From Russia With Love

Just a quick reminder that From Russia With Love is coming down tomorrow! Sincere thanks go out to Tanya and Scott of Fly Gallery, Babel Books and Music, and everyone who expressed kind words/feedback regarding the show! And for those of you who still haven't seen it, hustle down to Fly Gallery (1172 Queen West) before tomorrow morning- takedown is at 11:00am.

And now that the end of the show's run has pretty much arrived, the From Russia With Love bookwork will only be on sale at Babel Books and Music (123 Ossington Ave.) for the next couple days. Each bookwork/catalogue contains 25 of the 72 portraits that appear in the installation, and comes in tidy air mail envelope packaging. If you won't be able to make it down to pick one up, the bookworks will be available to purchase through me after the end of the month while quantities last. To purchase one, drop me a line at cleanteen@hotmail.com.

TMC Shadow Box Exhibition and Auction

Photos of the shadow boxes that will appear in this year's Textile Museum of Canada Shadow Box Exhibition and Silent Auction (including a box by Yours Truly..) are now on the TMC's website for advance viewing! Preview the boxes online before the exhibition, which runs from November 8-23rd, 2006. At the closing reception and cocktail party, each of the exhibitions 150+ boxes will be auctioned off, with proceeds going to aid the Textile Museum's programming. The event's offerings are fabulous...be sure to visit the event's webpage and feast your eyes on this year's sightly squares.

Pictured: Tara Bursey, Wing Study- Brewer's Sparrow, TMC Shadow Box 2006.
http://www.textilemuseum.ca/shadowbox2006.html

From the picture file...

1. A Victorian memorial hair wreath.
2. The Golden Temple (Rokuon-ji Temple) in Kyoto, Japan. This is the temple written about in Yukio Mishima's 1956 novel, The Temple of the Golden Pavillion.
3. Immaculate merchandising, mid 1950s.

Making Stuff: An Alternative Craft Book

Making Stuff: An Alternative Craft Book is now available through Black Dog Publishing and Amazon UK! The book contains heaps of basic craft how-to, as well as "recipes" for more elaborate projects contributed by crafters from around the globe- including my recipe for hand-bound Record Sleeve Notebooks! Making Stuff is due for release in the US in November and Canada in December. The following are descriptions from Black Dog's website and Amazon. You can consult both sites for more detailed info on the book's specifics, and for a sneak preview of some of it's pages!

"Making Stuff is a craft book for the 21st century. Filled with exciting and inspirational ideas to make at home, ranging from felted teacosies, to knitted i-pod covers, bread lampshades crocheted plastic bag hats, and everything in between, this book is for all those who are beginning to tire of the high street, and who are looking for something a little bit more personal, a little bit more individual... something they’ve made themselves.

The book is laid out clearly and accessibly; An introduction by Bust contributor Victoria Woodcock explains how the perception of craft has changed over the past century. Her writing is an informal, energetic call to arms, and the proceeding pages explain how to respond to that call. The first section of the book provides explanations of the basic skills; knitting, crocheting, sewing, felting and paper mache. The rest of the book is a collection of over 50 ideas, or 'recipes', if you will, for things that people can make in their own home. This is subdivided into five categories:

• Made to Measure - clothing and acessories
• All that Glitters - jewellery to complement the look
• Hipper Homes - a collection of homewares
• Sticks and Stones and Ice Cream Cones - a selection of random fun things to make
• Small Wonders - things to make for and with children

The ideas have been supplied by crafts-people and makers from all over the world—both professionals and amateurs. Each one is personably laid out in easy to read, step-by-step instructions, with a short biography of the contributor at the end. Photography and hand drawn illustrations guide the reader every step of the way, and a clean contemporary design, provides a much needed counterpoint to traditional craft aesthetics.

