ROJO®magazine website will not be updated starting June 1st as we will be working fulltime in a major usability and code upgrade. At the same time ROJO®nova website will be launched, to introduce to all ROJO® fans the newest and biggest ROJO® event ever, that will totally take over MIS Sao Paulo for 7 weeks of non-stop art action. Only for the happy, the gifted, the curious and the open minded.
®artspace Toronto
Narwhal Art Projects. 680 Queen St. West. Toronto, ON, M6J 1E7. Canada.
talk: +1 647 346 5317 online: www.narwhalartprojects.com
An alternative art exhibition space in Toronto.
Opening hours: Monday to Wednesday, only by apointment, Thursday to Sunday from 12.00h to 18.00h.
In association with:
01.04.2010 - 02.05.2010
Please join Narwhal Art Projects this spring as we unveil an exhibition showcasing investigations into the role of modern landscapes. Featuring work by Leon Matthew Benn, Tessar Lo, Paul Wackers, Jacob Whibley and Megan Whitmarsh.
In association with:
28.01.2010 - 28.02.2010
Narwhal Art Projects is pleased to present The Taxali 300, a solo exhibition with Gary Taxali. Celebrating Gary’s career as a commercial illustrator, The Taxali 300 showcases hundreds of small illustrations and collages originally created for such esteemed publications as Rolling Stone, Newsweek, The New York Times, GQ and McSweeneys among others. Spanning two decades and multiple awards and accolades, The Taxali 300 presents Gary’s exceptional collection of commercial illustration as a complete body of work in a gallery setting for the first time, allowing viewers to appreciate the prolific scope of visual communications and tactile character design intrinsically associated with Gary Taxali’s artwork.
In association with:
11.12.2009 - 10.01.2010
The season of mystic ritual for the Western world happens each December. Darkness comes early in these arcane times and tradition reigns high as humans congregate around decorative firs and twinkling lights to celebrate magic. Metaphysical folk tales are shared, candles are lit, bread is broken, and concealed treasures are bestowed upon significant others. For suspended moments, belief is possible. The line between the real and the imaginary blurs, allowing for small cracks of wonder. It is here that nine artists emerge, bearing little crowns. Manipulating the earthly substances of clay, metal, mineral, wood and pigment, each artist conjures personal imagery of alchemy and enchantment.
In association with:
29.10.2008 - 29.11.2009
The Invisible College draws inspiration from an independent organization of philosophers whose purpose was to acquire knowledge through experimental investigation in 16th century Europe. Akin to the guild system, this group practice is exemplified by Hegelian collaboration: the free transfer of thought, expertise and tradition carried out without the establishment of designated facilities or institutional authority. Appleby-Barr explores the state of the personal disassociation with tradition and searches to find a connection with one's self and heritage. Working within a body of meticulously detailed oil portraits, Appleby-Barr conjures clues to uncovering the secrets of his own creation.
In association with:
01.10.2008 - 25.10.2009
Narwhal Art Projects & Magic Pony are pleased to present "The Unknown Portraits", a new exhibition with American-Japanese artist duo Kozyndan. This exhibition documents a unique portraiture project spanning the past four years of Kozyndan's travels. Originating from a found photo album unearthed in a Venice Beach thrift shop, Kozyndan were inspired to create imagined personae documenting the essence of these lost photographs. This collection of fictitious ephemera is comprised solely of small, detailed graphite portraits, each piece capturing the surreal humor and observation that has become fundamental within Kozyndan's distinctive style of artwork.
In association with:
13.08.2008 - 20.09.2009
Known previously for his work with collective Team Macho, Nicholas Aoki presents a new body of solo paintings shown for the first time at Narwhal. Influenced by religious mythology and epic traditions, Aoki's theatrical, atmospheric landscapes explore the ritual of death as right of passage.
In association with:
18.06.2008 - 26.07.2009
Known for her unique gothic kawaii style, Japanese artist Junko Mizuno combines cuteness, gore and eroticism within an oeuvre that includes comics, painting, drawings, animation and toys. Influenced by vintage shojo manga, folktales, horror and pop art, Mizuno creates fairy tales where deliciously adorable pin-ups prance naively through psychedelic worlds, battling and cohabiting with the dark magic that surrounds them.
