Wednesday Art @ Marben

Bustle for Belvedere for SKETCH

Art, a good cause, free booze and one of Toronto’s most stylish fashion labels = a great party attended by T.Os who’s who.
by Daniel Wilson

Shown from left: Daniel Wilson, Robin Kay, Evan Biddell, Leesa Butler

The Bustle team gathered at the painfully chic Hotel Le Germain to auction off nine Belvedere Vodka commissioned duffle and messenger bags designed by local, independent artists. Proceeds from the auction went to benefit SKETCH, a fantastic organization that helps street involved youth make art.

Ms. Robin Kay sashayed in fashionably late to show some love and festivity with wild hair and a halo (she also brought a wad of cash which she was more than happy to drop for charity).
Leesa Butler of The F-List was wowed by the bag with the cat on it but said “I absolutely do not need another bag!” We talked about usable storage ideas that every fashionista needs like a fish tank coffee table filled with bags. Glen Baxter and I talked about the summer joys of bike riding in The Beaches while designer Evan Biddell and Robin talked shop.

Si Si Penaloza from Woman.ca summed up the collaboration perfectly, “Sean and Ruth (of Bustle) make perfectly accessible and broad-ranging clothing that suits our demographic. Its wonderful how they tap into undiscovered artists and talent.”

The Belvedere cocktails with cranberry and RedBull went down a little to quickly but thankfully the National Post's Shinan Govani was no where in sight to record anything embarrassing.

The bags were commissioned by Belvedere to launch their new IX (pronounced one-x) vodka. The artists – Tommy Matejka, Andy DeCola, Carla Lipkin, Stanzie Tooth, Erica Beyea, Mitchell F. Chan, Jonathan Davis, Mike Laderoute, and Carmine Scioscia – were each given a blank canvas pattern and hot pink paint matching the graffiti on the vodka's opaque black bottle.

Contact in T.O

by Daniel Wilson


Caitlin Cronenberg was the belle of the ball at CONTACT photography festival fundraiser recently at the Burroughs Building. As the guest artist of the party she was showing dresses she sewed herself (with some admitted difficulty), printed with her photographs of Canadian women in the arts. The photographs were part of a project created in designer Rosemarie Umetsu’s basement where local figures in the arts played dress up and climbed in a eight by three foot wooden cage built by Cronenberg and dressed with fabric. The results were fabulous and as powerful as the women in the photos. Visit www.caitlincronenberg.com as soon as you can.



Continuing with the obvious photography theme of the event, famed local photographers Alex vs Alex created a mini photo studio where guests got the chance to be styled by the incomparable Kealan Sullivan of 69 Vintage and shot by AlexvsAlex (www.alexvsalex.com). As people mingled, the photos were projected on one of the walls and everyone waited anxiously to see how fierce they looked.




And with a handful of very noticeable exceptions the guests did look fierce. Toronto dj superstar and single name celeb Vaneska looked ravishing in a vintage print dress bought just that day. Fritz Helder and The Phantoms prowled the party like a gang of wildcats escaped from Karl Lagerfeld’s personal zoo. Kealan breezed through the party as effortlessly as always making everyone question why they weren’t wearing what she was and if they could ever possibly look as good in it. The celebrity wattage was upped by the early appearance of one of my art heros David Cronenberg, looking every bit A Director.



Thanks to Morad Affifi for pulling off a fantastic event that may have been the pre-Fashion Week break from hibernation this city needed. It was so refreshing to see people out and dressed up again, recession be damned.

For more information and details on the 2009 CONTACT Toronto Photography Festival, May 1-31, visit www.contactphoto.com

Fantasy Fashion @ Gallery 1313

Photos from last month's Fantasy Fashion Show #11 @ Gallery 1313
Photographer Matthew Trotter

MAGIC PONY SHOP & GALLERY
694 Queen St W, Toronto On Canada M6J 1E7
t: 416.861.1684 e: contact@magic-pony.com
www.magic-pony.com

Frederick Watson's "Women" @ SHOPGIRLS

by Coko Galore

Shopgirls Gallery Boutique quaintly sits in the heart of Parkdale Village featuring Canadian and local Toronto designer wares, ranging from clothes to small dolls. As part of Toronto's recent Nuit Blanche event, owner Michelle Germain celebrated the work of long-time Canadian fashion illustrator and artist Frederick Watson.

Watson has been painting since the 50s - and caught attention with his fashion-inspired posters in the 60s (some of the pieces displayed at Shopgirls are originals from that time). His paintings of women, mostly drawn from memory, are glamourous and nostalgic - and are hot commodities in the local scene.

The collection will be on display and available for sale from October 2nd to October 31st, 2008 exclusively at Shopgirls, 1342 Queen Street West.

Susie's Surrealist Hat Party

By Susie Love

Fashion, art, cocktails, glue, scissors, feathers and loads of laughter followed the crowd from my central studio down to Queen West Gallery, Casuccio. Our surrealist hat party brought together some of Toronto’s independent artists and fashionistas - all to design their own unique statement hats to wear down to the Queen St. art crawl. Everyone had fun creating wearable sculptures that suited their individual style and taste. The party was a massive success! Guests included: pshychotherapist/artist Ariel Garten, fashion illustrator, Danielle Meder, editor/stylist, Carollee Custus and four-year-old budding artist Dylan Allan.

