Thursday, March 1, 2012 7–10 p.m.
TORONTO EXHIBITION PLACE
Queen Elizabeth Building
On Thursday, March 1, on a mild evening, I was walking in the darkness towards the Queen Elizabeth Building near Exhibition Place. Reaching the building, I was surprised to see the huge crowd waiting for the opening at seven. Even without the visitors the building was already packed with the more than 200 exhibiting artists, many journalists, TV personalities and well-known members of the community.
The visitors were greeted by beautiful young ladies dressed from head to toe in purple-pink, wearing necklaces of electrical lights. The visitors soon nicknamed them “shiny” girls. It was a nice touch from the organizers to give a complementary glass of wine to the first 100 visitors.
Clara Venice sang from a podium while on the side an Asian flag dance was performed.
The SONY installation called the “Take 12 Studio” was very popular. This was also the first year of “Installation Alley”—the series of installations that ran down the centre of the show floor. People seemed to be very excited by these.
The Artist Project marks its fifth anniversary with yet another exciting show featuring original works by a juried selection of over 200 independent contemporary artists.
Artist, Deborah Maris Lader
Artist Dana Filibert
Harry Enchin’s photographs show the historical Toronto
Artist Nissim Ben Aderet
Alex Anagnostou’s glass sculpture
The fair has grown dramatically through the years—from 90 to over 200 artists—and more than 12,000 visitors are expected to attend in 2012. For four days (March 1–4, 2012), artists from a variety of geographic and creative backgrounds will converge and connect with patrons looking to get a glimpse of tomorrow’s Art Stars.
The visitors’ feedback was extremely positive. The fair will continue for the next three days with a series of programmes such as art chats, and tours (please check our information section under listings).
There really is plenty to see!
Text: Emese Krunak-Hajagos. Photo: Mauricio Contreras-Paredes