Making Stuff brings a fresh, exciting approach to a sorely neglected genre, and gives a voice to a new generation of young people, who find inspiration in making something out of nothing. It is beautiful, eccentric and useful, all at once, and is sure to become a well thumbed favourite for all people of a creative nature." -Black Dog Publishing

"In today's consumer culture, virtually every possible need is catered for, and every style of clothing, accessory, and homeware is available at the local mall. It's all just a little bit too easy. The idea behind Making Stuff is to create a craft book for the twenty-first century. Rather than aiming at retired grannies with time on their hands, this book is for hip urbanites who are moving away from the wasteful ready-made mentality of Walmart, and are looking for something a bit more unique, a bit more responsible... something homemade.

The type of craft detailed in Making Stuff is a far cry from the usual macramed pot holders and crocheted baby booties. It is an eclectic mix of useful, funky, beautiful and outright weird things ranging from bread lampshades to denim skirts.

The first section of the book will explain the basics: how to knit, how to sew, how to do woodwork, how to make paper mache, how to embroider and cross-stitch and how to bake. The rest of the book will be a series of instructions and ideas that anyone can realize in their own home. Some of the ideas are: make a pinhole camera; knit a wrap; make a covered bead necklace; turn a pair of jeans into a denim skirt; knit a bikini; bake a lampshade; cross-stitched braces; make a sock monkey; make cool costumes; make dollhouse furniture.

These recipes and projects will be subdivided into sections according to the type of craft they fit into: knitting and needlework; for and with children; weird and wonderful; and creative recycling.

Using a combination of photography and illustration, alongside funky typefaces in a clean, accessible layout, the design of Making Stuff references the vaguely anarchic aesthetic of craft books of the 1970s without any sense of irony, finding an entirely new voice for a new generation of young people, who find inspiration in making something out of nothing.

Making Stuff brings a fresh, exciting approach to a sorely neglected genre. In the same way that cooking was brought into the public eye in the mid 90s by Delia Smith and Marco Pierre White, Making Stuff will be the book that brings craft back into the realm of cool." -Amazon.com

Black Dog Publishing
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk

From Russia With Love installation images

Charles Pachter, Lynne Wynick, Wil Kucey and....me?

I will be participating in a panel discussion this Wednesday at the Toronto School of Art. The talk is PWYC, and open to the general public. Here is all the official info:

The Toronto School of Art presents a panel discussion on
The Value of Art: selling your work with integrity. How do you attach a dollar value to your artwork? What is the importance of context? Is there an “ art market” in Canada? How can we make it grow?
Moderated by Artist and TSA faculty member Nicole Collins, this lively discussion will feature 15-minute presentations by each panellist followed by an question and answer period and open discussion with the audience.

Location: Toronto School of Art
Date and Time: Wednesday October 11 at 7pm

Charles Pachter- Artist, Historian, Lecturer, Entrepeneur
Lynne Wynick – Co-Director of Wynick/Tuck, Artist
Will Kucey – Director -Le Gallery
Tara Bursey- Artist, TSA graduate
($5.00 donation or pay what you can)

Nicole Collins studied painting and art history at the University of Guelph, Canada receiving her BFA Honours in 1988. Collins works in encaustic, the application of molten coloured wax to, in this case, canvas.
In 1995 she co-produced a seminal painting exhibition in Toronto: MUD (catalogue), which featured the work of 20 Canadian painters and received public funding from all levels of Government and extensive press coverage. Since 1997 her work has been represented by Wynick/Tuck Gallery, Toronto www.wynicktuckgallery.ca where she has presented four solo exhibitions: Given (1998), Path (2000), one mark (2001), branch (2003) and stroke for stroke (2006). She has had solo exhibitions at the Embassy of Canada Gallery in Tokyo, Japan (2002) and at Galerie Halde, Zurich Switzerland (2004).
Collins has also participated in numerous two-person and group exhibitions including TransLinear (catalogue), a touring exhibition originating at the McMaster Art Museum, Hamilton curated by Michael Davidson and Ihor Holubizky, Platform Gallery in London, UK (2001) www.platform.co.uk
In 2000, Collins participated in the triangle artists workshop. Established in 1984 by Sir Antony Caro, triangle gathers artists from around the world to create work and exchange ideas without interruption. In 2000 the workshop took place on the 92nd floor of Tower One at the World Trade Centre in New York City.
Her work was included in a group exhibition in late 2003. She has received grants from the Canada Council, the Ontario Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Council.
Collins work can be found in numerous private and public collections in Canada, USA, UK, France, Switzerland and Australia.
Charles Pachter
One of Canada's leading contemporary artists, Charles Pachter is a painter, printmaker, sculptor, designer, historian, and lecturer. He was born in Toronto and holds degrees from the University of Toronto, the Sorbonne, and the Cranbrook Academy of Art. He holds an honorary doctorate from Brock University, is a member of the Order of Canada, and a Chevalier of France's Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. His works hang in public and private collections around the world.
His images of the queen, moose, and maple leaf flag are pop icons of Canadian art. His paintings hang in the Toronto Stock Exchange and in the Canadian Embassy in Washington. His murals of Hockey Knights in Canada highlight a Toronto subway station. Retrospective Pachter exhibitions have toured France, Germany, and Japan. McClelland & Stewart publications include an illustrated biography on Pachter and his work, and The Journals of Susanna Moodie, his celebrated collaboration with poet Margaret Atwood.
Pachter created the painting "Side by Side" depicting a Canadian and American flag together for the Canada Loves New York rally following the events of September 11, 2001. His steel and granite moose silhouette sculptures have been installed across Canada. Two of the largest are on the University of Toronto campus. In August 2001, he was Artist in Residence at the International Symposium of Contemporary Painting in Baie-Saint-Paul, Québec.
Mr. Pachter lives and works beside historic Grange Park in downtown Toronto in a new residence and studio designed by prominent Canadian architect Steven Teeple. His work is on permanent display at his adjoining Moose Factory Gallery. In summer he paints in a waterfront studio converted from a former ice storage depot on Lake Simcoe.
Lynne Wynick, AOCAD
In 1968 Lynne Wynick founded, with David Tuck, Wynick/Tuck Gallery (then known as Aggregation Gallery) in a storefront location at 71 Jarvis Street, doubling their size the following year at 73 Jarvis Street. Over the last thirty years Wynick/Tuck has renovated and occupied several several locations in the downtown Toronto. In 2000, they renovated and moved to the 401 Richmond Street location in 2000, taking advantage of the ground floor location and street presence.
Since 1968 Wynick/Tuck has maintained a commercial gallery, programmed 10 – 15 exhibitions a year, represented and promoted, primarily, contemporary Canadian artists and placed their work in many public and private collections in Canada and abroad. We have curated many thematic exhibitions and have participated in international art fairs in Germany, Spain, the United States and Canada.
Lynne has served on a number of arts boards, including the Canadian Cultural Property and Export Review Board, The Power Plant, Toronto and currently she is the chair of the advisory board of the Doris McCarthy Gallery at UTSC, Scarborough and have served on many arts juries. Lynne has also maintained a studio practice since 1968.
Wil Kucey is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design with a B.F.A. in Criticism and Curatorial Practice. At 21, Kucey became the director/curator and owner of LE., a gallery focusing on the exposure and promotion of emerging artists in critical contemporary practice. Wil also sits on committees at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art and Casey House. By focusing on strengthening the careers of emerging artists and participating critically in the Toronto art scene le. and Kucey have forged a path of professional representation for artists yet to break into the commercial market. In it's first three years, le has garnered a solid reputation for itself and it's artists with reviews locally, nationally, and internationally as well as inclusion in exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (MOCCA), in New York, and Los Angeles
Kucey has received numerous awards for his commitment to curatorial practice including, upon graduation this past year, the Criticism and Curatorial Practice medal from OCAD.
Tara Bursey is a recent graduate of the Toronto School of Art’s diploma program, and a former student at Ontario College of Art and Design. An artist whose practice encompasses sculpture and installation as well as drawing and printmaking, Tara’s work is characterized by its ethereal quality, and an often obsessive use of repetition, pattern and delicate sculptural materials such as eggshells, garlic skin, found garments and paper. During her studies at the Toronto School of Art, Tara was the recipient of TSA’s Barbara Barrett Scholarship (2004) and Matthew David Stein Scholarship (2005). In the past two years, she has exhibited extensively throughout the city in such diverse venues as Open Studio, MOCCA, Eastern Front Gallery, Fly Gallery, and Propeller Centre for the Arts. Tara’s most recent projects include an artist’s talk entitled “Zines: A Short History of the Underground Publication” and a solo exhibition, White Wash, which employed both found, fabricated and altered institutional garments as a means of addressing the constructive/destructive nature of systems. In addition to her work as a fine artist, Tara also operates actively within Toronto’s independent music and small-press communities as a DJ, illustrator, designer and writer. She was born and raised in Toronto, Canada.

