I was pleased to see Catherine’s Coat, a garment which was worn by multidisciplinary artist and Fancy Shawl dancer, Catherine Boivin, in Monnet’s portrait work Echoes from a near future (2022). I wrote about seeing the image in one of my early newsletters, so it was an interesting full circle moment for me.

 

Monnet’s ability to manifest narratives with such inanimate yet strong corporeality comes across with ferocity in this show; again, the wood works in particular are spectacular. I suggest you take it in this Saturday as part of an extra-special opportunity: the show’s curator, Mona Filip is doing a tour from 2-4pm.

Caroline Monnet, Kikinaham - To Sing Along With 02, 2023. Weaving, roof underlay and waterproofing membrane (28 x 42.75 inches). Courtesy of the artist and Blouin-Division Gallery.

Charlotte Blake, Convoy, 2022. Rattan reed, cotton and deadstock yarn (31 x 40 inches).

Abbozzo Gallery

401 Richmond Street West, suite 128

On until March 30

 

For its current, second annual group exhibition for emerging artists, Abbozzo Gallery presents Girl Dinner – a show that emphasizes the unique yet undeniably familiar “experiences of girlhood” for each of the participants. Named after the tongue-in-cheek social media trend of describing a random plate of craveable (slash easily eatable) foodstuffs as “girl dinner”, the exhibition is similarly random and enticing in its collectivity. “What punctuates the Girl Dinner trend is a sense of play, often accompanied by an air of self-aware nostalgia and camp,” says the show’s notes. “Girl Dinner calls for a celebration of self-indulgence and an appreciation of the beautifully quaint moments of the everyday.”

 

Thanks to this lively arrangement, I discovered the incredible work of South Korean creative Hyun Young Yang. Her hypnotic painting The Difference Between You and I (2023), seen below, appears on a sheet of stainless-steel, imbuing it with such an inventive dimensionality; the show includes beautiful fibre works by Charlotte Blake, too. And Ehiko Odeh also has three vibrant paintings on view.

 

I appreciated that the gallery made room to show off a selection of works by Japanese-Canadian woodcut print artist Naoko Matsubara, whose delightful pieces I always enjoy seeing when I visit. The inclusion amps up the joyful eclecticism of Girl Dinner’s multitude, speaking volumes about the overall theme of feminine autonomy.

Hyun Young Yang, The Difference Between You and I, 2023. Oil and primer on stainless-steel (32 x 44 inches).

I’ve had some requests to add listings to my dispatches, so allow me to introduce 

“Three to See” – a new mini-feature that highlights a trio of inviting new(ish) exhibitions. 

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