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Art >>
Best proud Canadian artist, eh?
Andrew Harwood Andrew Harwood takes Canadian icons – Expo 67, the Canadian rail system, Pierre Berton – and infuses them with a queer perspective. Since Canada's in the process of coming to terms with its homosexuality, his work is very current, and very good. And his artistic talent is largely overlooked, which is also a Canadian thing.
Most shocking performance artist
Mel Lastman Performance art, though still able to cause discomfort in the general population, no longer seems to have the ability to make 'em cringe like it used to. Fortunately, Mel does. With such unforgettable performances as his gleeful cross-city moose humping or his posing of deep metaphysical questions like "Who is this W.H.O.?" on American television, Mel has managed to freak us all right out. Even poo art is less shocking.
Best death gallery
Gallery Death
There's really only one possible winner here; no gallery can hope to beat Death in the morbidity department. At odds with its name, the intermittent art space has housed some on-the-edge art and music programming, including a painting show featuring, among others, young talents Ted Tucker , Nathan James and Derek Mainella . It follows that after Art System 's destruction, there is Death.
Best aborted gallery relocation
Greener Pastures 1188 Queen West, 416-997-7400 It seems almost every gallery is moving these days, heeding the siren call of the Distillery District or searching for lower rent elsewhere. Start-up gallery Greener Pastures intended to move further west in search of, well, greener pastures. But it turns out the grass isn't greener near Shaw, so the gallery remains in a great space that's segmented like an ant. It continues as the avant-garde of the Queen West gallery district, defending the Western Front with good painting.
Virus Arts (Panic Now) This is an unfortunate category in which we could just as easily be eulogizing SPIN . However, Virus Arts soared so high so fast that its fall was all the more spectacular. It was a commercial gallery that organized exciting but very uncommercial shows. After a series of fabulous but difficult exhibitions, it was time to panic, and then the door closed for good. The virus was terminal.
Smartest artist
Vid Ingelevics There are a lot of high-minded artists walking around in their smart pants in Toronto, but the truly engaging artists reside somewhere between the mountain of big words and the valley of one-liners. A savvy student of philosophy and history, photographer Vid Ingelevics is an intelligent commentator who recognizes that it's better to be quietly thoughtful than boastfully clever.
Best thing for art in T.O.
Kim "Akimbo" Fullerton The problem with art is that when it's presented to the public, it's often wrapped in sandpaper with a card containing offensively big words. Kim Fullerton
, through her innovative
Akimbo e-mail art news service (www.akimbo.biz, e-mail akimbo@ca.inter. net) and more recently with her promotions efforts, is making a real effort to make art accessible in Toronto. That's good for everyone.
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