This story is sponsored by the Toronto Biennial of Art
Exhibition shot: Andrea Carlson, Never-Ending Monument, 2022; Nadia Belerique, HOLDINGS, 2020-present; Jeffrey Gibson, SPEAK TO ME IN YOUR WAY SO I CAN HEAR YOU, 2015; Held in the air I never fell (spring lightning sweetgrass song), 2022. On view at 72 Perth Ave as part of the Toronto Biennial of Art (2022). Photo by Toni Hafkenscheid.
With Toronto being the fastest growing metropolitan city in Canada, it’s easy to overlook its shoreline and the stories it tells about our relationship with the environment. For this reason, the second edition of theToronto Biennial of Art (TBA) explores the sense of kinship between humans and nature through contemporary works from Canadian and international artists.
From now to June 5, several areas and venues around the city will feature free performances, exhibitions and learning opportunities – all relating to the polyphonic histories sedimented in and around Toronto.
What Water Knows, The Land Remembers encompasses 72 days of free contemporary art that will inspire important conversations on a global scale while engaging the community. And because the event only happens every two years, it’s not to be missed.
“If you look at how the city has buried or attempted to straighten certain waterways, bend water and land to the will of man for whatever their dominant interests or ideological beliefs are, it tells a different story about this place,” shares Katie Lawson, one of the three curators for the TBA. She has been collaborating withTairone Bastien andCandice Hopkins since the Biennial’s first edition in 2019, which introduced the complex history behind Toronto’s shoreline.
“If we’re open to going beyond just human stories, we’ll discover the histories that might be held in the land or in the water, changing the way that we see different kinds of plant species and where they grow in the city,” says Lawson. “The environment tells a story that’s not human centred.”
Folks of all ages can enjoy over 100 works that were meticulously produced by more than 35 artists – 23 of the pieces were specially commissioned for the event. The 2022 Biennial will include around 40 online and in-person programs, taking place at nine different exhibition sites.
When creating the itinerary for your immersive, city-wide art experience, be sure to include these four contemporary works created by talented Canadian female artists.
Ts̱ēmā Igharas & Erin Siddall, Great Bear Money Rock, 2021-2022. Multimedia installation, bottle of Great Bear Lake water, glass prism, 16 mm projection, sound, leaded glass bubbles, crystals, Silk Prints, custom plinths. Installation dimensions variable, film duration 10 minutes 16 seconds. On view at 5 Lower Jarvis as part of the Toronto Biennial of Art (2022). Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid. Co-commissioned by Toronto Biennial of Art and Momenta Biennale de l’image.
HOLDINGS (2020-ongoing) by Nadia Belerique
Nadia Belerique’s architectural installation showcases large, milky-white plastic barrels that were once used by the artist’s family in Toronto. The barrels would be filled with food, gifts and other goods before being sent across seas to their relatives living in the archipelago of the Azores in Portugal.
In HOLDINGS, each barrel becomes a vessel for compositions of liquids, photographs and object assemblages outfitted with lens-like stained-glass coverings.
The installation can be found at 72 Perth, one of the most intriguing arts and culture venues in the city.
Amy Malbeuf, Kahkiyaw kikway (All of Everything), 2019-2022. Smoke tanned moose and deer hide, raw deer hide, nylon thread, cotton thread. Dimensions variable. On view at Arsenal Contemporary Art Toronto as part of the Toronto Biennial of Art (2022). Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid. Commissioned by Toronto Biennial of Art.
“72 Perth is a building that’s been scheduled for demolition as there’s a new development planned,” reveals Lawson. “It was formerly a Pentecostal church but we were able to take it over as a temporary art space in the interim. It’s a really special space.”
Kahkiyaw kikway (All of everything) (2019-2022) by Amy Malbeuf
At Arsenal Contemporary Art Toronto, guests can admire aninstallation of sculptures and wearable artworks by Métis artist Amy Malbeuf. Over numerous years, Malbeuf taught herself how to create home-tanned hide, which is a laborious tradition that’s incredibly significant in Indigenous communities.
The garments are intended to fit a spectrum of body types and genders. After being featured at the TBA, the home-tanned hide clothing will be sent to Indigenous Fashion Week in Toronto.
