January 2024 – Fly On The Gallery Wall

FLY has visited Gallery 1313 (located at 1313 Queen St West just a few blocks past Dufferin) many times and loves buzzing around their different showrooms, admiring contemporary multi-disciplinary art at it’s best.

Established in 1998, Gallery 1313 is a not-for-profit, charitable artist-run centre located in the Parkdale neighbourhood of downtown Toronto. The gallery exhibits local, national and international contemporary art offering four unique exhibition spaces that house over 70 exhibitions and many cultural events each year. Gallery 1313 supports emerging artists with professional development and career building opportunities, offers members a welcoming space to connect with colleagues, develop their practice, and contribute to the operations of the gallery, and engages the public with contemporary art exhibitions and cultural events through community outreach.

Gallery 1313 maintains accessibility to exhibition opportunities for artists at any stage in their career and working in any media or discipline including drawing, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, video, new media, installation and performance. The space is particularly suited to emerging artists and artist groups looking to gain exhibition experience and host their own exhibitions, and offers professional exhibition mentorship and support including promotion and installation assistance. Starting the new year off with a couple of amazing shows, Gallery 1313 is a must-visit venue for art lovers and artists. FLY recently spoke with Executive Director and curator Phil Anderson…

Have gallery visitors started to come back in full force now that Covid appears to be in our rearview mirrors? Visitors to the gallery welcome the opportunity to engage with art in a gallery setting after being confined to their digital screens during Covid. People are thrilled to be able to talk with artists about their art process and artists are excited to have receptions where they can mingle with visitors and other artists…the social interaction they missed during lockdown & isolation. Art also has become a welcome distraction to the weary news of war, climate change and a sagging economy. Occasionally art addresses those important issues and helps contribute to healthy dialogue about issues of the day.

What does 2024 hold for Gallery 1313 shows and artists – any unique shows or guest artists we can look forward to viewing? We have over 70 exhibitions a year so there is usually some work that visitors are attracted to and can identify with. We have 3 exhibition spaces plus a window gallery so a visitor may come for one specific exhibition and gets to see other shows. We’re somewhat unpredictable if you just happen to pop in, an endearing feature for some.Here are just a few of the upcoming shows…..

VASA presents BY A THREAD, a group exhibition
January 31- February 11. Reception Feb. 8^th 6:30pm
The Visual Arts Student Association (VASA) at York University is a student-run organization that represents the interests of visual arts students. They organize events, workshops, and exhibitions to promote the work of visual arts students and provide opportunities for students to connect with each other and the wider community. Artists include Andrew Atanasoff, Anoushak Anvar McCall, Angelina Cascio, Aman Gebrekidan, Brian Ginther, Chloe Acosta, Colin Arthurs, Danielle Alexander, Emily Horton, Grace Dixon, Hall Skelton-Dyck, Joely Sosnovich-Raphael, Kayla Cowan, Kile Brindley-Reid, Lishya Liu, Malika Sharma,Marissa Watson, Mihn Phuong Le, Nathan Dennis,Nadia Feller, Olivia LaFoy, Olivia Martin,Robyn Percy, Sara Bursey, Sam McLeish, Shin Tousi, Sonia Esmaeillou, Summer Ansari, Tamara Madramuthu and Vanessa Akinwumi.
ART & MUSIC by Sanghoon Kang presented by Cell Gallery & Gallery 1313
January 31 – February 11. Reception Feb.8^th 6:30pm
My art practice is inspired by Goethe’s words, “…architecture is frozen music” and my aim is to demonstrate my belief that architecture must evolve into something that, with its form, satisfies a spiritual thinking and into an artistic as well as cultural container – embracing human life.
Music notes move and I want to capture their sounds and movements onto canvas, frozen in a free form. They are created by the communication between all kinds of musical instruments, and they are related to each other within the fundamental principle of music from which would be formed various ‘imageries of music’.
Using geometry, I try to draw them up as if I complete architectural plans, provided that the establishment of architectural concepts could share common ideas with the composition of music, and at the same time, wishing that those who love music and art have all sorts of beautiful imagination. Sanghoon KangProcess Gallery: The Parkdale International Art Fair (continuing)
More artists exhibit their works in this curated exhibition of curated contemporary art. Participating artists include David McKevy, Kristen Stephen, Elaine Lauzon, Diane Sullivan, Patrick Stieber and others.

