Flavio Trevisan: Museum of the Represented City

The Koffler Gallery just opened its latest off-site exhibition at 80 Spadina. Flavio Trevisan: Museum of the Represented City opened on Thursday, January 19 with a packed reception of over 250 people.

Flavio has created a complete museum experience within the gallery space – including a gift shop, a curator’s office and a handy museum guide. But it’s his cartographic sculptures that really steal the show. Both large and small painted 3D maps hand-made from millboard, drywall and/or plywood of Toronto’s built urban environment, including its neighbourhoods, the PATH system, dead-end streets and more. They are fascinating, complex and beautiful – I found myself tracing places I knew on the maps, parks I had visited, apartments and neighborhoods I’ve lived in over my years in Toronto.

Flavio’s maps re-imagine the city as a collection of places successively shaped by and reshaping public ideals – he references the complex geographical, social and political histories that have influenced Toronto’s development over the past century.

He’s got a great sense of humour too. Within the gift shop you can find the board game, The Game of Urban Renewal (Special Regent Park Edition), featuring moveable building pieces and player cards telling players to “Assess the environmental impact of a new playground” and more. Game instructions include: “You can demolish a failed urban experiment and start again from the ground up. With no budget problems and no political agendas to cloud your vision, you can build bigger and better than any city’s done before” and “The game never ends. Continue playing until all players have left the game in pursuit of other interests.”

I won’t give anymore away – part of the joy of the experience is discovering the sculptures and maps as you are guided through the museum, from its opening photographs, to a peak out the gallery windows at a downtown skyline filled with cranes and new buildings, through the gift shop at the end with its cheeky multiples and hand-painted t-shirts.

Visit the Museum of the Represented City today and spend the afternoon exploring Toronto and its urban environment, shared histories and collective expectations.

Flavio Trevisan: Museum of the Represented City
Koffler Gallery Off-Site at 80 Spadina, Suite 501
Wednesday to Sunday, 12-6 PM
http://www.kofflerarts.org/

For more info on Flavio Trevisan: http://flaviotrevisan.com/

WINTER CLASSES AT THE KOFFLER

Winter Courses at the Koffler (Visual Art, Music and Dance)

Starting in January, Koffler is offering a new session of classes for adults and kids.
New students to the Koffler will receive 15% off course fees!

The courses that are currently being offered:

Monday
Painting in Acrylics Fundamentals
Creative Studio: Open Media
Expressive Figure Painting
Ceramics (Scupture and Wheel Throwing)
Pottery for Kids (6+)
Israeli Dancing

Tuesday
Portrait Painting
Acrylic Painting (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced)
Sumi-E (Japanese Brushstoke Painting)
Ceramics (Scupture and Wheel Throwing)
Pastel Painting Folk Dancing
Salsa

Wednesday
Contemporary Independent Painting
Ceramics (Scupture and Wheel Throwing)
International Dancing
Digital Photography

Thursday
Experimental Life Drawing
Mixed Media Experimental Painting
Ceramics (Scupture and Wheel Throwing)

Friday
Open Studio (with and without model)

Saturday
Painting and Drawing for Young Artists (8-15 years)
Family Art (all ages)
Family Pottery (all ages)
Sewing for Kids (8-15 years)
Life Drawing

Sunday
Made with Nature (4-7 years)
Painting and Drawing for Young Artists (8-15 years)
Comics/Cartooning/Illustration (8-15 years)
Pottery for Kids (ages 6+)
Family Art (all ages)
Family Pottery (all ages)
Art Explorers (8-15 yrs)
Nirkoda Dancing

In addition, we have ongoing music lessons in piano, guitar, drums and percussion, violin, Suzuki violin, viola, cello, clarinet and flute.


Check out http://www.kofflerarts.org/ for a full class desciption and/or feel free to contact: Alexandra Sipos-Kocsis 416.638.1881 x.4269 or akocsis@kofflerarts.org
for more information.

The Koffler confirms new downtown home!

BIG things have been happening at the Koffler lately. Our fall classes are in full swing, the Koffler Gallery is open at 80 Spadina (see previous posts here and here for details) and we are eagerly anticipating two fabulous events at the Art Gallery of Ontario in November and December (this one and this one), programmed together with the AGO alongside their amazing Chagall and the Russian avant-garde exhibition.

