Commotion weighs in on the Eras Tour.
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Hi, Art!

Sunday, November 17, 2024

Hi, Art!

Sunday, November 17, 2024

Hi, art lovers!

 
A woman wearing a blue one piece outfit sings into a microphone. Behind her is billowing blue and pink fabric.

(Evan Mitsui/CBC News)

 
What happens when the Eras Tour comes to town? I work less than a 10-minute walk from the current epicentre of Swiftie fandom — home of the world’s largest artist-made friendship bracelet (unless someone tells me otherwise). And as of writing, the biggest difference about living in Toronto (Taylor’s Version) is this: suddenly, everyone in the city has a hot take on all the hype.

Friday morning, hours after Swift opened her sold-out mini-residency at the Rogers Centre, Commotion entered the chat. On the podcast, the show’s pop culture panel weighed in on how the production is having an impact on the city. It’s a long conversation — more than 40 minutes of Swift-inspired debate — and you can hear it all here. CBC News was at the show and has a review of the concert, plus more reporting — and photos — from the scene. For those simply befuddled by the excitement, there’s also this: an explainer on Swiftmania. The superstar gave three performances this weekend and she returns to the Rogers Centre Nov. 21 to 23 for another round of sold-out shows before the Eras Tour concludes in Vancouver next month.
 

Because we promised you eye candy ...

 
Oil painting. Domestic interior. A bedroom with pink decor with a view to an open window dressed in dramatic pink curtains. The view outside is green and lush.

Sophia Lapres

Toronto-based artist Sophia Lapres closed a show (Mixed Blessings) at Towards gallery yesterday, and I think I must have subconsciously saved this image for today’s batch of eye candy. Per the exhibition text, Sophia’s work “contends with the dystopic present through romance and optimism.” I’m not a Swiftie — I haven’t logged the necessary streaming hours, for one. But that description sure aligns with how I think of the pop star’s brand.
 
Painting of four young women wearing cowboy hats. The picture is painted in shades of violet.

Holly MacKinnon

Cowgirls by Montreal’s Holly MacKinnon.
 
Painting of two women in profile with their mouths open, as if screeching. Painted in a realistic style, but somewhat blurred and sparkling, as if seen in memory.

Jen DeLuna

To Bare Teeth by Jen DeLuna.
 
Installation view of a wall-mounted artwork suggeting giant absracted beaded friendship bracelets. They are installed to be raised from a bubblegum pink wall.

Julie Alpert

Inspiration for anyone swapping friendship bracelets outside the Rogers Centre: an installation by American artist Julie Alpert (as seen at a 2022 exhibition in Tulsa, Okla.).
 
Figurative painting in a naive style. A male figure, blonde, lies luxuriously in bed. A vase of red flowers rests on the bedside table.

Claire Milbrath

Tulip Bed by Claire Milbrath. It’s inspired by Sylvia Plath, not Taylor Swift, but it’s serving The Tortured Poets Department all the same.
 
Installation view of art on a white gallery wall.It is a realistic painting of cream coloured luxurious fabric, folded and embellished to suggest an old-fashioned fancy dress. A large bow, made of deep green satin, hangs from the top of the painting and is so large that the ends of the bow drip the length of the canvas. The fabric is embellished with beads.

Grace Kalyta

Entertainment and Youth by Grace Kalyta.
 
 

You've got to see this

 
 
 
Film still from Red Rooms. At centre, a woman with long dark hair wears all black and a crucifix.
Entract Films

This crime thriller from Quebec is a global hit

 
So why isn’t English Canada swept up in the hype? Loved by critics and horror fans, Red Rooms heralds a new era of Québécois cinema.
 
Detail of a drawing by Allie Gattor. Ink and watercolour picture of a frowning woman crouched over a toilet bowl.
Allie Gattor

Gothic fairy-tale art about the strange and terrifying experience of becoming a mom

 
You don’t have to have kids. Anyone can appreciate Allie Gattor’s twisted humour. Nesting, her new solo exhibition, is on now in Montreal.
 
Still from interview on Here & Queer. A smiling Asian man in a black leather jacket and yellow T-shirt is photographed in medium closeup on a dark stage.

CBC Arts

 

Here & Queer with Joel Kim Booster

 
From Fire Island and Loot to his new standup tour, the comedian is on a roll.
 

Follow this artist

 
 
 
Instagram

Jason Loo

@jasonloomakescomics
Top down photo of a hand-drawn comic book cover. Illustration, drawn in ink and marker, is a blonde female singer in a silver unitard screaming into a microphone against a pink, orange and yellow starburst. A grey sharpie rests next to the comic.

Jason Loo

Welcome to the mutant era? Jason’s latest project for Marvel Comics is a series about Dazzler, a hero who turns down the X-Men to make it as a pop star. As the Toronto artist told us last week, he spent hours studying music by acts including Dua Lipa, Sabrina Carpenter — and yes, Taylor Swift — while working on the comic.
 

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

 
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