Gallery Hours: Wed- Sat 1-5pm and Sundays 1-4pm

Follow the gallery on social media: www.instagram.com/gallery1313/ or visit the website: www.gallery1313.org

Thanks, Phil, FLY will see you soon….

FLY was saddened to learn of the impending closure of one of Toronto’s finest indie art galleries, BLUE CROW GALLERY, that is, until the announcement came that they had secured a new location in the same neighbourhood, and the move and re-opening will take place in the spring…yaaay!! FLY reached out to gallery owner, JODI WHEELER, and asked her to fill us in on the exciting new adventures for her gallery….

Jodi, Blue Crow is in the middle of a big move to a new location. What caused this move? Sadly, we are having to move after our current landlord told us they would be raising our rent nearly double the rent we were paying and it was just not going to be feasible. We tried to negotiate and they were not willing to budge. Our options became move or close. We were lucky to find another storefront close by that would work for our gallery staying in the neighbourhood. This was vital for our art school and clients. Blue Crow has been a leading light in Toronto’s indie gallery scene for seven going on eight years – how was the gallery received by artists and art lovers when you opened? I’ve been working in Toronto with artists and in galleries for 24 years now so when I started I had lots of artist friends in the community who were extremely supportive and eager to work with me here at Blue Crow. Since opening, the gallery has been lucky to get to work with so many amazing Canadian artists. I think the artist community was excited to have a new gallery in the city carrying fun contemporary and emerging work in a space that was very inviting. Our clients love being able to come and shop for local art and crafts at affordable prices. The east end community has loved having Blue Crow in the area and it has been a wonderful addition to Gerrard St.

And how has the gallery grown over the years with artist support, classes on offer, in-home consultations, special events, etc.? Blue Crow has become “a community” and not just a set of walls on which to hang art, hasn’t it? We’ve grown so much, and the following for our gallery always fills my heart and surprises me how much we are loved by this city and beyond. What started out as a dream has been brought to reality and wow it has been a ride. Our art school started out small and now has full classes every day of the week. Our adult workshops have been a big draw for fellow artists and creatives as well as others just looking to enjoy a fun afternoon creating in the studio. Even our summer camps have really grown over the years and are now such a special part of our studio program. The art events we host are always well attended and lots of fun. Before Covid, these parties were booming and I’m sure with time this will grow again too. The joy of our gallery really does go beyond just the gorgeous art on our walls. We will try to find our footing in the new smaller space and bring a new energy to our gallery, and I’m sure it will be wonderful in a whole new way. This community has been so wonderful and their kindness and support has been overwhelming since announcing the move.Your new gallery is pretty close by so thankfully you’ll remain in the neighbourhood – can you share where the new location is, and will you still offer all the classes and workshops? Yes, of course – 1330 Gerrard St E will be our new location. We will be setting up there and fixing the space before we fully move over in April. We’ll still have all the wonderful classes, camps and workshops to offer in the new location. Registration for our summer art camps is on line now. It will be different, as change always is, but it will still be filled with the amazing art, talent and our awesome team that you have come to know and we will just bring all that joy into the new gallery.

Are you looking to increase the number of artists you showcase, and if so, how do artists submit their work for consideration? It will take us some time to find out how we fit things into the new gallery the way we like and then we will open back up to new artists. We’re going to expand our online platform, too, with more work on our website once we have the new location. Our gallery accepts artist applications for review through our website. At this time, we are busy moving and won’t be reviewing any new work until after the summer. This year, sadly, we will not be hosting our annual summer group show that features 107 Canadian artists each year. We’ll try to host it next year once we’re settled in, so keep following for that news in future. (Pictured below, the fabulous Blue Crow team….)Thanks everyone for all of your love and support and we hope you will fly down the street in the spring and check out the new nest…I mean gallery :>) Jodi Wheeler, Blue Crow Gallery

Lean more about the gallery and its artists: https://www.bluecrowgallery.com/
And follow Jodi and the team on social media: https://www.instagram.com/bluecrowgallery

So, Jodi, good luck with the move and the grand opening on Gerrard in April. FLY will be there to report on all the festivities!