“At Indigenous Fashion Week, folks can see these garments actually donned by Indigenous bodies,” she says. “It’s an instance of partnership between two organizations within the city and a really unique way to celebrate her work over an extended timeline.”
Dana Prieto, Footnotes for an Arsenal, 2022. Terracotta tiles, terracotta containers, fired soil. Dimensions variable. On view at Small Arms Inspection Building as part of the Toronto Biennial of Art (2022). Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid. Commissioned by the Toronto Biennial of Art.
Footnotes for an Arsenal (2022) by Dana Prieto
In 1992, the Toronto Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) purchased the Arsenal Lands, a 15.7-hectare property located on the City of Mississauga’s waterfront and the site of the Small Arms Inspection Building (SAIB).
Upon purchase, the TRCA performed environmental testing and discovered the presence of low-level radioactive waste, petroleum compounds and heavy metals underneath the large munitions plant.
“Dana Prieto, a Toronto-based artist, was interested in the land’s history and thinking about the past, present and future of those grounds,” shares Lawson. “Her artwork is made of terracotta and fired soil. The idea is to draw visitors’ attention down to what lies below their feet, as it’s not something we often consider. In a sense, we think of our bodies as containers but they are actually quite porous. So what does it mean to live in a world where there are contaminants that we can’t see or feel, yet they are circulating and exchanging between bodies and environments?”
Prieto’s art is displayed at the SAIB in Mississauga.
Ts̱ēmā Igharas & Erin Siddall, Great Bear Money Rock, 2021-2022. Multimedia installation, bottle of Great Bear Lake water, glass prism, 16 mm projection, sound, leaded glass bubbles, crystals, Silk Prints, custom plinths. Installation dimensions variable, film duration 10 minutes 16 seconds. On view at 5 Lower Jarvis as part of the Toronto Biennial of Art (2022). Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid. Co-commissioned by Toronto Biennial of Art and Momenta Biennale de l’image.Ts̱ēmā Igharas & Erin Siddall, Great Bear Money Rock, 2021-2022. Multimedia installation, bottle of Great Bear Lake water, glass prism, 16 mm projection, sound, leaded glass bubbles, crystals, Silk Prints, custom plinths. Installation dimensions variable, film duration 10 minutes 16 seconds. On view at 5 Lower Jarvis as part of the Toronto Biennial of Art (2022). Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid. Co-commissioned by Toronto Biennial of Art and Momenta Biennale de l’image.
Great Bear Money Rock (2021-2022) by Ts̱ēmā Igharas and Erin Siddall
In 2019, Ts̱ēmā Igharas and Erin Siddall went to Délįnę in Sahtu Dene Territories to seek passage to Port Radium, an abandoned uranium mine on the other side of Great Bear Lake. This lake is the eighth largest freshwater reserve in the world.
During their travels, they collected materials, photographs and audiovisual elements that reflect how the land and the life of local Indigenous communities overlap.
“The two artists collected a number of rocks from Great Bear Lake and had to have special glass bubbles blown to contain them, sealing in any trace levels of radiation held in the rocks,” Lawson says. “There’s a 16 mm film that was taken during their time at the lake and interestingly enough, using an analogue style of film captured some of the traces of what remains in Great Bear Lake. It’s really beautiful.”
Immerse yourself in 72 days of art by downloading the FREE TBA Pass. Access our 9+ exhibition sites and enjoy special perks:torontobiennial.tickit.ca/events/13531.
LONDON (AP) — With a few daubs of a paintbrush, the Brontë sisters have got their dots back.
More than eight decades after it was installed, a memorial to the three 19th-century sibling novelists in London’s Westminster Abbey was amended Thursday to restore the diaereses – the two dots over the e in their surname.
The dots — which indicate that the name is pronounced “brontay” rather than “bront” — were omitted when the stone tablet commemorating Charlotte, Emily and Anne was erected in the abbey’s Poets’ Corner in October 1939, just after the outbreak of World War II.
They were restored after Brontë historian Sharon Wright, editor of the Brontë Society Gazette, raised the issue with Dean of Westminster David Hoyle. The abbey asked its stonemason to tap in the dots and its conservator to paint them.
