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Hi, Art!

Sunday, January 29, 2023

Hi, Art!

Sunday, January 29, 2023

Hi, art lovers!

 
Still from an animated film, How to Lose Everything. Line drawings of flowers and a female figure on a white backdrop.

Still from How to Lose Everything. (CBC Arts)

 
How to Lose Everything premiered on CBC Arts this past Friday. The series, created by frequent CBC contributor Christa Couture, is a collection of animated shorts that capture personal stories of grief. It’s a subject Christa’s explored throughout her career, first as a singer-songwriter, and later as an author. Her memoir of the same name was all about “life, loss and lessons learned” (to quote CBC’s The Next Chapter, who interviewed Christa back in 2020), and in fact, her book serves as a springboard for the program. 

Episode 1 pulls directly from Christa’s memoir — something she writes about in this introduction to the series. The short film is a field guide to loss, and was co-directed by animator bekky O'Neil. As Christa writes in her essay, "[The film's] narration ends with an invitation: tell me about what you lost — the person, place, potential — and I will remember for you. After so many people had received my story, I wanted to offer the same."

An acclaimed group of writers, animators, directors and composers answered the call; the series credits include artists Chief Lady Bird, Cris Derksen and Terril Calder. All of the show’s storytellers are Indigenous (Christa herself is of mixed Cree and Scandinavian heritage), and the films can be streamed in English, French and the Indigenous language of its writer. “The experience of creating this new work ended up deeply inspiring me,” writes Christa. Read more about the show’s journey to the screen, and watch How to Lose Everything on CBC Gem.
 

And because we promised you eye candy ...

 
Photo of yellow, white and magenta flowers installed on a white shelf on a white wall.

Kapwani Kiwanga/Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid

Kapwani Kiwanga will rep Canada at the next Venice Biennale! The news was announced by the National Gallery of Canada last week, and though the event is still more than a year away, Toronto will have the chance to see new work from Kapwani a whole lot earlier than 2024. She opens a survey show (her first in Canada!) at MOCA Toronto Feb. 24. Pictured above is Flowers for Africa: Uganda. (The Hamilton-born artist presented it at MOCA in 2021.)
 
Photo of an abstract still life painting in shades of tangerine, aqua, burgundy, cerulean and yellow.

Holly Coulis

Sun Shift, an exhibition of new work by painter Holly Coulis, is at Cooper Cole in Toronto through March 11.
 
Photo taken from above. A young woman whose face and shoulders are visible, lies on dirt ground, perhaps near an extinguished campfire. Her face and shoulders are painted white and charcoal. A large bird, like a crow or raven with feathhers painted blue, white and red, pecks at her ear. Her eyes are closed, and one of her hands rests on her cheek. Dry think branches lie beneath her head, extending to the far reaches of the composition.

Meryl McMaster

Do You Remember Your Dreams by Meryl McMaster (seen here), who opens a survey exhibition at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection Feb. 4. (The show will appear at the Remai Modern in Saskatoon later this year.)
 
Photo of a woven textile portrait of pop star Shania Twain, rendered in purple threads of various shades. The portrait rests on a multicoloured rag rug.

Kate Moran

That DOES impress me much! Kate Moran created this free-form crochet portrait of Shania Twain, and you can find more tributes to Canadian musicians on her Instagram.
 
Photo of a gouache painting hanging on a white wall. Bottom of the composition is a black and white chess board with pieces. A grey drink can and a wine glass filled with blood red fluid also appear against the board. A second wine glass appears to be knocked over. Nothing spills out. The top half of the composition is a landscape of the shore, rendered in shades of grey. The silhouette of Nosferatu, as in the silent film, creeps in the right hand side of the landscape, as if going up stairs (a railing is visible). Three bat silhouettes flap above him toward a round yellow moon. At the left of the landscape is an illustration of an aqua coloured beach radio. Cartoon music notes emanate from it.

Philip Leonard Ocampo

Gallivanter might just be my new favourite word … and it’s also the name of Philip Leonard Ocampo’s new solo exhibition at Zalucky Contemporary in Toronto. This painting’s from the show, and it’s got a LOL-worthy title too: Nosferatu Beach Party.
 
 

You've got to see this

 
 
 
Press photo of actors Amaka Umeh and Deborah Hay, two women in white nightgowns, standing in front of a greenish landscape backdrop.
Lorne Bridgman/Canadian Stage

Ann-Marie MacDonald’s Fall On Your Knees is now an epic 6-hour play

 
You read that right: six whole hours. The show is on now in Toronto and it will travel to three more Canadian cities this year.
 
Film still of Michelle Yeoh in Everything Everywhere All At Once. A woman of Chinese descent, she is shot in medium closeup wearing a bob haircut with bangs and a taupe long-sleeved top. She stretches a hand in front of her. Her fingers appear to be hot dogs.
A24

The Oscar nominations: snubs and surprises

 
Not sure what to make of this year’s Oscar race? Here’s your guide.
 
3D digital render of a gold dodecahedron floating above still dark water.

Javid Jah

 

Wish you could set fire to the last 3 years?

 
Toronto is marking the third anniversary of the pandemic with a big flaming art installation at Nathan Phillips Square.
 

Follow this artist

 
 
 
Instagram

Eve Tagny

@eve.t_eve.t
Photo of a room. White rolls of paper hang from the ceiling, covering the walls and spilling onto the light-wood floor. A single framed image in black and white is hung at the centre of the far wall. Rows of high-backed wooden chairs are arranged in rows at the centre of the room.

Eve Tagny

On Instagram, Eve offered this peek inside her exhibition, Funeral Garden. The show, which closed this weekend, transformed a Montreal gallery into a space to mourn victims of police violence. (We covered it earlier this month.)
 

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I’m Leah Collins, senior writer at CBC Arts. Until next time!

 
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