Hayv Kahraman, Levelled Leisure (detail), 2010, from the Being and Belonging exhibition at the Royal Ontario Museum.©HAYV KAHRAMAN, COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND THE SHVO COLLECTION, NEW YORK
If there is commonality in the far-reaching exhibitions at Toronto galleries this spring, it is a celebration of the work of women artists, with major shows by established icons, contemporary stars, emerging innovators and a group of 25 bold women articulating Islamic perspective among the offerings. In addition, there are important shows exploring vast realms of ceramics and photography. With so much to see in the city’s galleries, the new season is a time to keep one’s eyes and mind wide open.
Monsters Under My Bed, 2022. Hockey table made with polymer clay, acrylic paint. From the Housewarming exhibition of 500 miniature clay figures by Montreal artist Karine Giboulo. The show runs until May 7 at the Gardiner Musuem.TONI HAFKENSCHEID
Despite the whimsy of their tiny stature, the 500 miniature clay figures created by Montreal artist Karine Giboulo for her exhibition, Housewarming, at the Gardiner Museum, inhabit a world of complex problems. Her legions of obsessively detailed, three-inch people line up at food banks, fight forest fires and are weighed down by other pressing issues of our time: ageism and isolation, climate crisis, the pandemic and more.
Installation view from the Housewarming exhibition by sculptor Karine Giboulo. Currently on display at the Gardiner Museum.TONI HAFKENSCHEID
The mini multitudes take over a replica of Giboulo’s two-bedroom apartment, populating every surface and lurking inside drawers, the fridge, the oven, the Amazon box. It’s as though Giboulo can’t escape her concerns. And yet, her aesthetic is colourful and playful, with an undeniable touch of humour. “I don’t know exactly why I’m so attracted to miniatures, but I really just see them in my head,” shares Giboulo. “When I look at the real world, my brain automatically shrinks what I see. I also like the playfulness of miniatures even if my subjects are often very serious. I always feel a sense of play when I work.” Housewarming runs until May 7.
New ceramic work by Jess Riva Cooper for the 2023 International Ceramic Art Fair.COURTESY OF THE ARTIST
The Gardiner Museum then presents more sculptural works as host of the 10-day International Ceramic Art Fair (opening June 8). Featuring Canadian and international artists and gallery rosters, the show offers visitors the chance to purchase new work and attend talks, tours and performances. It’s another opportunity to witness ways artists are turning to clay to explore a wide range of new ideas, stories and images.
Lalla Essaydi, Bullets Revisited #34, 2014, from Being and Belonging, at the ROM.©LALLA ESSAYDI, COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND EDWYNN HOUK GALLERY, NEW YORK
From the Being and Belonging exhibition at the Royal Ontario Museum, Lubaina Himid’s work Bittersweet, 2022.RENNIE COLLECTION, VANCOUVER ©LUBAINA HIMID. IMAGE COURTESY OF THE ARTIST, HOLLYBUSH GARDENS, LONDON. PHOTO: ANDY KEATE
Sure, the new T. Rex: The Ultimate Predator show is likely to eat up a lot of visitors’ viewing time, but the beast isn’t the only marvel at the Royal Ontario Museum. Being and Belonging, an astounding exhibition by 25 women from or connected to the Islamic world, tackles issues of identity, power and sexuality in multimedia works that are beautiful, brazen, shocking. Acclaimed Bangladeshi artist Tayeba Begum Lipi’s razor-blade high-heels are included (Lipi also crafts bikinis, bathtubs, strollers and much more out of the menacing strips of metal), as is Iraqi-American artist Hayv Kahraman’s gorgeously painted, unsettling work depicting hardcore preening. Go for the Tyrannosaurus, stay for the jolt of this show (opening July 1).
Sandra Meigs, Spruce, Bat Lake, 2021, from the exhibition Sandra Meigs: Sublime Rage.COURTESY OF McMICHAEL CANADIAN ART COLLECTION
Canadian contemporary artist Sandra Meigs, who turns 70 this year, is known for her big, joyous paintings. Now, imagine her electrifying works blown up, printed on canvas and suspended from the ceiling at McMichael Canadian Art Collection. Since Meigs’s new works are inspired by nature, guest curator Jessica Bradley describes the show as “a forest of fierce painterly gesture and vibrant colour.” The works recall Emily Carr and Georgia O’Keeffe, while many reflect the artist’s concern regarding climate change. Sandra Meigs: Sublime Rage opens May 20.
Jin-me Yoon, Oasis3 (Time New Again), 2010 / 2022, chromogenic print.COURTESY OF THE ARTIST
Opening April 28 through the month of May is the annual citywide Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival. Among the many exhibitions on view is a solo show at the Image Centre by Jin-me Yoon, winner of the most recent $50,000 Scotiabank Photography Award. The Korean-born, Vancouver-based artist incorporates photography and video into densely layered examinations of colonialism, militarization, displacement, environmental devastation and more. Yoon’s interrogations can be cerebral at times, but witty, as well. Her breakout series, Souvenirs of the Self (Rocky Mountain Bus Tour), features picture postcards of herself at iconic tourist spots in Banff – a cheeky way for a visibly non-white immigrant like herself to confront Canadian identity.
Summertime, by Mary Cassatt, 1894, from the exhibition Cassatt – McNicoll: Impressionists Between Worlds, opening May 31 at the Art Gallery of Ontario.PHOTO ©TERRA FOUNDATION OF AMERICAN ART, CHICAGO
At the Art Gallery of Ontario, one of the most anticipated exhibitions of the year, Cassatt – McNicoll: Impressionists Between Worlds, brings together two trailblazing women Impressionist painters. Praised by contemporaries like Edgar Degas, Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) was the only American member of the Impressionist movement in Paris. Helen McNicoll (1879-1915) remains one of the most important Impressionist artists in Canada, despite a career that lasted just a decade. While the show (opening May 31) draws on AGO’s extensive collection of McNicoll’s paintings, it marks the first time Canadians will have the opportunity to see such a significant collection of Cassatt’s works.
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