“There’s no paper record for anyone complaining about this or mentioning this, so I just wanted to put it right, really,” Wright said. “These three Yorkshire women deserve their place here, but they also deserve to have their name spelled correctly.”
It’s believed the writers’ Irish father Patrick changed the spelling of his surname from Brunty or Prunty when he went to university in England.
Raised on the wild Yorkshire moors, all three sisters died before they were 40, leaving enduring novels including Charlotte’s “Jane Eyre,” Emily’s “Wuthering Heights” and Anne’s “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.”
Rebecca Yorke, director of the Brontë Society, welcomed the restoration.
“As the Brontës and their work are loved and respected all over the world, it’s entirely appropriate that their name is spelled correctly on their memorial,” she said.
In a case that has sent shockwaves through the Vancouver Island art community, a local art dealer has been charged with one count of fraud over $5,000. Calvin Lucyshyn, the former operator of the now-closed Winchester Galleries in Oak Bay, faces the charge after police seized hundreds of artworks, valued in the tens of millions of dollars, from various storage sites in the Greater Victoria area.
Alleged Fraud Scheme
Police allege that Lucyshyn had been taking valuable art from members of the public under the guise of appraising or consigning the pieces for sale, only to cut off all communication with the owners. This investigation began in April 2022, when police received a complaint from an individual who had provided four paintings to Lucyshyn, including three works by renowned British Columbia artist Emily Carr, and had not received any updates on their sale.
Further investigation by the Saanich Police Department revealed that this was not an isolated incident. Detectives found other alleged victims who had similar experiences with Winchester Galleries, leading police to execute search warrants at three separate storage locations across Greater Victoria.
Massive Seizure of Artworks
In what has become one of the largest art fraud investigations in recent Canadian history, authorities seized approximately 1,100 pieces of art, including more than 600 pieces from a storage site in Saanich, over 300 in Langford, and more than 100 in Oak Bay. Some of the more valuable pieces, according to police, were estimated to be worth $85,000 each.
Lucyshyn was arrested on April 21, 2022, but was later released from custody. In May 2024, a fraud charge was formally laid against him.
Artwork Returned, but Some Remain Unclaimed
In a statement released on Monday, the Saanich Police Department confirmed that 1,050 of the seized artworks have been returned to their rightful owners. However, several pieces remain unclaimed, and police continue their efforts to track down the owners of these works.
Court Proceedings Ongoing
The criminal charge against Lucyshyn has not yet been tested in court, and he has publicly stated his intention to defend himself against any pending allegations. His next court appearance is scheduled for September 10, 2024.
Impact on the Local Art Community
The news of Lucyshyn’s alleged fraud has deeply affected Vancouver Island’s art community, particularly collectors, galleries, and artists who may have been impacted by the gallery’s operations. With high-value pieces from artists like Emily Carr involved, the case underscores the vulnerabilities that can exist in art transactions.
For many art collectors, the investigation has raised concerns about the potential for fraud in the art world, particularly when it comes to dealing with private galleries and dealers. The seizure of such a vast collection of artworks has also led to questions about the management and oversight of valuable art pieces, as well as the importance of transparency and trust in the industry.
As the case continues to unfold in court, it will likely serve as a cautionary tale for collectors and galleries alike, highlighting the need for due diligence in the sale and appraisal of high-value artworks.
While much of the seized artwork has been returned, the full scale of the alleged fraud is still being unraveled. Lucyshyn’s upcoming court appearances will be closely watched, not only by the legal community but also by the wider art world, as it navigates the fallout from one of Canada’s most significant art fraud cases in recent memory.
Art collectors and individuals who believe they may have been affected by this case are encouraged to contact the Saanich Police Department to inquire about any unclaimed pieces. Additionally, the case serves as a reminder for anyone involved in high-value art transactions to work with reputable dealers and to keep thorough documentation of all transactions.
As with any investment, whether in art or other ventures, it is crucial to be cautious and informed. Art fraud can devastate personal collections and finances, but by taking steps to verify authenticity, provenance, and the reputation of dealers, collectors can help safeguard their valuable pieces.
