My friend Meghan and I enjoyed a rare “midday-on-a-weekday” outing last week, when we went to OCAD University (Toronto’s School of Art and Design), to hear a talk given by Meghan’s favourite artist, Shary Boyle.
↑ OCAD’s main campus ↑
Since being introduced to me by Meghan — together we’ve previously seen a few of her pieces at the AGO, and saw one during our trip to The Mercer Union Contemporary Gallery, shown in this post — I’ve also become a fan. So, when I saw the notice about her talk, presented by the MAAD (Material Art and Design) Speakers Series, I knew we had to go.
It was so interesting. A particularly memorable part for me was hearing that, while Shary is well known for her porcelain and clay sculptures, she was first an illustrator and painter. It wasn’t until she took a crafting-type workshop in decorative clay, given by a group of elderly ladies, that she began sculpting. Her statement was a note of encouragement to the many young art students who in the room — that you never know when or where you will learn something that you end up loving to do.
↑ A peek into one of the classrooms. ↑
Following the talk, everyone was invited to walk down McCaul to Richmond Street, where more of OCAD’s campus buildings are, and where we could see some of Shary’s new work.
↑ Walking down McCaul ↑
There, they have a brand new professional gallery (it opened last fall), the Onsite Gallery, (at 199 Richmond Street West, south side just east of Duncan Street). While operated by the university, the art is not created by the students (not that there’d be anything wrong with that … just saying). I think this may be a venue through which students will practice the skills of gallery administration and curation.
The exhibition currently on display is called The Sunshine Eaters and runs until April 15th, 2018.
↑ On the right is a painted bronze sculpture by Tony Matelli ↑
The first thing I noticed upon walking into the Onsite Gallery, was how nice it smelled in there. More on that later in the post.
Here are Shary Boyle’s pieces. The background is a huge ink on paper piece, called The Thicket by Jim Holyoak.
↑ I’m wearing a crocheted cotton scarf I recently completed. ↑
↑ M ↑
More of the art …
↑ Soundsuit, 2015 by Nick Cave. This is one of two that were on display. These are sculptures that can be worn, transforming them to performance art pieces. ↑
↑ Left is a beautiful textile sculpture created by Alessandra Kehayoglou, called Stele. Projected on the walls is a two-channel video installation by Jessica Karuhanga. ↑
↑ Both sides of the second Soundsuit by Nick Cave. ↑
↑ Hey, what is Meghan doing over there? ↑
↑ Included in the exhibition was an element of scent, with custom scents created by Nina Leo and Moez Surani, called Heresies, 2018. They were amazing! ↑
↑ Carved gallon jerrycan, by Brian Jungen ↑
↑ Bad Pickney from the Fambily Series, 2013, by Ebony G. Patterson ↑
↑ Three dimensional, coloured pencil and paper collages by Winnie Truong ↑
Both the exhibition and the gallery are great. I look forward to seeing all that they do there. For anyone working close to Richmond and University (its just a short walk from the financial district) a trip over would make a good lunchtime getaway. Entry is free.
From there, Meghan and I went to a new-to-us cafe, which was lovely, and discovered another neat place, both of which I’ll share in my next post.
Thank you for reading,
xo loulou
