| Dear Artfocus Online
Readers: It was a winter " horrible"! Here in Toronto ,we downtowners were literally marooned in our apartments by the snow from December to March. But at last the June sunshine has restored my enthusiasms, and I can catch up with describing the things I find exciting on the art scene from receiving e-mails and invites, visiting shows and in Toronto following the artworld reviews in The Globe & Mail plus the weekly listings in Now Magazine . Captain Canada, will you return? During the winter the TV was dominated by the race between female candidate, Hillary Clinton & black candidate ,Barack Obama for the US Democratic nominee for 2008. We found ourselves bouncing from the TV to the Internet to get the latest gossip to fill in our expectations. Of the candidates, Obama seems to have figured out the $ value of the Internet & is now the Democratic nominee! In Canada the only politician we have with equal (or more!) charisma, is Brian Tobin, the former Liberal Fisheries Minister, known as " Captain Canada, " now retired from politics. But will he return? See video below: "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77kg-4LRRZM&feature=related "  Brian Tobin TORONTO >"Shared Propulsion" Art Car In the fall of 2007 & continuing to Feb 2008, @ Mercer Union in Toronto in the Queen Street West Art District presented the winner of the 2007 Sobey Art Award, Michel de Broin , "Shared Propulsion Car", an '86 Buick Regal stripped of its engine, suspension, transmission and electrical system and outfitted with 4 independent bicycle pedal and gear mechanisms. The vehicle retains the illusion of the mass-produced luxury automobile, but was reduced to a shell that now has a top speed of 15 km per hour. Presented in the gallery as a sculptural work, the car was accompanied by a video of the work in action.  Periodically it left the gallery space and passersbys were invited to help pedal the car through traffic. This resulted in a traffic fine for the gallery, when an over- zealous Toronto policeman tagged the car (for speeding?) driving on Queen Street West! For more information, please visit http:// www.mercerunion.org or contact 416.536.1519. Coimbra PORTUGAL> Dinosaur Art Car in Portugal  To mark the end of his exhibition
at the Coimbra Water Museum in Portugal, Angel
Orensanz and curator Manuel Carmo drove a
1930’s Ferrari from the front entrance to the museum in the banks of the river Mondego
to the nearby seashore of the Atlantic Ocean, just a few miles away in October 2007.
The exhibition “Water Dreams” has been seen by thousands of visitors from the city of Coimbra itself and from the entire country. The Orensanz exhibition opened with the conceptual sculptural piece “River of Fire” in which several boats participated in a display and juxtaposition of water and fire. In that first piece he developed the antinomy of water as a threat and a relief. In this last intervention he is bringing up the semantics of water as the primal perspective of all motion and its eventual absorption into the galloping ocean. The Ferrari, an original from the 1930’s, brings the utopian mind of the early 20th century when the automobile in the hands of the Italian engineers and artists became an icon of individual empowerment, speed and energy. Orensanz and Carmo moved by road in close parallel to the river Mondego, approaching the boats installation of Orensanz in some points of their drive, until reaching the Ocean open, and endless like a universe of water. The automobile was all the time decorated with the circles and tarpaulins of Orensanz, making it an" imaginary dinosaur." A fully illustrated book, “Orensanz in Coimbra”, is presently being published by the Water Museum of that city and will be available from the