Context like time is everything

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I have a confession to make. At the ripe old age of 13 I had a subscription to Andy Warhol’s Interview Magazine as it was called then and got out of bed after my parents went to theirs to watch the Merv Griffin Show. In other words I was reared on Gossip and it occurs to me that a blog is in fact nothing other then my own personal tabloid. Which is something I would rather avoid. However the reality in and around Toronto at the moment it is the only way to pass on information as quickly as it comes in. It is Thursday October 5, 2006 and I have just come home from the nothing short of spectacular opening of the Unholy Alliance: art + fashion meet again at the MOCCA having attended the opening of “And now for something Completely Different” exhibition down the street at More then just a Deli. My timing sucks I missed the performances at the MOCCA but arrived in time to enjoy the eye candy and the Lydia K. outfits, not to mention the fashionistas / art groupies.

The chance to meet Nick Cave (it would have been a matter of less then six degrees of separation if he was in fact in the building which I assumed he was from the rather sketchy PR material I received from Akimbo and the total lack of information on the MOCCA’s website was right) was a bit intimidating, just the fact that I could return anytime in the next month to look at his stunning work was enough. And besides I had to rush home get on – line to write this and set my agenda for the two weeks. I get ahead of myself.

So with out missing a beat let me bring you up to speed in this frenetic month of Fibre Art in Fibre City (aka Toronto). A week or rather ten days ago I finally managed to get up to the Koffler Gallery to see the other half of the Fray exhibition in order to write a review of it for Selvedge (yes this is blatant self promotion) with conviction. The next evening I was at the TMC listening to three of the artist Mille Chen, Susan Schelle and Jeannie Thib talking about their work, museum policies and textile art (referred to as outsider art and a ghetto to be trapped in by one of the artist) and spent the next to days trying to sort all that out on paper. While considering what a brilliant job Sarah Quinton and Carolyn Bell Farrell did putting Fray together.

On Saturday September 30^th I went to the Art Gallery of Hamilton to see the work of Anna Torma, a show that you should make an effort to see and I will write about in more detail at a later date.

image: Red Flower 1, Anna Torma copyright 2006, 168 x133 cm, hand embroidery ( provided by Art Gallery of Hamilton)

I dropped in to Hamilton Artist Ink and saw the installation work of Marcia Huyer “Tune in, Turn On and Bleach Out”. Marcia Huyer creates large installations using Tyvek®, fluorescent lights and fans. Tyvek®, the material she uses, is a high-density polyethelene fabric used to increase air and water resistance in construction applications and to create what its manufacturer, Dupont, calls “limited use protective garments” worn either for ‘dirty jobs’ or in hazardous environments. There is an exhibition of Bev Pike’s work coming up in February and the galleries promotional card/ invitation has an interesting easy “Vista and Visera” by Annie Milne. [Visit the website and ask about getting hold of a copy]

Back home I have been getting the Fibre Quarterly 2006 Anthology CD ROM ready for duplicating and mailing out to the new subscribers. The Cyber Fibre tour Map of downtown Toronto is nearly ready to be posted and printed. Now after a bracing cup of coffee and a Dare Chocolate Chip cookie or two, it Wednesday Oct 4^th and I am on a yellow school bus full of artist and curators and on the way to York University to see Kathryn Ruppert Dazai @ AGYU Vitrines, The Hill Series: You will be Alright; I will be OK. These three crochet mountain climbing vignettes are whimsical with just a touch suspense and add to the list of her works currently on display in Fibreworks 2006 at the Cambridge Galleries and at the TMC in Fray.

Installation view of "Twin White, I Don't Love You" 2006 and "the Conversation" 2005 by Kathryn Rupert Dazai. Image provided by the TMC

That brings you up to tonight and the extravaganza at the MOCCA and “and now for something completely different” This is just the beginning of a very busy two weeks of art and scholarship at the TSA’s Symposium. All of the exhibitions above need to be written about in greater detail so if your interest in participate on this Blog, linking it up with your own or writing for fibreQuarterly please get in touch with me.

If that isn’t enough to think about it is all so officially fall and that means October is the busiest fashion month of the year in Toronto with both L'Oreal Fashion Week (Oct 16-21) and Alternative Fashion Week (Oct. 17-19) taking place!

For more information on this check out the Toronto Street Fashion website at http://www.torontostreetfashion.com/ for an alternative approach to information

To find out more about the exhibitions above you can find links to the websites on the September 28^th posting “just in case you where wondering what to do”

Images from these events will be added as soon as they are sent to me and I can get around to it

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