City of Craft (in partnership with the Ontario Craft Council) is seeking submissions for a group exhibition that will take place at the Ontario Craft Council Gallery as a part of City of Craft’s 2010 off-site programming.  City of Craft is Toronto’s largest independent craft sale and weekend-long event featuring craft-based installations, free workshops, and craft-related programming.

This year’s exhibition will explore the broad relationship craft and crafting has with commerce.  Craft(ing) is currently a multi-billion dollar industry.  From mainstream craft media personalities and the DIY Network to hipster how-to guides, mega craft fairs and fabric designers du jour, the commercial nature of the contemporary “crafting” movement often seems to starkly contrast the idea of crafting for necessity from days gone by.  On the other hand, there are people who turn to craft and craft processes for a sense of transcendence and autonomy.  Many would argue that there is more of a need to craft for crafts sake now than ever– either to re-skill ourselves for an uncertain future, or simply to learn to slow down.

Are money and craft strange (or natural) bedfellows?  How does craft transcend issues of commerce?  How do you navigate or perceive the dichotomy of craft for love/craft for money?  Work that addresses any facet of the above ideas is welcomed as a submission.  Submissions of fine craft, indie craft and art are encouraged.

Love and Money is curated and coordinated by Tara Bursey.

An online application for Love and Money can be found on the City of Craft website.

http://www.cityofcraft.com/2010/cityofcraft/loveandmoney/call.html

Submission Deadline:  Sunday, August 15th

Artist Dorie Millerson’s “Streetcar” is on display in the Queen Specific window at 787 Queen Street West in Toronto. The gallery is essentially a small display window next to Dufflet Pastries and is always open. If you’re in the neighbourhood, pop by and get yourself a pastry next door!

“Car,” another piece by Millerson is currently on display in “Fiberart International 2010″ at the Society for Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh and will be traveling to Rochester, NY and San Francisco, CA in 2011. 

www.doriemillerson.com

Stockings 2007, copper 2' x 8"

Based in Toronto, Lynn Jackson is an artist whose work explores themes of emotional and physical displacement.

Visit her WEBSITE

Dorie Millerson, Bridge, 2006. Needlepoint lace, cotton. Photo courtesy the artist.

This exhibition will showcase fibre art created by eight artists from central and eastern Canada (Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island) who work with time consuming and highly involved textile techniques and processes. Inlay and ikat weaving, papermaking, rug hooking, embroidery, needle lace, hand-dyeing, screen printing and bead weaving will be highlighted and draw attention to labour intensive, time-based work as an integral part of the artists’ practice.

Exhibitiong artists: Hélène Brousseau, J. Penney Burton, Joanna Close, Margaret Forsey, Misha Gingerich, Rilla Marshall, Dorie Millerson, Natasha St. Michael

Curated by J. Penney Burton

Runs 23 January – 04 April 10

Harbourfront Centre, York Quay Centre, 235 Queens Quay West

For more information CLICK HERE ]]> http://mackenziefrere.com/artclothtext/2010/01/19/laborious-at-harbourfront-centre/feed/ 0 http://mackenziefrere.com/artclothtext/2009/12/31/allyson-mitchell-ladies-sasquatch/ http://mackenziefrere.com/artclothtext/2009/12/31/allyson-mitchell-ladies-sasquatch/#comments Thu, 31 Dec 2009 18:01:35 +0000 artclothtext http://mackenziefrere.com/artclothtext/?p=696

Allyson Mitchell’s newest installation presents an epic gathering of figures, each one a monumental symbol of female brains, brawn and sexuality-a community of Lady Sasquatchs. The free standing, sculptural works by this Toronto-based artist marry feminist theory with her favourite material, fun fur. This curatorial project presents the artist’s realignment of feminine representation in which she symbolizes the mythical feminine as something not easily captured or domesticated, or harnessed to sell, yet undeniably powerful and attractive. Organized and circulated by the McMaster Museum of Art. Curator: Carla Garnet.

Join the Gallery for an artist talk with Allyson Mitchell on March 6 at 7 pm

Knitting Sprawl is a cross-country art project exploring knitting, suburbia and community in Canada.  It is a large-scale collaboration that includes many components, including knitting, video, photography, and performance.  The work grows out of the series of organized meetings or “knit-togethers” that the artist attended with groups of people who knit in suburban communities across Canada, including Peterborough.  As the participants spend time with the artist and knit they have conversations about what life is like in their community, with a particular focus on the question: What is the center of our community? Through its multi-media approach and broad participation, Knitting Sprawl becomes a metaphor for the boundary-less, sprawling nature of our contemporary suburbs.

Masterworks Southwest is a juried exhibition of contemporary craft that will travel to various locations within southwestern Ontario between March-October, 2010.  The show will include all craft mediums from makers across the region. This call is open to all makers in southwestern Ontario residing in postal codes that begin with N, L0S, L0R including the urban centres of St.Catharines, Niagara, and Welland.  If you have created an outstanding piece of work in any craft media (clay, metal, fibre, glass, wood, stone, etc.) within the last two years, we urge you to apply.  The exhibition will travel to 5 galleries including Tom Thomson Art Gallery (Owen Sound), Art Gallery of Windsor and Jonathon Bancroft-Snell Gallery (London).

Application: http://craft.on.ca/OCC_News/Southwest_Update#Call_for_Entry

Deadline: Friday, January 15 at 5pm

Application Fee: $10 for OCC members, $15 for non-members

Jurors: Lois Betteridge, Christian Bernard Singer and Rhona Wenger

Artists Fees: Each participating artist will receive $200 following the exhibition

Battleground: War Rugs from Afghanistan, curated by Max Allen is currently at the Confederation Centre for the Arts in Prince Edward Island until January 24, 2010. The exhibition is being circulated by the Textile Museum of Canada.

Find more information and read the curatorial essay HERE.

Benson Avenue Collective is delighted to invite you to the opening reception of the OutOffSide group exhibition, curated by Uros Jelic.  A reception will take place at 7pm on Saturday the 7^th of November 2009 at the Artscape Wychwood Barns Gallery, featuring Lynne Heller’s performance “Dancing With Myself”, a mixed reality exploration, attempting to confuse and subvert the boundaries betwee the online virtual world, “Second Life” and reality.

OutOffSide exhibition is showcasing works of 12 artists, each working with different media, highly individual and experimental, escaping contemporary art classification, exploring new ways to use old media or inventing new ways of expression.

For more information contact Uros Jelic at bensonavenuecollective@gmail.com

Participating artists are:

David Brown, Pierre Bouchard, Batya Cavens, David Cumming, Scott Garant, Mahla Ghasempour, Neil Harrison, Lynne Heller, Nancy Price, Sylvia Ptak, Zahide Tulugglu-Ugur, and  Jennifer Wardle