Radiant Dark - Truly unique Canadian Design

THE SHOW MUST GO ON!
by Siya Chen


Amidst the tragedy of the Queen West fire, Radiant Dark premiered last night with a great party at the Burroughes Building 'round the Bathurst corner, celebrating a new page of Canadian modern design while collecting donations for our fellow Queen West fire victims.

Curated by MADE’s Shaun Moore and Julie Nicholson, the exhibit brought together the highest quality works of Canadian emerging modern designs all under one roof.

In this 6,000-square-foot space, you can find 70 pieces of unique designs, such as Andre Ooi's Origami pendant light, Jonathan Sabine's beaded shaped lamp, also strikingly organic yet modern pieces of wood like Agostinis & Harrison’s "Where Does Lumber Come From, Mommy?" - a bench with its carved plank seat emerging from a raw walnut stump. Oh, and Brit Olauson's "Flow" - a rocking chair that got our guests rocking at the party.



Most designs showcased at Radiant Dark are available for sale. If you fall in love with what you see in Radiant Dark, MADE is open all year around with new shows and new works on a monthly basis to keep you "wowing" and "wooing" for Canadian designs.

Radiant Dark is running through Feb 27, Mon-Sat Noon-7 p.m. Sat Noon-5 p.m, @Burroughs Building 639 Queen Street West (at Bathurst) Free admission.
Made is located at 867 Dundas St. West.

Toronto International Art Fair

Camilla Singh (MOCCA) and Simon Farrington (Paul Petro) in front of "Rose" by Jennifer Murphy | Nathalie Atkinson (fashion writer, National Post) in Tevrow and Chase, is seated on a mixed media installation by Emily Duke and Cooper Battersby

This year's 8th Toronto International Art Fair (TIAF)is far more interesting that last year! With a focus on vibrant, contemporary art, Toronto artists and dealers steal the limelight, although Montreal comes in a close second. Galerie Donald Brown was selling T-shirts by Sandeep Bhagwati whose artwork includes inscriptions like - "I have a religion exactly like yours, only a little better".

Remember, you don't need to be a Tannenbaum to buy art. Here's some advice on getting started.

Tips For Buying Art

1. Start small. Check out work sold on the walls of small cafes, holiday studio sales, or outdoor art shows. Artists selling in these venues often have small affordable works ranging from $30 - $300. Buying low priced gems is a great way to get your collection of to a quick start.

2. Always ensure that the work is archival. This means the work has been created and framed with materials that won't turn yellow, or start disintegrating!

3. Don't buy art for other people.

4. Buy for joy, not investment. If a painting you bought for $300 increases in value to $2000, and you'd rather have the painting than $2000, you've got a good deal.
5. If you love it and can afford it, buy it. I once let go of a piece that was $200. A few months later the artist had been discovered and similar work was $4000.
6. Bid and win with class. If your bid wins at auction, please don't gloat - it's tacky. Use your Toronto street style to accept your good fortune with grace and poise.

Sandra Ainsley - always on the cutting edge of glass | Frozen pigeon from Bjornson Kajiwara Gallery

Is it UNWEARABLE!!!!

All things fun and freaky were let loose at Gallery 1313’s fundraiser at Lula Lounge.

Hosted by Enza Supermodel, the work showcased a head on collision of art and fashion. Of note were Richard Preston’s obsessive embroidery and beading, which transformed military jackets into dazzling works of art and hope.

Menno Krant brought the idea of recyclable clothing to a whole new level by painting ‘clothes, onto fully nude models – it was like a Keith Haring painting come to life.

Sheila Lam erased the lines between sculpture and fashion with three dimensional clothing, and Karen Darricades’ multi-coloured pinafore was not made of plastic, but fruit roll-ups.

Don Simmons depressed clowns were reminiscent of Tokyo Harajuku kids on way too much valium. A walk on the wild side of the Toronto art scene.
By Liza Zawadzka

Photos are from the 10 Years of Unwearable Art Fantasy Fashion Show - a fundraiser for Gallery 1313, held at the Lula Lounge.

Photos by Krist Papas http://www.kristpapas.com/

You tell us! Would you consider this fashion? Sure some of us would.......

Nice T-Shirt by Bowman

by Siya Chen




Bowman got new works!
Using old mirrors, door and window frames as canvas, layered with various real fabrics for the textured of his idolized and fashionable characters, Bowman's works are what they called the "New school lounge pop".

The new works are at Omy Gallery Boutique for at least another two weeks. Go admire the works closely before they are all sold to Omy's Hollywood celebrity clients.

WTF TCAF

The ink is still wet on the Toronto Comic Arts Festival weekend [TCAF]. It was my first time and I have to admit that I am already completely devoted to a comic artist. My heart belongs to Sock Monkey by Tony Millionaire. So I was hard to please, and worried about the fashion that may surround such an event. Was hoping for some manga characters dancing around...oh well not the case. But the comic book uniform lives on. Knee socks, tennis shoes, slogan t-shits with comic or graphic prints, pig-tails and short mini skirts for the gals.

I was drawn to the art work by British artist Tom Gauld, and work by Steve Wilson [Ghostmilk Studios]. Met a cute gal who works in comic industry Emily Ragossino aka Dorkgirl [see photo of gal in knee socks]. It was an interesting day out in the city. Get outside or get comic. Be a dork! or draw.