Junko Mizuno began drawing and publishing her own manga (comics) over ten years ago in Japan. Her distinct style was immediately recognized and she began working with acclaimed magazines and music labels to produce original manga works. In 1998 Mizuno's first full-length manga, Pure Trance, was published followed by several comics based on familiar fairy tales including Hansel & Gretel, Cinderalla and Princess Mermaid. Mizuno's sweetly titillating horrific depictions of classic tales appealed to International audiences and she soon developed an intense cult following worldwide. More recently Mizuno has chosen to focus on her fine art and has exhibited in galleries across Europe and America. Playing with realized sexuality, hunger and violence, Mizuno's girls combat fatal relationships with desires and demons. Playing off our fascination with the cute and the macabre, strong-willed vixens flaunt their charms, and fight for their beliefs, misfit protagonists for the modern day woman.
"Red Tresses and Freckles" is Junko Mizuno's premiere Canadian solo exhibition. Injecting her unique style of kawaii noir into beloved Canadian folklore, Mizuno creates bewitching portrayals of female fortitude and fantasy.
In association with:
08.05.2008 - 25.05.2009
The compelling paintings and posters of Tara McPherson are a tour-de-force of creative tension, at once heartfelt and heartbreaking. Creating art about people and their odd ways, her characters seem to exude an idealized innocence with a glimpse of hard earned wisdom in their eyes. Recalling many issues from childhood and good old life experience, she creates images that are thought provoking and seductive. People and their relationships are a central theme throughout her work. Tara's array of work includes numerous gig posters for rock bands, including Green Day, Modest Mouse, and Death Cab for Cutie, and advertising and editorial illustrations for a diverse group of clients, as well as the "Ace and Ion" figure set. Her prints and paintings have been exhibited in galleries all over the world.
In association with:
17.04.2008 - 21.04.2009
Easily Forgettable showcases over one thousand miniature portraits of Jon Izen's expressive, not quite cartoony characters. Rendered on pocket-sized pieces of wood, the portraits are simple, anonymous, imposing in their volume, yet fantastic in their own understated individuality. Seeking to make the ordinary extraordinary, the overwhelming presence of Izen's sea of characters compels the viewer to take notice. Using an economy of line and colour to create a connection with the viewer, Izen purposefully neglects the visual cues ordinarily used for expression in illustration and animation. Finding inspiration within our common population, Izen's gentle characters evoke equal doses of pathos, desperation, hope and humour.
In association with:
26.03.2008 - 10.05.2009
Life Drawing comprises a range of aesthetic styles and strategies within highly personal investigations into the vernacular, the diaristic, and the quotidian. Expressive and chimerical visual rhetoric is rendered through the intimate practice of drawing. Lauchie Reid’s semi-autobiographical narrative vignettes capture passing fancies with sharp wit, reflecting upon the world around him to varying degrees of truth. Melinda Josie documents beauty and whimsy in her imaginative, meticulously crafted domestic still life series. Others extract from the unconscious, revealing internal worlds. Selena Wong and Howie Tsui’s lyrical neo-Surrealism melds dreams and nightmares, myth and memory. Psychedelic, stream of consciousness doodling characterizes the interplay of anecdotes, observation and the absurd evident in the work of Ginette Lapalme, Lee Hutzulak, Marc Bell and Michael Comeau; while Tara Azzopardi’s illustrations of local classified ads attempt to familiarize otherwise anonymous lives.
Artists: Lauchie Reid, Melinda Josie, Selena Wong, Howie Tsui, Ginette Lapalme, Lee Hutzulak, Marc Bell, Tara Azzopardi and Michael Comeau.
In association with:
11.12.2008 - 04.01.2009
This special exhibition showcases handcrafted work from over 20 artists. With a particular focus on tactile, three-dimensional objects, Stay Gold is comprised of sculpture, ceramics, textiles, dioramas, painting and collage. With a diverse range of media (from porcelain to wax), this exhibition celebrates specialized craftsmanship and a masterful use of material. Stay Gold will be the inaugural exhibition for our newly expanded gallery space at 680 Queen Street West.