Museum and or from the Angel Orensanz Foundation in New York, from the second week of December on. -30- Further Info: <http://angelorensanz.com/newsletter/coimbraferrari01.jpg>  NEW YORK> Jeff Koons on the roof @ the Metropolitan Museum in New York April 22, 2008—October 26, 2008 (Weather permitting) A rooftop installation of sculptures by contemporary American artist Jeff Koons, are set against the spectacular backdrop of Central Park and the Manhattan skyline at The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden. space for sculpture in New York City: The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden, offers a spectacular view of Central Park and the Manhattan skyline NEW YORK> CROSSING DELANCEY  "CROSSING DELANCEY" A SERIES OF LOWER EAST SIDE IMAGES FROM HOUSTON TO DELANCEY STREETS.Photos by Toronto photoartist/publisher PAT FLEISHER ON VIEW June 3 to July 31, 2008. @ EARTH MATTERS Café/Gallery, 177 Ludlow St. (between Houston and Stanton), NYC 10002 The epicenter of Pat Fleisher's exploration has been the Angel Orensanz Foundation on Norfolk Street where directors Angel and Al Orensanz suggested the East to West walkabouts that resulted in these gritty and dynamic photo impressions of the "hood". Fleisher's long standing fascination with New York was recorded in a review of her NY photo show in Montreal in 2002, published in "Vie des Arts." And a photo of a Norfolk St. snowscape published in the Skowegan School of Art Alumni Newsletter in 2003. She was then invited to exhibit a group of East Village New York images for the opening of the FEVA gallery in the 14th St. Y in New York, May 18-June 30, 2005 and @ Arts Caracas 2005 in Caracas, Venezuela, May 5-8, 2005. Statement by Al Orensanz Phd " This exhibition has been slated for Earth Matters on Ludlow Street because the venue and the art on display mirror each other fabulously. This show could have well be installed at Clayton Patterson Art Gallery on Essex Street or at the Angel Orensanz Foundation on Norfolk Street. But Al and Angel Orensanz and Clayton Patterson and Antonio Zito agreed that Pat Fleisher's art would pulsate perfectly at Earth Matters on Ludlow Street. For one, Ludlow Street is the epicenter of old and ultra chic New York, like no other street of today's NY. "Ludlow Street now is like a cross of Via San Marco in Venice and Via Condotti in Rome" stated Al Orensanz during the installation of Pat Fleisher's show at Earth Matters." "Nothing by far, is in New York right now, including Chelsea, the Hudson Piers, Harlem and Williamsburg together" continued Al Orensanz "sizzles in New York like Ludlow Street. The skyscrapers in construction and the tenements, the night life spots and the bodegas, the French cuisine and the pizza parlors.welcome to the Blaue Engel of Berlin in the 1930's and the hesitant subprime bankers and high powered internet designers of the 2008 New York. Welcome to Ludlow Street. Welcome to Earth Matters, a pioneer of the organic and the alternative. Welcome to the photos of Pat Fleisher, the seer that captures all that !" -30-  CAPTION: Bagels on Houston St, -digital duo, NYC Feb.2003  VANCOUVERKRAZY! The Delirious World of Anime + Comics + Video Games + Art at the Vancouver Art Gallery VANCOUVER, BC – For the first time, the Vancouver Art Gallery brings the worlds of anime, comics, cartoons, video games, manga, graphic novels and contemporary art together in one exhibition. Offering an innovative and dynamic survey, KRAZY! The Delirious World of Anime + Comics + Video Games + Art reveals the uniqueness of each medium, while uncovering their histories, interrelations and future trajectories. On view from May 17 to September 7, 2009, the exhibition is co-curated by some of the art forms’ most influential artists and