As if this isn’t enough, last week we announced that the Koffler is officially expanding downtown to Artscape YOUNGplace! Artscape is turning the old Shaw Street School (an already familiar building to those in the art community – Mercer Union held its 2006 Stellar Living fundraiser there) into a 75,000 sq. ft. arts and cultural centre. Located at 180 Shaw Street (just north of Queen Street West), the building is steps from Trinity-Bellwoods Park, and the galleries and restaurants of the West Queen West neighborhood and Ossington strip.

So – what’s the scoop? It means that the Koffler Centre of the Arts will be in several places all at the same time! We are truly going to be GTA-wide with our programs (name another arts org that can claim that!) The Koffler Gallery will be based out of Artscape YOUNGplace for at least 5 years while we wait for our new 40,000 sq. ft. centre to be built on Sherman Campus. The Gallery will have a gorgeous, custom designed space for its four contemporary art exhibitions a year, plus all the affiliated programs that go along with our exhibitions. Our admin offices will also based out of the Artscape building. All our classes in visual art, music, ceramics, literature, theatre and dance will continue at the Prosserman JCC at Bathurst and Sheppard. PLUS, we’ll be launching new classes and programs at the new northern Lebovic Campus. PLUS PLUS, we’ll continue to do other Koffler events and programs all over the city.

Artscape YOUNGplace (named so because of a very generous gift from the Michael Young Family Foundation – the same name behind the Young Centre for the Performing Arts in the Distillery District) will be home to a diverse mix of creators working in a variety of disciplines, as well as arts, community and social mission organizations. Joining the Koffler will be the Centre for Indigenous Theatre, Inter-Galactic Arts Co-op, Paperhouse Studio, Red Pepper Spectacle Arts, SKETCH, Small World Music Society, York Wilson Foundation for the Visual Arts, and artists Barbara Astman, Eve Egoyan, Gerard Gauci, Sybil Goldstein and Vid Ingelevics. Artscape is also moving its offices into the building on the 3rd floor.

The official groundbreaking was last week – see pics from the event here and a short video embedded below. Artscape YOUNGplace is scheduled to open in fall 2012 - the Koffler Gallery will open its inaugural exhibition in the new space in early 2013. We’ll keep you posted on all the details as we move closer to the date.

ArtSync features the Koffler Gallery's Spin Off exhibition!

ArtSync showed up at the Spin Off opening last week with a camera crew, did a little filming of the exhibition and spoke with Edmonton-based artist Gary James Joynes about his amazing sound and video installation Ouroboros, one of the highlights of the exhibition:

Check out the video here - Spin Off is at the 6:35 mark.

Spin Off opens TONIGHT!

Join us TONIGHT from 7 to 9 PM as the Koffler Gallery opens its latest off-site exhibition Spin Off: Contemporary Art Circling the Mandala – at 80 Spadina, Suite 501. It’s a multimedia exhibition where the everyday is sacred, the ancient is contemporary, and the art is meditative. Six artists of different backgrounds present a new spin on the centuries-old motif from Hindu and Buddhist tradition, the mandala. Featuring:

Aya Ben Ron (Israel):

Mircea Cantor (France/Romania):

Vandana Jain (USA):

Gary James Joynes/Clinker (Canada):

Melissa Shiff (Canada):

Jennifer Zackin (USA):

OPENING WEEKEND EVENTS

Opening Reception
Thursday, September 22, 7 – 9 PM | Curator Talk at 7:30 PM | FREE

Re-Making Mandalas: Guided tour of Spin Off and digital artmaking workshop
Sunday, September 25, 10 AM – 4 PM
$130 + materials
Toronto School of Art, 410 Adelaide St. W., 3rd floor
Registration required: tsa-art.ca

After a special guided tour of Spin Off, participate in a day-long workshop including art-making as well as conversations with local spiritual leaders. Using different media, the workshops will centre around the creation of new mandalas in an urban environment.

On the Other Side...
Live Cinema with Gary James Joynes/Clinker
Sunday, September 25, 7:30 PM
$12 at the door | FREE for Koffler Envision Members
Toronto Underground Cinema, 186 Spadina Ave.