Artists: Allyson Mitchell, C'est Moi Ce Soir, Coe&Waito, Gary Taxali, Ginette Lapalme, Heather Goodchild, Jacob Whibley, Jennifer Rose Sciarrino, Julie Moon, Lauchie Reid, Melinda Josie, Lola Goldstein, Lydia Klenck, Madoka Hara, Margot Jenner, Mari Matsuo, Melissa Fisher, Molly Kalkstein, Naomi Yasui, Stephen Appleby-Barr, Nathan Jurevicius, Noel Middleton, Sonja Ahlers, TADO, Tania Sanhueza, Tara Azzopardi, Tibi Tibi Neuspiel, Tyler Clark Burke.
In association with:
06.11.2008 - 30.11.2008
Chronicling the mysterious history of an alternate world, Wilson's fantastical abstracted landscapes suggest the possibility of other worlds occurring simultaneously with our own. Past, present and future coalesce within this imagined topography. Futuristic architecture and geodesic domes crown primordial geological forms, while abstract shapes collide. Elaborate, mixed media resin-coated paintings encapsulate vast mountain ranges, crystalline forms and volcanic interiors. Wilson's paintings combine contrasting layers, textures and colors to subtly create depth.
In association with:
02.10.2008 - 05.10.2008
Each year, preternatural influences have arranged the overlapping of pilgrimages to Cormac. Each alike, the groups congregate to observe the path and influence of the Sun. Some closely follow the procession of the equinoxes, while others lay in its warmth. With an intent fixed look, some claim to see their reflection drawn with twelve primitive particles, similarly on their own paths of unknown influences. Noel Middleton is a Toronto-based multi-disciplinary artist who works in sculpture, installation, photography and video.
Special Location:
The Gladstone Hotel
Part of upArt Contemporary Art Fair 2008
1214 Queen St. West
Toronto, ON, Canada
In association with:
25.09.2008 - 26.10.2008
KITSCHY, GAY, AND OVER IN A SECOND resurrects the group's beloved subjects with an expanded repertoire of oil, airbrush, resin, collage, lightboxes and typewriter art. Witty vignettes, hilariously inappropriate juxtapositions, inside jokes, détourned flea-market landscapes and subverted narratives collide. Dadaist nonsense, science fantasy, parallel universes, escape artistry, alchemic texts, homoerotic neon wizards, vintage catalogues and books on tape variously provide inspiration.
In association with:
28.08.2008 - 14.09.2008
Magic Pony is pleased to present Lily: The Littlest Cannibal, a special art exhibition and exclusive toy release and signing with acclaimed British artist-duo Tado. Set in a slick, surreal enchanted landscape, Lily: The Littlest Cannibal is filled with smiling mountain peaks, bouncy monster mushrooms, pirate bears, winking faces and drooling fangs. It's an anthropomorphized world: both cute and ferocious, cuddly and vicious. A dynamic interplay of media, the show comprises paintings, drawings and prints, along with wooden sculpture, installation, plush, and two new toy releases.
In association with:
15.05.2008 - 30.06.2008
Internationally renowned artist, toy designer and illustrator Nathan Jurevicius returns to Magic Pony with "Reformation", his first north-american solo exhibition in four years. Featuring a variety of media, this exhibition includes a series of vividly hued ink and watercolour drawings, animations, large-scale sculptural installations and a print edition. Nathan has also produced a limited edition bronze owl sculpture, exclusive to Magic Pony. While his career thus far has spanned both commercial design and fine art, Reformation reflects a deeper engagement with his artistic process and materials, while simultaneously demonstrating a highly imaginative, philosophical approach to storytelling.
In association with:
03.04.2008 - 04.05.2008
Magic Pony is pleased to announce the unveiling of THE NORTAMMAG ARCHIVES. Realized by Stephen Appleby-Barr and exhibited for the first time at the Magic Pony gallery, this vast treasury of artifacts documents a clandestine society never before disclosed. Inscribed in these solemnly detailed oil portraits are clues to uncovering the secrets of the esoteric Nortammags. Mysterious organizations, metaphysical ideals, arcane symbolism and costumed form give insight to the alchemical practices of the Nortammag coterie, a fellowship rich with dark magic and obscure origins.
In association with: