The Art Gallery of Ontario closed last week as the final stages of its transformation began, and so it was fitting that the theme for the institution's fifth annual Shadow Ball masquerade fundraiser would be "metamorphosis."
Toronto's art lovers - 360 of them - emerged from their cocoons to raise a total of $310,000. The funds will go a long way toward supporting the AGO as it begins its post-construction installation of thousands of works of art in its 110 galleries.
Guests mingled beneath the photographic works of Cindy Sherman and around Max Streicher's massive inflatable dung beetle in the handful of galleries not affected by the transformation. But some of the most interesting spectacles of the night were the guests themselves.
John MacFarlane, the long-time Toronto Life editor who recently announced his imminent departure from the magazine, wore a long-tailed tux completed by a top hat adorned with a silkscreen of the original Grange House, commissioned from Karyn Gingras at Lilliput Hats. For his wife, Roz Ivey, Ms. Gingras crafted a miniature foam replica of a Frank Gehry spiral staircase that she propped atop her head. Together, they represented the art institution's past and future, so they were an easy pick as the winner of the night's "Most Twisted Transformation" costume contest.
Meanwhile, the AGO's director and chief executive officer, Matthew Teitelbaum, had spiders crawling all over his face. Not real ones, of course, but a gold mask made of dozens of interlocking arachnids, causing shivers among the crowd. Beth Horowitz and Rupert Duchesne, the party's co-chairs, were done up as an ice queen and a furry werewolf, respectively.
All told, it was a howling good evening.