Author: Ananna Rafa (Youth Worker – Multi Media Specialist).
Got the winter blues? Nothing to do in the new year? Are you bored of searching “Fun events to go to in Toronto” only to find suggestions that do not appeal to your budget nor your lifestyle? Why not try a different hobby and explore the many free art exhibitions available in Toronto! Let me introduce you to gallery hopping, the quintessential Torontonian activity to indoor entertainment.
When we think of art, we often imagine sterile white cubes, inaccessible to us, but in a metropolitan city like Toronto where the art-word is just as diverse as the masses, there is much to be inspired by. Last month photography students from Flemo Media Studios, a new photography, art and media focused workshop series hosted by TNO, did just that. Hear from our students on their experiences engaging with the Toronto Art Scene.
The Image Centre Gallery at the Toronto Metropolitan University
Address: 33 Gould Street, Toronto, ON M5B1W1
Entry: Free
Gallery Hours:
Wed: 12–8 pm
Thurs.–Sat.: 12–6 pm
Winter Exhibitions: Opening party Jan 22, 6-8pm
We had a small group tour arranged by the Toronto Metropolitan University’s Image Centre Gallery, where the youth encountered the vast archive of prolific female photographer Lee Miller, who covered everything from war and social commentary, to fashion photography, active from the years 1932-1945. Students were encouraged to think about the history of Photography, looking at not only the advances in photographic processes and technologies, but also the social changes that photography immortalized.
Lee Miller being a reminder of the struggles for recognition female photographers in the 1930s and 40s often faced, pioneered not only new ways of visualising commercial fashion photography but also, for the first time she made possible wide spread war documentation of the Holocaust in a woman’s magazine we are all familiar with, known as Vogue. Students became enamoured by her vast collection of photographs, from a different time period but deceptively modern, use of stylistic techniques beyond her time. One student quotes “photography has a lot of history and there is a story and meaning behind each photo, it is an amazing medium for art.”
We also had a tour of the emerging photographer Gabrielle Tyrie’s work who uses the cyanotype process, a photographic process, that can capture an image without the use of a camera. This show was the main focus of our visit, as the youth made their own cyanotypes in one of our photography workshops, so it was beneficial for them to see this medium used in a gallery setting. Gabrielle Tyrie, Looking for the Oldest Piece of Light explores the intersection of astronomy, history, and photography. In looking at and working with historic photographic techniques, students leaned into the magic of “mistakes and mishaps” in photography, which we often forgo for the perfection of the digital photograph. This tour was an inspiration for the youth and encouraged them to think about pursuing an education in the arts.
401 Richmond Arts and Cultural Centre
Address: 401 Richmond St W Studio 111, Toronto, ON M5V 3A8
Entry: Free
Hours: Mon – Sat: 8am–7pm
Exhibitions Info: List of galleries can be found on their website.
If you are looking for one place to visit with multiple free and public galleries, look no further than 401 Richmond. Inside this magical building you will fall in love with its historic architecture as well as the galleries, coffee shop, artist studios and other cultural institutions it houses. The best part is, it’s open and free to the public! This is Toronto’s best kept secret when it comes to arts and culture.
We ended our tour at 401 Richmond, where the youth were introduced to several artist-run centers and publicly funded non-for-profit galleries, such as Gallery 44, centre for contemporary photography. This was the first time the youth had visited independent gallery spaces in the city and this allowed them to get a better sense of the artmaking that is happening and shaping Toronto, as well as helped envision their own art projects.
Unlike institutional galleries, artist-led spaces like Gallery 44 expects a certain sense of experimentation from its exhibiting artists. Hannah Doucet’s exciting exhibition Exiting the Castle did exactly that and more. The students found this exhibition to be fun, playful and thrilling to their senses, surprised by the colorful large fruit sculptures, princess themed outfits and a familiar Disney themed fairytale from their childhood. This was perhaps the most photographed exhibition for our students, who rejoiced in how “cool these pictures would look on Instagram.”
Doucet’s exhibition is a poignant lesson in one of the techniques of contemporary artmaking, which is the use of aesthetics to make political or social commentary more palatable. Behind Doucet’s “stars, green screens, butterflies, princesses, fruit, magic and candy.” lies a critique of the international media conglomerate Disney and charity “Make A Wish Foundation.” The exhibition speaks to the artist’s struggle with coming to terms with a cancer diagnosis in childhood and the subsequent visit to Disney World as a child through Make A Wish Foundation. As an adult, and now a cancer survivor, the artist grapples with the reality of this wish that, according to the artist, was fabricated by certain social and capitalist narratives.
A trip to the city is almost as magical as Disneyland for our youth sometimes, who are often stuck at home, or in school and very rarely have the opportunity to explore their own selfhood outside the confines of their own neighborhoods.
If you are inspired by this article, take yourself and your loved ones’ gallery hopping this New Years. Who knows, maybe you too will fall in love with this new hobby! A list of free publicly funded galleries in Toronto can be found here.