Iris Haussler- The Legacy of Joseph Wagenbach

I have just stated assisting with tours of the off-site installation of The Legacy at 105 Robinson St. This project is amazing, and it is such a privilege to be working on it. For more information and to book tours, consult the project's website: www.haeussler.ca/legacy

Off-site:
The Legacy of Joseph Wagenbach
105 Robinson Street (Queen Street West and Claremont), Toronto
Saturday 16 September to Sunday 12 November 2006
Visits: Tuesday to Friday 3-7 pm, Saturday and Sunday, 12-5 pm and by appointment

http://www.haeussler.ca/legacy

Exhibition:
Iris Häussler, The Legacy
Goethe-Institut Toronto, 163 King Street West, Toronto
Wednesday 20 September to Saturday 21 October 2006
Monday to Thursday 10-5 pm, Friday and Saturday, 10-4 pm

(416) 593 5257 info@toronto.goethe.org http://www.goethe.de/toronto

The Legacy of Joseph Wagenbach is a site-specific installation by Iris Häussler, curated by Rhonda Corvese. A secluded house in a downtown Toronto residential neighbourhood is the setting of a fictitious artist's sculptural legacy. Visitors are guided through the house by an archivist. In this crossover between art, literature and theatre, Häussler has transformed her psychological narrative into an immersive reality. Memories of the early 20th century, set in the unique context of immigration and identity in Toronto, are created through an unsettlingly detailed reconstruction of the art and artifacts of "Joseph Wagenbach's" life.

Joseph Wagenbach was born in Germany in 1929, left his home in 1946 and immigrated to Canada, via Paris, in 1962. Making a modest living in unrelated jobs, he created his art in absolute privacy, gradually transforming his physical environment into a pandemonium of sculpture. His legacy was discovered at the age of 77 when he was transferred to a nursing home after suffering a stroke. The Municipal Archives are currently archiving and assessing the site and the work.

Iris Häussler, The Legacy is an accompanying exhibition curated by Rhonda Corvese at the Goethe-Institut Toronto that documents the conceptual process in the creation of The Legacy of Joseph Wagenbach and related work.

Iris Häussler studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich and has shown widely throughout Europe. Grants received included the Karl-Hofer Prize and a Kunstfonds Fellowship. Iris Häussler immigrated to Canada in 2001. The Legacy of Joseph Wagenbach is her largest and most complex installation in a succession of off-site narratives over the last eighteen years. It marks her first major show in North America.

Rhonda Corvese is a Toronto-based international independent curator and the recipient of the "2005 Untitled Art Awards" prize as Emerging Curator.

For further information please visit http://www.haeussler.ca/legacy

Fantasy Fashion Show #9 pictures

Many thanks go out to my lovely models: Ashlea, Joey, Kristen and Alicia!