 Hi, art lovers! | | |  | Universal Pictures | | | Based on a true story — this true story — Cocaine Bear is the only new movie I care about this weekend. And if you, like me, have been too busy Googling the effects of four grams of blow on an average female black bear — and whether it’d help her win a scrap with a Jurassic Park raptor (find that CBC Arts column below) — I can’t imagine you noticed this news zip by on Wednesday: the Canadian Screen Awards will return to CBC April 16, and the nominations have now been revealed.
There are a few changes in store for this year’s show: the broadcast is being pre-taped (to some actors’ chagrin), and for the first time, performance categories will be gender-neutral. And for those seeking additional viewing options this weekend (because we’re all seeing Cocaine Bear, right?), you’ll find loads of nominated shows on CBC Gem including Sort Of (the 2022 CSA winner for best comedy series) and The Porter (this year’s front-runner with 19 nods).
Around this time last year, actually, Amanda Parris was raving about The Porter in her CBC Arts column. Amanda is up for a bunch of CSAs herself as the creator of the CBC Gem series Revenge of the Black Best Friend. (That show scored nine nominations in the web program categories.) Add it to your queue along with more arts-adjacent fare that’s now officially CSA-nominated: Lido TV, Race Against the Tide, Best in Miniature, Doug and the Slugs and Me (previously covered here) and Crystal Pite: Angels’ Atlas. | | | | | And because we promised you eye candy ... | | | | |  | Tim Whiten | | As announced by the Art Gallery of Ontario this past week, Tim Whiten is the winner of the Gershon Iskowitz Prize, a $75,000 award that recognizes “an artist who has made an outstanding contribution to visual arts in Canada.” As the recipient, he will also present an exhibition at the AGO (dates and other details TBA). In the meantime, folks in Ontario can find his work right now at the Art Gallery of Peterborough, where he’s presenting a show called Elemental: Earthen. | | | | |  | Elisabeth Perrault | | An eerie and intriguing peek at Dancing With Her Ghost, an installation by Elisabeth Perrault that’s currently up at Pangée in Montreal. | | | | |  | Natasha Lavdovsky | | If you’ve been in Victoria recently, you might have seen this photo by Natasha Lavdovsky displayed downtown. (She’s part of the city’s Art in Kiosks program.) The image captures an “ecological intervention” of hers, and if you were a fan of our video series, Natural Collaborators, definitely take a peek at her portfolio. | | | | |  | Matt Donovan | | Lego artist Matt Donovan has an exhibition at Olga Korper Gallery in Toronto, which is worth mentioning for the dad-jokey title alone: I can see for tiles and tiles. | | | | |  | Universal Pictures | | | | | Anne T. Donahue isn’t planning to see Cocaine Bear. She’d rather watch its ursine hero fight these five animal movie stars. | | | | |  | Historica Canada | | | | | Back in the ‘60s, soul singer Jackie Shane was a fixture in Toronto’s music scene. Today, she’s the subject of a new Heritage Minute. (Watch it here.) We got the story of how it was made from filmmakers Pat Mills and Ayo Tsalithaba. | | | | |  | Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre/Photo by Dylan Hewlett | | | | | | | The show? Trouble in Mind. Its author? Alice Childress, a Black artist whose work is now in high demand. Carly Maga explores the renewed interest in a groundbreaking playwright. | | |  | Meryl McMaster | | Beyond Instagram, you can find this particular image (On the Edge of This Immensity) at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection. It’s appearing there as part of Meryl’s must-see survey exhibition, Bloodline. (More on that here.) | | | | | Share this newsletter | | or subscribe if this was
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I’m Leah Collins, senior writer at CBC Arts. Until next time! | | | | | |
