At The Gallery : The AGO Celebrates the Power of Inuit art

Nick and I saw an exhibition at the AGO on Wednesday that has popped up, over and over again, in our conversations since. The two of us have seen a lot of art together and I can't remember a show that sparked as many discussions as did Tunirrusiangit, on display at the gallery until Sunday.

The title means "The Gifts They Gave" in Inuktitut, with the givers of those gifts being an artist who is known as having been the "grandmother of Inuit art" Kenojuak Ashevak, and her nephew Timootee (Tim) Pitsiulakand. This is the first time that Inuit art has been showcased in the AGO’s largest exhibition space.

Kenojuak Ashevak was born in 1927 and died five years ago at the age of 85. Her nephew, Tim, was born in 1967, and sadly died too young at 49, in 2016. Influenced by his aunt, he began drawing at a young age. This show marked the first retrospective of his work.

Coming from Nunavut, Canada's newest and northernmost territory, which separated officially from the Northwest Territories in 1999, these two artists created their beautiful art in one of the coldest, and most remote and sparsely settled regions in the world. The uniqueness of their home is very much reflected in their choices of subjects for their art, which very much focuses on nature. Some of Tim's pieces captured the introduction of technology to this northern environment, including unexpected images of laptops and digital cameras.

One of the most remarkable things about the work of both artists is that their original drawings were done using plain old pencil crayons and felt-tip markers. Seeing these common supplies used to create such stunning artworks was mind-blowing. In the case of the elder artist, many of her drawings were then turned into lithographic prints. The exhibition includes a number of examples of the original and then the prints.

Live Music : Sylvan Esso at The Danforth Music Hall

My friend Andrea and I had a very fun time on Tuesday night, at the Sylvan Esso concert at The Danforth Music Hall.

The two of us seeing this show together was the closing of a circle, as it was Andrea who first introduced me to the band. That was back in early January, while we were playing Nick's made-up music game. It's a game we play when fellow music loving friends come over -- using the Xbox, through which we access Youtube, everyone takes turns with the controller, selecting a song that they like, which we then all watch the video for. It's fun to see where people are going with their choices, as they type. Some people prefer picking oldies-but-goodies and others (me included) enjoy new music. The rules are that we listen to the entire song and that the choice goes around the room, one song each at a time. It's a really good way to make sure everyone gets a chance to hear music they like, and to listen to stuff you wouldn't ordinarily hear. We have been known to play this game for hours!

So, when we played during our post-Christmas visit with Andrea (written about in this post), she chose something by a band I'd not heard before, which I loved right off. I guess you can tell where this is going ... yes, the band was Sylvan Esso. The song was "Die Young".

A couple of weeks later I saw that they were coming to town, so I went to Rotate This and got us some tickets.

Then, we waited nearly seven months until the show.

And it was great!

While this electronic pop band from North Carolina is made up of only two people, the married couple Emelia Meath and Nick Sanborn, they were small but mighty. The audience was full of energy the whole time. Everyone clearly loved their performance.

The fact that the place was packed and everyone was dancing, sure made it warm. I can't remember ever being that hot at a concert before, actually. The crowd (at least around us) was clean though, so while we were all sweating, it still smelled fresh. Maybe TMI but I think it's worth mentioning, since I've been to a concert in that same venue where the same could not be said!

My favourite Sylvan Esso songs are: Radio, Die Young, and Coffee, if you want to give them a listen. All their recordings are on Spotify and many are on YouTube.

Here's a short Youtube video compilation from the very show we saw, which gives you a good look at what Sylvan Esso are like when performing live. (Thank you for posting it, HeadfullofFungus!)

Here are my photos ...

