June 24th 2010
Although Art Spin began in 2009 under the name 'Gallery Spin' this June 24th event in 2010 was the first official 'Art Spin' tour. We began in Trinity Bellwoods Park with an intimate group of around 30 people. Geoffrey Bercarich from Bike Pirates was on hand to provide free tune-ups and safety checks. Artist Sarah Kernohan handed out a limited edition series of drawings/prints for participants to take home. This tour was led by our Trumpeting emcee Michael Louis Johnson and joined by John Cairnes and his bicycle sound system.
Our first stop on the tour saw us further north in Trinity Bellwoods for a performance of Bamboo Quiver by Barry Prophet and Janice Pomer. The piece combined live electronic music by Barry, with Janet dancing accompanied by a bamboo structure. This not only provided a sculptural element to the movement, but also added the organic sounds of bamboo sticks hitting each other to the electronic music.
The second stop on the tour was a visit to Angell Gallery in their new space on Ossington Ave. where we saw three exhibitions of contemporary paintings and had a talk from gallerist Jamie Angell about the works. The first show was New Body of Painting by Barry Allikas, as well as Juggernaut by John Kennedy and Swagger and Sashay by Aleksandra Rdest in the project room.
The third stop on the tour took us to the back alleyways of Dundas and Ossington where we ended up behind Show & Tell Gallery. In the allway we were privy to a demonstration by artist Dan Bergeron (aka fauxreel) as he applied a new photographic intervention on the back of the gallery. Thanks to Simon Cole from Show & Tell for participating and speaking with the group about fauxreel's work. After hearing fauxreel talk about his recent installation at MOCCA, we took a spur of the moment trip there to see his photo-sculptural installation Defunct Front across the facade of the gallery as a part of Empire of Dreams
Next we headed over to 1172 Queen St. West to Fly Gallery for an exhibition of recent paintings by Caroline Mosby. Thanks to Scott Carruthors and Tanya Reid of Fly Gallery for speaking about the space.
Following this the tour swung south to Sudbury St. where we visited LSD lighting studios to witness a generative video projection by Markus Heckmann. Using his own software to generate the piece, Markus' video was a beautiful and hypnotic new media artwork to include on the tour.
Our final stop and afterparty was at the beautiful loft studio of Michael Toke at the old 48 Abell St. building (which sadly no longer exists). The visit featured many of his paintings, video, and installation based works as well as a musical performance by jazz trio The Bob Standard.
Many thanks to Emily Shulist for documenting the night, to our small crew of volunteers and to all of those who came out and experienced the first 'Art Spin' tour.
PHOTOS
Photos by Emily Shulist.
The tour gathers at Trinity Bellwoods Park. Photo by Emily Shulist.
Bikes gathering in Trinity Bellwoods Park. Photo by Emily Shulist.
Geoff from Bike Pirates getting ready to do some free tune-ups in the park. Photo by Emily Shulist.
Biking through Trinity Bellwoods to our first stop. Photo by Emily Shulist.
Stopping further north in Trinity Bellwoods for our first stop. Photo by Emily Shulist.
Layne Hinton and Casey Hinton, two thirds of the Art Spin team in 2010. Photo by Emily Shulist.
Stopping for a performance in Trinity Bellwoods Park. Photo by Emily Shulist.
Gathering for a performance in Trinity Bellwoods Park. Photo by Emily Shulist.
Bikes in Bellwoods during the first stop. Photo by Emily Shulist.
First stop: a performance of 'Bamboo Quiver' by Janet Pomer and Barry Prophet. Photo by Emily Shulist.
A performance of 'Bamboo Quiver' by Janet Pomer and Barry Prophet. Photo by Emily Shulist.
A performance of 'Bamboo Quiver' by Janet Pomer and Barry Prophet. Photo by Emily Shulist.
A performance of 'Bamboo Quiver' by Janet Pomer and Barry Prophet. Photo by Emily Shulist.
A performance of 'Bamboo Quiver' by Janet Pomer and Barry Prophet. Photo by Emily Shulist.
A performance of 'Bamboo Quiver' by Janet Pomer and Barry Prophet. Photo by Emily Shulist.
A performance of 'Bamboo Quiver' by Janet Pomer and Barry Prophet. Photo by Emily Shulist.
A performance of 'Bamboo Quiver' by Janet Pomer and Barry Prophet. Photo by Emily Shulist.
A performance of 'Bamboo Quiver' by Janet Pomer and Barry Prophet. Photo by Emily Shulist.
Biking across Queen Street to our second stop. Photo by Emily Shulist.
Parking our bikes for our second stop on the tour. Photo by Emily Shulist.
Parking bikes for the second stop on the tour. Photo by Emily Shulist.
Layne guards parked bikes during the second stop of the tour. Photo by Emily Shulist.
Parking bikes for stop number two. Photo by Emily Shulist.
Getting ready for a visit to Angell Gallery. Photo by Emily Shulist.
Johnny shows off his bicycle sound system to some keen participants. Photo by Emily Shulist.
Stop number two: Angell Gallery in its new space on Ossington. Photo by Emily Shulist.
Painting at Angell Gallery. Photo by Emily Shulist.
Painting by Aleksandra Rdest as part of the show 'Swagger and Sashay' at Angell Gallery in the project room. Photo by Emily Shulist.
'When the Levee Breaks' by John Kennedy at Angell Gallery as part of the exhibition 'Juggernaut'. Photo by Emily Shulist.
'Tenderness Well Travelled' by Aleksandra Rdest at Angell Gallery, part of the exhibition 'Swagger and Sashay' Photo by Emily Shulist.
'Red Shift' by Barry Allikas, new paintings at Angell Gallery. Photo by Emily Shulist.
Jamie Angell speaks to the group about the three exhibitions on display. Photo by Emily Shulist.
Gathering at the bikes after Angell Gallery. Photo by Emily Shulist.
Heading up to stop number 3. Photo by Emily Shulist.
Entering some back alleyways on our way to the next stop. Photo by Emily Shulist.
Dan Bergeron aka fauxreel creates a new photo-based street intervention piece for the Art Spin crowd behind Show & Tell Gallery. Photo by Emily Shulist.
Witnessing a new work by fauxreel behind Show & Tell Gallery. Photo by Emily Shulist.
fauxreel installs a new piece for the Art Spin tour. Photo by Emily Shulist.
fauxreel installing his new work on Show & Tell Gallery's back wall. Photo by Emily Shulist.
fauxreel speaks to the group about his creative process. Photo by Emily Shulist.