Opening Receptions of the first week of Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, 2013:
Opening Reception: May 2, 2013, 7 – 10 p.m.
Gladstone Hotel
1214 Queen St W
Thursday night, Gladstone Hotel was home to CONTACT’s photo shows, In the Playroom by Jonathan Hobin , Queer Portraits by JJ Levine and Maclean’s Face to Face. The shows were abuzz with Toronto’s art goers, who could be found either pushed up against the 100 year old walls of the hotel or getting some air on the beautiful south facing balcony.
In the Playroom: Photographs by Jonathan Hobin
Opening Reception: May 2, 2013, 7 – 10 p.m.
May 2 – 31, 2013
Gladstone Hotel
1214 Queen St W
In the Playroom is photo-based artist, Jonathan Hobin’s ongoing series of large-scale, colour photographs that depict children re-enacting significant world events such as the attack on the World Trade Center, the murder of child beauty-queen JonBenét Ramsey or torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib.
Jonathan Hobin, The Twins, 2010, C-print, 42 x 54 inches
Just as children make a game of pretending to be adults as a way to prepare and ultimately take on these roles in later life, so too do they explore things that they hear or see, whether or not they completely understand the magnitude of the event or the implications of their play.
Jonathan Hobin, A Boo Grave, 2010, C-print, 42 x 57 inches
Most of the images are very creepy but in an interesting, engaging way.
Photo: Fox Martindale
InSight
Opening Reception: May 2, 2013, 7 – 10 p.m.
May 1 – 12, 2013
Gallery 1313
1313 Queen St. W
Gallery 44 members once again displayed their works for Contact at Gallery 1313. They have been exhibiting at the gallery for 15 years now and there is always a variety of diverse works.
Annie Sakkab, From the Series ‘Washing Men’, archival giclee print, 18 x 12 inches, 2012
This exhibit was Part One with fourteen photographers showing. Part Two follows with another fifteen photographers.
Gallery 44 Director Lise Beaudry with photographer Jonathan Groeneweg
The reception was a lively one with lots of visitor traffic and a few sales. Kelly Lamorie sold her series of 8 prints to arts critic David Jager, of Now Magazine and Linda Briskin also sold a print.
Linda Briskin
Larry E. Glazer’s print which was used on the invite was front and centre to the exhibition.
Larry E. Glazer with his work
The works were consistently professional and the reception a fun event.
Text and photo: Phil Anderson
Marriage Bureau by Victor Helfand
Opening Reception: May 2, 6 – 9 p.m.
May 3 – 31, 2013
Aroma Espresso Bar
500 Bloor St W. Hours: Mon – Fri, 7:30 – 11, Sat – Sun, 8 – 11 p.m.
Aroma Espresso Bar with Helfand’s work
It may initially seem out of place to have photographs of American newlyweds in an espresso bar in Toronto; however, it sheds light on a diverse facet of life we are not readily exposed to. The photographs feature a variety of unconventional brides and grooms in unconventional wedding attire (converse shoes, red umbrellas and parasols, timberlands and jeans, bowler hats etc.) posed against the characteristic NY City Hall backdrop.
Installation view
Since 1916 the marriage bureau in lower Manhattan has been uniting couples under the law. Victor Helfand, a welcoming face upon entering the seating area in the back of the espresso bar, tells the story of his inspiration and his desire to represent and give a voice to non-traditional couples, of different social and economic backgrounds.
Victor Helfand with his work
Although Helfand was kicked out of the bureau by several policemen, and unable to continue this project, what he leaves us with is a challenge to our preconceived notions of what a wedding looks like.
Victor Helfand, Bowler Hat, 2012
This project ended abruptly when Helfand was escorted out by a police officer.
Text and photo: Leanne Simaan
Here is Where / Heather Fulton, Catherine Jones, Michael Mills, Annette Seip
Opening Reception: May 1, 5 – 8 p.m.
May 2 – 25, 2013
Workman Arts
1001 Queen St W and Gordon Bell Rd. Hours: Thu – Sat, 12 – 6 p.m.
By setting the tone for the rest of the show with a live musician, playing mellow tunes, all four artists intermingle the evolution of the architecture of the CAMH grounds and the human body/stigma of mental illness.
Michael Mills, Memory 4, 2013
Mills and Annette Seip integrate the grounds with the elements of human body. Mills does so by layering the male body (inpatients from CAMH), while Seip uses the archival and recent (2011) photographs of the architecture to create 3D portraits of volunteers at CAMH.
Annette Seip, Volunteers
Catherine Jones’ work illustrates the stigma surrounding mental illness through visual metaphor. On the other hand, OCAD graduate Heather Fulton chose to photograph the last two 19th century buildings that remain on the CAMH grounds at 1001 Queen Street West. The intimacy she aims to achieve by developing the film with household items, like instant coffee, is complimented by her choice of framing the photographs with used books.
Catherine Jones with her work
Overall, all four artists’s work ask of their audience to attempt to fight the stigma surrounding mental illness in our community by considering the history of the CAMH grounds and, even more, a history of neglect and alienation.
Text and photo: Leanne Simaan
Sebastião Salgado
Opening Reception: April 25, 6 – 9 p.m.
April 25 – May 25, 2013
Nicholas Metivier Gallery
451 King St W. Hours: Tue – Sat 10 – 6 p.m.
Installation view
Sebastião Salgado, Iceberg Castle between Paulet Islands and the South Shetland Islands on Weddeil Sea, 2005, gelatin silver print, 50 x 68 inches
Nicholas Metivier Gallery presents Salgado’s inaugural exhibition in Canada, which includes influential photographs from Workers (1986–1992), Migrations (1993–2000), and Genesis.
Sebastião Salgado, Barrancos, Gold Mine, Serra, Pelada, State of Para, Brazil, 1986, gelatin silver print, 24 x 35 inches
He describes his style as “inside the circle,” often living with his subjects, immersed in their environments. Salgado’s black-and-white images are infused with empathy and respect for the people, wildlife, and nature he encounters.
Photo: Fox Martindale