cultural producers, including Maus author Art Spiegelman, The Sims creator Will Wright, comic artist Seth and animated feature film director Tim Johnson. Conceived and developed by Vancouver Art Gallery senior curator Bruce Grenville, the exhibition will travel to a New York City arts institution in March 2009. One of the largest exhibitions ever organized by the Gallery, KRAZY! occupies two entire floors of gallery space. The artists and works in the exhibition were selected by a group of co-curators, including Bruce Grenville, the exhibition’s coordinating curator and curator of the visual arts section; Tim Johnson, curator of animated cartoons; Kiyoshi Kusumi, curator of manga and anime; Seth, curator of comics and graphic novels; Art Spiegelman, curator of comics and graphic novels; Toshiya Ueno, curator of manga and anime; and Will Wright, curator of video games. KRAZY! is a rare opportunity to see artworks that have shaped the history of contemporary visual culture, including Art Spiegelman’s drawings for the first three-page version of his Pulitzer prize-winning Maus; George Herriman’s last three drawings for Krazy Kat; Lotte Reiniger’s 1927 The Adventures of Prince Achmed, the first feature-length animated cartoon; a sneak preview of Will Wright’s groundbreaking video game Spore; and an extraordinary selection of drawings from Yuichi Yokoyama’s latest manga, New Engineering. The exhibition also includes works by Moyoco Anno, Lynda Barry, Marcel Broodthaers, Chester Brown, Cao Fei, Milt Gross, Pierre Huyghe, Ichiro Itano, Tim Johnson, Yoko Kanno, Satoshi Kon, Harvey Kurtzman, John Lasseter, Roy Lichtenstein, Christian Marclay, Winsor McCay, Sid Meier, Shigeru Miyamoto, Junko Mizuno, Mamoru Nagano, Claes Oldenburg, Mamoru Oshii, Katsuhiro Otomo, Nick Park, Raymond Pettibon, Seth, Iwatani Toru, Chris Ware, Masaaki Yuasa and many more. American Express, the presenting sponsor of the Gallery’s landmark 2004 exhibition Massive Change: The Future of Global Design, partners with the institution again, providing the largest corporate sponsorship ever secured by the Gallery. -30-  TORONTO Art on the Square July 11, 12 & 13, 2008 Nathan Phillips Square @Toronto City Hall (Queen St West @ Bay St) Now in its 47th year, the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition [TOAE] is a juried showcase featuring contemporary fine art and crafts that takes place on Nathan Phillips Square every July, including over 500 Canadian artists & artisans. Founder Murray Koffler will launch an illustrated book commemorating the history of the TOAE at the July 2008 show! Photo by PF:: Winnie at the City Hall show 2004 |
ARTFOCUS MAGAZINE ARCHIVES SELECTED ANTHOLOGY OF WRITERS & ARTICLES 1997-2003 "http://www.artfocus.com/articles.htm" MONICA BIAGLIONI JANET CARDIFF: London Audio-Walk ARTFOCUS 68 / Vol.8 #1, Winter/ Spring 2000 (Janet won the National Gallery Canada,Centennial Prize 2001, & was selected for the Canadian Pavillion, Venice Biennale 2001) KEN CARPENTER The Accomplishment of Graham PEACOCK ARTFOCUS 72/ Vol 9 No 2, Fall 2001 Profile: Ben WOOLFITT Painter ARTFOCUS 75/ Vol 10 No 2, Summer 2003 The Visual Poetry of Alice TEICHERT ARTFOCUS 69 / Vol.8 #2, Fall 2000 (Ken Carpenter is President of AICA CANADA , the Canadian Branch of the Intnl Assoc of Art Critics) PAUL DUVAL Michael FORSTER,Canada's Pioneer Surrealist ARTFOCUS 75/ Vol 10, No 2, Summer 2003 (Paul Duval is a founding member of AICA CANADA) VIRGINIA MACDONNELL EICHHORN Yes YOKO ONO at the AGO ARTFOCUS 73/ Vol 9 No 3,Summer 2002 (Virginia is now Curator of the Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery in Waterloo, Ontario) RAY ELLENWOOD Canada's Forgotten SURREALISTS ARTFOCUS 74/ Vol 10, No 1, Winter 2002/2003 VIVIEN HOYT FLEISHER CARR,O'KEEFFE, KAHLO - Places of Their Own ARTFOCUS 72/ Vol 9, No 2, Fall 2001 PAT FLEISHER Tribute to Joyce WIELAND ARTFOCUS 64/ Vol 6 No 3, Fall 1998 ARTFOCUS Season in Review 2000 The opening of the Tate Modern in London ARTFOCUS 70/ Vol.8 No 3, Winter 2001 NEW NEW PAINTERS in Denver ARTFOCUS 66 / Vol.7 No 2, Summer 1999 MANGA: The Comic Connection - A Tokyo Photo Journal ARTFOCUS 65 / Vol.7 No 1, Winter/ Spring 1999 Euroart Tour l997~BASEL,VENICE, KASSEL, MUNSTER, FRANKFURT et al ARTFOCUS 61/ Vol.5 No 3, Fall 1997 (republished in ARTSCAPE MAGAZINE, Angel Orensanz Foundation,New York 1998) Art CHICAGO l996 ARTFOCUS 58/ Vol.4 #4, Fall 1996 The Best Artists of l996: A Pictorial Overview JOHN K.GRANDE Yardworking - Interview with Patrick DOUGHERTY ARTFOCUS 70/ Vol.8 #3, Winter 2001 OLIVER GIRLING GOYA'S DISASTERS OF WAR & A Modern Response ARTFOCUS 70/ Vol.8 #3, Winter 2001 PENNY-LYNN GROSSMAN Tribute to WILLIAM RONALD ARTFOCUS 61/ Vol.5 #3, Fall 1997 FRED HERSCOVITCH Before Night Falls- FILM REVIEW ARTFOCUS 71/ Vol.9 #1, Summer 2001 LEON KAPLAN Frans KRAJCBERG: Brazil's Eco-Artist ARTFOCUS 67 / Vol.7 #3, Fall 1999 (Leon Kaplan has moved to Vancouver) BILL KORT New New Painter GRAHAM PEACOCK @ Gallery One, Toronto, Spring 2001 Kort05.html New New Painter LUCY BAKER @ Museum of New New Painting, Toronto, Summer 2002 Kort07.html (Bill Kort is now living in CHINA!) DAVID LISS History of COPYART ARTFOCUS 56/ Vol 4 #2/Winter 1995/1996 (David Liss is now Director of MOCCA, Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art in Toronto - article reprinted online in Women Artists of Canada) THOMAS MCEVILLEY Angel ORENSANZ: The Art Shul & The Sphere ARTFOCUS 73/Vol 9 No 9, Summer 2002 (reprinted from the exhibition catalogue) EARL MILLER Interview with MIKE HANSEN ARTFOCUS 59/ Vol 5 #1, Winter 1996/1997 GERALD NEEDHAM Self-Portraits of the 20's in Germany ARTFOCUS 74/ Vol 10 No 1, Winter 2002/2003 SURREALISM Today ARTFOCUS 74/ Vol 10 No 1, Winter 2002/2003 Kathe KOLLWITZ at the AGO ARTFOCUS 75/Vol 10 No 2,Summer 2003 Charlotte SALOMON: Life? or Theatre? ARTFOCUS 69 / Vol 8 #2, Fall 2000 LINDA JOYCE OTT Polaroid PHOTO TRANFER Technique ARTFOCUS 58/ Vol.4 #4, Fall 1996 BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE Painting with Light: Interview with BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE ARTFOCUS 57/ Vol.4 #3, Spring 1996 ANDRE SELEANU Jana STERBAK at the 50th Venice Biennale ARTFOCUS 75/ Vol 10 No 2, Summer 2003 Piplioti RIST: At the Outer Frontiers of Video ARTFOCUS 69 / Vol.8 #2, Fall 2000 Carlo SCARPA Contemporary Venetian Architect in Montreal ARTFOCUS 67 / Vol.7 #3, Fall 1999 JOSE SPRINGER Maribel PORTELA: Mexican Sculptures in Toronto ARTFOCUS 65/ Vol 7 No 1, Winter/Spring 99 (Jose Springer now edits an art magazine in Mexico City) MARILYN WESTLAKE My Friendship with Photographer Reva BROOKS ARTFOCUS 64/Vol 6 No 3, Fall 1998 (Reva Brooks passed away in Mexico in Feb2004) ARTFOCUS ONLINE CYBERGALLERY "http://www.artfocus.com/cyber.htm" ROBERT-RALPH CARMICHAEL Ste St Marie arist painter & designer of Canada's Loonie JACQUELINE ELLINS Toronto | abstract painter PAT FLEISHER Toronto | digital photoartist ROSE LINDZON |Toronto abstract painter LARYSSA LUHOVY Montreal |Imago Tribute toMARCIA MARX New YorkPainter & Sculptor, printmaker Tribute to PEETER SEPP Estonian-based painter & animator, former Visual Arts Officer OAC CANADIAN ART CRITICS website founded 1997 http://www.artfocus.com/aicacanada.com/ index.html GUEST ARTIST New York/ Paris/ Madrid Angel Orensanz Sculptor/Videographer Prizewinners & Awards at the Annual Artists' Fairs organized by Artfocus & Cityart Magazines http://www.artfocus.com/artfairs.htm FREE VISUAL ARTS PRESS RELEASES Plus LINK are WELCOME! 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