R.O. Blechman
The Grid Revisits The BamBoo Club
Check out the article on today’s The Grid by Denise Benson. It’s a revisit of the history of the Bamboo Club on Toronto’s Queen Street. The article features some great historical photographs and of course, lots of Barbara Klunder’s art.
Art Brownie ZOO 2013 Exhibition at Toronto’s INDEXG Gallery.
Art Brownies are miniature artworks created directly on spruce blocks, each measuring 2.5 x 2.5 inch square by 1.5 inch deep. Fiona Smyth and Tomio Nitto are two of the many artists featured in this fourth edition of the Art Brownie Exhibition.
The Gala opening of Art Brownie ZOO 2013 is Saturday, July 16, 2013, from 3-6 pm. The exhibition runs thru April 28, 2013.
INDEXG Gallery
50 Gladstone Avenue
Toronto
Gallery hours are Wednesday to Sunday from 1-6 pm.
The participating artists are:
Adam Devenish | Agata Kosmala | Alex Steele-Mortimer | Alexander Dimitrov | Alexandra Bayliss | Angela Gooliaff | Angelo DiPietrantonio | Anna Tai | Anne Wally | Banafsheh Erfanian | Camille Bossoutrot | Carmen Peters | Chiara Fallani | Christine Allan | Colin Nun| Deborah Maris Lader | Desiree Simpson | Diane Lingenfelter | Donna Carr | Dora Grinnell | Emily Taylor | Emma Smith | Fiona Smyth | Flavia Hevia | Freddic Towe | Hiroshi Yamamoto | Hyun Chul Kim | Irina Schestakowich | Iris Lee | James Smyyth | Jennifer Lee Morrow | Kai Chan | Karen Cantello | Kathy Guthrie | Kenji Makino | Kiyomi Burgin | Laura Ward | Lorraine Thorarinson Betts | Lubna Lipton | Madeleine Hellmers | Mandana Rezapourian | Margot Jenner | Marie de Sousa | Marilyn Chapman | Marina Bancroft | Mark Schafer | Mary Kroetsch | Mehrad Meraji | Melody-Blue Klassen | Mierte | Myrna Brooks Bercovitch | Nancy Zhang | Noriko Saito | Oliver James Brooks | Rachel Heinold | Renee Makino | Rhonda Nolan | Robert Galikowski | Roger Cummiskey | Samantha Dizon | Scott Neely | Shannon Moyer-Szemenyei | Shehreen Ladha | Shelley Savor | sio | Slavica Panic | Sophie Pardo | Stephanie Anne McKay | Taras Ostapchuk | Tina Oehmsen-Clark | Tomio Nitto | YooJin Guak
Clayton Hanmer
Check out the Dandyhorse display featuring Trio Magnus and CTON art at the TO Ref Library.
Blair Drawson Explains It All.
In Blair’s own words, here’s the story behind Dreams of Patoot…
“Some time ago I rediscovered a metaphorical Horn of Plenty crammed with images — good, bad, and indifferent. These were my own works, the products of years of work-for-hire, plus many of my ‘self-commissioned’ paintings. At any rate, I had a lot of them. I was called upon to interpret certain causes, tropes, and ideas that found their way into print. Celebrity portraits. Jocular entertainments. Works of fashion, fiction, and friction. Scientific or socio-economic concepts shown in less abstract, more graspable depictions for the common reader. All of these were painted in styles that seemed appropriate to the subject matter, and which varied considerably in tone – from the broadly comic to the gravely austere and beyond. And all were filtered through my own personal artistic sensibilities.â€
“It occurred to me that perhaps there was a story somewhere within these many images. Was there a narrative here, really? And isn’t it working backwards to contrive a story after the fact of the pictures, especially when there are so many of them? The mule goes before the wagon; he doesn’t push it from behind, like an ass.â€
“Yes indeed. But sometimes when one doesn’t really know what one can or cannot do, or where one is, one blunders into a fool’s paradise. Plain enough was that Dreams of Patoot would be no children’s book. Far too many pictures in the cornucopia were of the naughty variety.â€
“The big hurdle was the problem of consistency of characters from one page to the next. Obviously, the raw material had been originally done for any number of purposes and applications. How then does one contrive a flow of action that shows a central character that the reader can identify and follow from scene to scene, no matter how outlandish the setting? The answer: one doesn’t. The key was contained in the word ‘outlandish’.â€
“Make the story a sort of sci-fi one! Set the action some place, to something like what we are used to — but not the same! And give the denizens of that place the ability to change their appearance, willy-nilly, and at any moment!â€
“Ergo: the Periodic Form Changement.â€
“And while you’re at it, have some fun with language! Make up bad translations that demonstrate the silliness of idioms and expressions which we use every day.â€
“And while you’re at that, might as well take some pot shots at the customs and mores that we live by. But entertain them too! Give them Plafunda! Give them Plafundatongue! Give them Patoot!â€
Blair Drawson’s interactive visual narrative for the iPhone is now available for downloading from the iTunes Store.
Launch Date for Dreams Of Patoot
The launch date for Blair Drawson’s interactive visual narrative for the iPhone has been confirmed for July 11. This app, featuring more than 400 of Blair’s illustrations, is a science fiction story centering around a distant planet called Plafunda, similar to our own in many ways, yet significantly different in others. The central character, Patoot, like young citizens everywhere, has friends and relations, and they all have their own distinct storyline separate from, and parallel to, the main narrative.
The app, along with the story, allows you to save and share Blair’s illustrations. Watch for the launch of the App in the iTunes store.
Tomio Nitto sign Logo
Blast from the past.
Tomio created this horse illustration for this tavern sign.
HAPPY 4TH OF JULY
Maurice Vellekoop’s York University Pride 2013
Maurice created this image for York University 2013 Pride booth and other various swag…. like a fan and stickers. Click on the image and link to Maurice’s Blog to see the applications.
Unexpect Reappearance of 1992 Poster
Maurice Vellekoop’s 1992 Aids Committee of Toronto poster was featured in the Toronto Star’s Life Section front page story on the work of ACT and other Toronto Aids advocates.