In this multimedia performance, Joynes/Clinker mixes sound and visuals live on stage to create a multi-sensory environment. Originally commissioned by the International Leonard Cohen Festival, On the Other Side... explores Cohen’s continued romance with the light and dark inside our human experience by appropriating Cohen’s words and bass voice as a departure point into a deep listening audio-visual experience.

Full program details are here.

See you tonight!


(Images from top: AYA BEN RON, Blister, 2002; MIRCEA CANTOR, Holy Flowers XII, 2010; VANDANA JAIN, Mandala: Agilent – Cisco, 2011; GARY JAMES JOYNES/CLINKER, Ouroboros, 2011; MELISSA SHIFF, JAMS: Jewish Animated Mandala Series, 2008; JENNIFER ZACKIN, Hanaqpacha Intiq Sombran, 2004.)

New Fall/Winter/Spring Season Announced!

We are super excited at the Koffler this week – we’ve officially announced & launched our new season!

Our 2011-12 Program + Classes Guide is hot off the presses…. swing by and pick up a copy, or keep your eyes on your mailbox. You can also download a digital version on our website here. This is the guide to keep and refer to all year long – it comprises the full range of our off-site exhibitions, literary, music, dance and visual arts programs and classes. As always, full details on all of our classes and programs are on our website at www.kofflerarts.org.

The 2011-12 Fall/Winter Spring season is packed full of exciting programs, events and classes all over the city and at our home base on the Sherman Campus. A big change this new season is that the Toronto Jewish Book Fair – which is entering its 36th year – has been moved from its usual October time slot to June 2012 and has been renamed the 1st Annual Toronto Jewish Book Festival. The Festival, from June 4 to June 7, 2012, will now be downtown at the Bram and Bluma Appel Salon (Toronto Reference Library) and will include the same great author talks and programs and hundreds of books for sale as other years. The Festival will culminate in the Helen and Stan Vine Canadian Jewish Book Awards on June 7, 2012.

Other highlights this season:

Spin Off: Contemporary Art Circling the Mandala, September 22 to December 4, 2010 – A multimedia exhibition featuring six artists that meld mysticism and popular culture, offering alternative portals to escape the world of the everyday. With Aya Ben Ron (Israel), Mircea Cantor (France/Romania), Vandana Jain (USA), Gary James Joynes/Clinker (Canada), Melissa Shiff (Canada), Jennifer Zackin (USA). Koffler Gallery Off-Site at 80 Spadina Ave., Suite 501.

The Koffler @ IFOA, October 23, 2011 – one full day of author talks focused on Russian-Jewish stories presented by the Koffler at the International Festival of Authors at Harbourfront Centre. Authors include Gary Shteyngart, David Bezmozgis, Irwin Cotler, Gal Beckerman and Michal Govrin.

Yair Dalal and Frank London, March 28, 2012 – the world premiere of international music greats Yair Dalal and Frank London together, playing a one night concert featuring Middle Eastern/Eastern European music with guest musicians at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Performing Arts.

Adi Nes, April 26 to June 2, 2012 – the first major Canadian survey of Adi Nes, the acclaimed (and often controversial) Israeli photographer who interprets Biblical, mythological and literary subjects while exploring notions of masculinity, sexual and cultural identity.

Plus, we’ve partnered with the Art Gallery of Ontario for their major fall exhibition on Chagall and the Russian avant-garde. Past Present, on December 14, is an evening of music, dance, performance, spoken word and more with Toronto’s brightest avant-garde artists; and the Koffler Chamber Orchestra opens its season on November 20 with Chagall’s Musical World in Walker Court at the AGO.

Hope to see you out at Koffler events this new season!

[Images from top: Gary James Joynes/Clinker, Ouroboros 4.06 kHz, 2011; Gary Shteyngart; Yair Dalal and Frank London; Adi Nes, Untitled (soldiers in water), 1999. Courtesy of Jack Shainman Gallery; Adi Nes, The Last Supper.]

Summer vacation!

The kofflerblog will be taking a much needed summer vacation - we will not be posting regularly in July and August (but might sneak one in from time to time). We'll be back this fall when we kick off our new season with regular posts, features, insider info on our programs, rants, praises, pics, blurbs, recommendations, community events and special offers for kofflerblog followers!

Have a wonderful summer!!
The Koffler bloggers