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Urbandreamer tours the indie art galleries....

In the condo 'hood, @Bathurst and Richmond I see...

that one gallery has closed or moved, with a few kinda cheesy ones remaining. Anyone like Russian Orthodox icons? There's a specialist/restorer along this strip--furthest on the right in this shot:
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Very "establishment" I think, and conveniently located across the street from the artist's welfare/elitist agency: Ontario Arts Council.

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Just down the street (a few houses east) two galleries that look either a)dead or b)impenetrable by flakes like me;)



So where are we exactly? Oh right, around the corner from Freedville:
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Oh yeah on Bathurst, a painting spied through a cafe window:


Next stop: Queen West double take.
 
Meanwhile, in the gallery district the hipsters are

playing baseball, relaxing, getting ready for dinner hour? You know, if this were Montreal, people would be drinking wine or beer.... Laurier Parc, how I miss thee!

A Spring intermission before we hit the crowds and art of WQW:
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People (some attractive and well-dressed) everywhere!
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And some protesting with the chant "Free Tibet Now Free Tibet Now....."---made for an interesting contrast to the oblivious arty hipsters:
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Tired of staring at hipsters? Right then let's get back to gallery gazing!
 
Okay, time for a rewind.

After filling up at Cherry Bomb Coffee (Roncevalles is the best north-south street from Bloor to Queen in Toronto! shhh!!!) I started my May the Fourth be with you all art tour at the end of Parkdale and started walking east towards the money crowd.
In a Parkdale cafe we see
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Here's another:
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Shopgirls at 1342 Queen St West graciously allowed my to snap away at their Contact show, furniture gallery, etc. Some highlights:
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My favourite painting at Shopgirls' gallery:
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The furniture, btw, while interesting, was ultimately rubbish; unusable, because just sitting on them they felt on the verge of collapse!

Nearing the Parkdale RR tracks, I get a better look at DK Photo Group's new gallery space/first show, featuring Sean Galbraith's images of abandoned but gorgeous old industrial and institutional spaces: Anamnesis

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Here we are staring at civilization again!
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Passing from the grittier side of Queen West to the gentrified part, I spy some alternative yet refreshingly free art:


At the Gladstone, I hesitate and decide to just stay outside:
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Engine Gallery expects you to have some bucks if you expect to drive away with a new picture.... But why would you want to because Scott Johnston's Obstacle photographs, although fittingly suited to this forum, disappoint in their politeness:
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Recall how I dissed Thrush Holme's gallery as "boring" in a previous installment? Well I stepped inside this huge art school studio-like space for the first time and must say yeah, it still puts me to sleep. Very condo-corporate pandering vibe going on here. But, maybe you disagree? There's a few that aren't too bad, albeit on the $$$$ side of Queen West.

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Maybe I need a Cottage and a Condo to understand the point of that huge gallery?

I'll Show (your stuff) Gallery for free! I'm bored by it though....
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I was getting hungry so had to rush past a few galleries...like Paul Petro, Angell Gallery, Mocca etc.

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Oh yeah, the traditional "bonus shot(s)" from out in Parkdale. Is it art? Well they're my new friends, so I'll show and tell: :p

 
thanks as always for the ongoing tour... you are the hardest working man in UT! More decent photos popping up in the mix - like that you started taking some people pics. And that one looking towards downtown with the train bridge and streetcar in the foreground is great!
 
Yeah, I'm having second thoughts on that statement re: Scott Johnston's photos. They do look a bit corporate though--like let's hang them on RBC's new office building's entrance walls or something. Just sort of blah. Polite? Maybe the wrong word to describe them. I'll think of something more original...:)

One thought I just had: I wonder if Scott is an UT member? He, or other artists that possibly post on UT might be upset at things I say? It's a difficult life, being me.

OCAD is bound to be full of lotsa crap though--last year I only saw one good painting and I regret not buying it on the spot ($150.)
 
An OCAD preview...OCAD Student Gallery...

on Dundas West, south side (beside the Pita Pit) had a Contact 2008 photography exhibit. I sneaked some photos....

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I didn't realize how large their gallery space is!

Urban Shocker, yep I'm aware of RBC's contribution to society....:) At the end of the day, it's just money exchanging hands.

Btw, this year's OCAD show had some surprises--some excellent art, especially in the Materials Art and Design program and the Installation/Sculpture section: check it out tomorrow! I'll post my faves soon.....
 