Coming to You From a Saddened but Strong City

ass="aligncenter size-full wp-image-40168" src="http://www.loulou.to/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/kensington-market-street-sign-toronto.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="480">I began this post last Saturday, fully intending to get it up early in the week. I've since gone back and rewritten it a couple of times, at one point thinking I would scrap it completely.It's a story about a Toronto neighbourhood close to home -- a place that Nick and I love, and go to all the time -- Kensington Market.On Canada Day, July 1st, there was a shooting in the market which left a 19 year old man dead and three others wounded. Four men were seen escaping the area.No details have been reported about the injured, beyond that two of them had minor wounds and the other was hospitalized with non life-threatening injuries. However, the market is a popular and busy place, so I imagine that at least one of those hurt was an innocent bystander.The incident was said to be gang related, possibly in retaliation of another shooting the evening before, that was also much too close to home. Two men were killed and an innocent woman was wounded. That one happened on Queen Street West, a mere 100 yards from the front door of the first home I shared with Nick.Looking at the crime scene pictures taken in Kensington Market in the news, just beyond the yellow tape, I can see exact places I've stood. And I can't help but think how easily I could have been there on July 1st.  In fact, I spent last Canada Day in the market, shopping, having lunch and then drinks on a patio with my friend Meghan.I realized that it's been over a year since I've featured this unique and interesting part of Toronto, so a couple of weeks after the shooting, I accompanied Nick on one of his regular shopping trips to get supplies for his favourite hobby of cooking, specifically to take pictures.My goal was to share photographs that demonstrate that bad men with guns cannot stop the beating heart of a vibrant neighbourhood. They may cause things to pause for a short time, while the community deals with the tragic outcome of their selfish, despicable acts, but they won't scare us into leaving our streets to them. We are strong and we will fight.That was what I aimed to express as of last Saturday. Then, as everyone in the city and many from around the world know, another, considerably more horrifying, shooting took place in Toronto on Sunday night, when a man with gun walked along a bustling section of the Danforth, aiming, shooting, wounding and killing.As you can see, I have decided to go ahead with my post about Kensington Market and the resilience and strength of the good people who go there, live there and work there. However, now my message of sorrow, hope and optimism has expanded to include all places, in our community and yours. Life is challenging enough without the horror that accompanies people intent on doing harm.

Summerlicious at Peoples Eatery

* * * Update - Peoples Eatery has permanently closed. * * *

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We had the rare opportunity to have dinner with my older brother and his girlfriend last week. They live a plane ride away so we don't get to see them often.

I suggested Peoples Eatery mainly because I really enjoyed it there in January, when my friend Meghan introduced it, but also because I'd seen that they were participating in the Summerlicious Restaurant Event.

The Toronto Outdoor Art Fair at Nathan Phillips Square

My love for The Toronto Outdoor Art Fair is long standing. Now in its 57th year, this weekend-long event, packed with tented booths featuring the work of so many talented artists, is held annually in Nathan Phillips Square (in front of City Hall, beside the old City Hall).

I first attended the art fair as a teenager, when my friends and I wandered from The Eaton Centre, where we'd gone for a shopping trip. I grew up in Malton, west of the city, and every few months or so, we'd make a big trip downtown, taking the bus to the Kipling Subway station, and then the train downtown. Our afternoons usually involved a walk along Yonge Street, a visit to what was, in our opinion, the best shopping mall ever, a hamburger at Wendy's, and then a bit more shopping before heading home. The time we happened upon the outdoor art fair, we'd forgone the after lunch shopping and decided to walk westward along Queen Street West. We were quite thrilled to spot the tidy rows of tents in Nathan Phillips Square.

I bought a small ceramic plate during that first visit, glazed in shimmery shades of royal blue and bottle green. I thought it was one of the lovliest things I'd ever seen. I was pretty sad when, years later, my boss accidentally broke it when he and his wife were over for dinner. I'd been using it as a soap dish in the washroom and when he went to use the soap it had stuck to the dish, which ended up smashing on the floor. It was my fault because I knew the soap had a tendency to stick to that dish, but it looked so pretty. Anyway, I was sad about the breakage, but of course, told him not to worry about it at all.

Since that first visit, I've tried to get to this annual fair as often as I can. One year, shortly after Nick and I had gotten engaged (we were engaged three months after meeting on a blind date in November 1998, and married within the year), we went together. That time I bought a print that still hangs in our living room today -- this one, by artist Isabelle Mignault. Regular readers (thank you) will have seen it in photos of our living room many times, so you already know we really like it!

While we don't make it every year, we have been many times in the twenty years since, enjoying a walk around, admiring all the impressive works and picking up gifts.

This year, the TOAF occurred the weekend of July 6th and we went on the Sunday. As you can see by the photos, it was a brilliantly sunny day. What you can't see but we all certainly felt, was that it was absolutely broiling out!

Here's a little look ...