Art Toronto opening night, Toronto
London has Frieze, Miami has Art Basel and Venice has La Biennale. Canada's contribution to art-fair fever is Art Toronto, the only modern and contemporary fine-art fair in Canada, which recently celebrated its 15th anniversary with an opening-night sneak peek and fundraiser. On Oct. 23, prominent dealers, artists and collectors filled the Metro Toronto Convention Centre for a first look at this year's offerings. The preview raised north of $455,000, a portion of which funded the purchase of contemporary works to enrich the Art Gallery of Ontario's permanent collection. This year's acquisitions include works by artists Shuvinai Ashoona, Karen Kraven, Adam David Brown, Elizabeth McIntosh, Lynne Cohen and Annie MacDonell. Among those spotted at the fair were National Gallery of Canada CEO Marc Mayer, collectors David and Audrey Mirvish, OCAD president Sara Diamond, event co-chairs Cathy Bisset-Parkes and Susan Wortzman, Albright-Knox Art Gallery director Janne Sirén and artists Alex Mcleod, Thrush Holmes and Evan Penny.
Nature Morte unveiling at Louis Vuitton, Toronto
Following a panel discussion with the Quebec-based artist trio BGL (named recently as Canada’s representatives at the 2015 Venice Biennale), a privileged few made the journey to Toronto’s Mink Mile on Oct. 24 for a Louis-Vuitton-hosted cocktail party to celebrate the unveiling of BGL’s Nature Morte, a commissioned work now on display in the luxe shop’s rotating art space. Diaz Contemporary Gallery’s Paul St. Amour, Parisian Laundry Gallery’s Jeanie Riddle and the National Gallery of Canada’s Jean-François Bilodeau joined Jasmin Bilodeau, Sébastien Giguère and Nicolas Laverdière of BGL at the event. That evening, in between sips of champagne, guests oohed and ahhed over the Celebrating Monogram exhibition comprised of handbags designed by the likes of Frank Gehry (architect of the new Vuitton museum in Paris) and chameleon-like artist Cindy Sherman.