An interesting gallery/expresso bar on Augusta: Hotshots

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Curious, I stepped inside and didn't realize the name "hotshots" was a spin on the concept of expresso bar meets photography gallery: cool!!! (I used to think it was some new bar. lol.) Well it might as well been a bar, because the girls of Hotshots are indeed hot!:D



Most photos taken in back alleys around Toronto--especially K-Market, and also Halifax. Amazing how many visitors to the gallery were so clueless about the architecture of their own city!

Details on their website: http://www.hotshotkensington.com/wb/
 
Opposite the AGO, Bau-Xi, Petroff Gallery and Italian Consulate show their "porn":

Too hot and tired from the massive (three hours?) OCAD tour on Sunday, I rushed past the heat of Dundas West/Chinatown/noise of AGO construction but grabbed a few "spy shots."


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Contact 2008 Photos outside the Italian Consulate: nice touch!


Where the Moore sculpture normally sat, the AGO has got their brooms out: Suzy Lake sweeps the construction dirt and noise away....not too many passersby "get it" or seem to care. Click on these to see the broom!:



When I sort through my thousands of photos from OCAD I'll post my faves. Did anyone else from UT make it here?
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My OCAD student show 2008 top 10, starting with my #1 pick:

1. The winner goes to Adrienne Coffey's "Memory Palace"

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Adrienne Coffey you have created the most magical, most interesting space I have seen in any Toronto art exhibit in years! She is seen on the video destroying the kraft paper room/funishings. Very trippy and cool!:)
 
Before we find out what #9 OCAD show is a Bathurst Street interlude...

Did you know there's galleries on Bathurst Street in the Annex? I must admit, that other than Gratefruit Moon (best patio in town...shhh!) I hadn't paid much attention to this strip since last summer. Amazing how with a camera, you become more observant of the shops. Here's what I found: (click to enlarge)




Oh yeah, and a few galleries in Yorkville:



(All photos by urbandreamer taken 15 May 2008)
 
A preview of the Ossington/Queen West openings tonight...

You can see them this weekend of course, blah blah blah. (Please click on my photos to expand, I'm trying to make it easier on the downloaders and UT crew.)

Am I an artist too? My attempt in the mid-afternoon West End sun:
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Recall the "blue paint special at home depot i'm depressed so please kill me rant from a few pages ago?" Well, obviously, our Ossington paint shop is still getting rid of their blue paint or else someone's severely depressed....

AWOL on Ossington here

Gallery TPW prepares for an opening? Why am I the only one not invited? Oh well, I get the first shots at an empty room. No hookers here--odd!;) I was also struck with the thought that leaving televisions on in art galleries, even if part of an exhibit, isn't particulary LEED green is it?



Lennox Contemporary--makes me wonder: which came first: the concrete mixers or the art mixers?



I may not know anyone on Queen West or in the art scene but that doesn't mean I don't have any friends:


Where are we again? All right, we've just rounded the corner onto Queen West, about to enter the "power zone."
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Is that weird CBC Hockey Night in Canada "Hot Stove" thing still on? I didn't see any tacky dressed people today, but not any stylish ones either....

Urbandreamer misses another Katherine Mulherin art opening by a mere 1 hour....:( But maybe I get the first photos?:) Looks hotter than that stove, eh? Very West Coast looking, with a modern twist. Love it!

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Her 1086 exhibit needs closer examination by those more into details than I....

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Across the street, that new gallery in the Great Hall space shows ... that WQW @5PM Friday is dead. We need these condos here folks!


On Lisgar, I'm debating whether the artists are sponsered by Pizza Pizza nearby:

But I don't care who paid the bills...because this stuff is gorgeous! Colour everywhere, creatures crawling all over the walls: Liz Miller and Justin Stephens make me happy on Lisgar, south of Queen St West.


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Another glimpse at the Angell gallery exhibit:


Heading East (of Ossington) I see a huge party full of badly dressed corporate types. Or are they? Whomever they may be, I help break the ice by taking these photos. (The host didn't seem to mind--said he doesn't look at websites. Ok, whatever here ya go!)



A true story: I found my best friend here! Ask Redroom Studios....;)
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You know that Second Cup at Queen and Palmerston? That Hero Burger? Well take a short walk north--right behind the Second Cup, and discover a photography gallery that's been open since July 2007. News to me, so I've gotta check it out.

It's called Fountain Gallery, directed by Maggy Perry....:)
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