Monthly Art Shows

C U R R E N T S H O w::

ilze godlevskis / ASTRO-illos
feb 12 - March 9 / 2024

ASTRO-illos

Astrology serves as a language for expressing sensations and energies related to the material world, with zodiac signs acting as categories for this vibrational information. This series of illustrations interprets and unravels the mysteries of the energetic essence of astrology, inviting viewers to experience the convergence of intuition and illustration in a visual and thought-provoking manner. The project embarks on an exploration of the energetic essence inherent in the 12 individual astrology signs. This artistic endeavor was created from instinct, meditation, and intuitive experimentation, delving into the depths of emotional energy transformed into visual representations.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Something that I know about but don’t yet understand, is what I try to express with my work. Like a dream or personal therapy to understand what is going on in my head, my art practice captures moments of my emotions and mind. Through winding forms with synchronistic colour combinations, I materialize the conscious and unconscious feelings that I absorb from people and my immediate environment. All things are connected and I use my art to visualize this.

The world is hard and I try to make it softer with my work. For me, textiles are the ‘power’ of a single fiber starting a large, voluminous creation with impact and interaction. Textiles hold a special energy that transmits feelings and intentions. I use ideas of fashion as self-expression and interiors creating ambiance, experience through fabric can manipulate and move sensations and emotions in all of us collectively.

SENSORIAL RESEARCH:

In my ongoing work regarding sensorial perception translated into tactile art, I have chosen various conceptual topics of exploration, such as femininity, astrology, relationships, and dreams. I approach these topics beginning from a point of not being clear on the meaning and influence they hold for me, as an individual, isolated from their perceived relevance or societal portrayal. These topics are ‘ethereal’ and indescribable, often dismissed by the greater public and yet well-known to all, they are viewed as beliefs with seemingly little visibility in the material world. With my work, I transform these themes into material existence to see if the perception of the audience is impacted through their connection with the art piece. Creating a tangible object from visceral perception I play with the concept of 'seeing is believing’.

BIOGRAPHY

Ilze Godlevskis is a conceptual textile artist. Creating soft sculptures, she challenges perceptions of what are art and design, and how colour and textiles integrate into contemporary life. She is of Latvian origin and first-generation Canadian. She completed her visual arts secondary education in Toronto, Canada, before moving to London, England where she graduated from Central Saint Martin's College of Art & Design with a degree in Fashion – Knitwear. After her experience in the London fashion industry, she looked to expand her artisan knowledge and knitwear craftsmanship in Milan, Italy where she apprenticed alongside a traditional Italian knitwear master for 3 years. Milan is where she currently produces her work, using traditional made-to-measure knitwear techniques creating soft sculptures for exhibition and custom design interior pieces.

Her work has been exhibited, recognized, and awarded support internationally, in both Textile & Fiber Arts and Contemporary Art arenas. Her work has blurred the lines of art and design through exhibiting during Salone del Mobile, Design Week in Milan, London Design Week, and Toronto Design Week, along with her presence at London and Copenhagen design fairs.  She has also been in group shows for contemporary textile art exhibitions such as Rīgas Textile Triennial (Rīga, Latvia) and Miniartextil (Como, Italy & Paris, France), and was nominated as an 'Emerging Artist' by FiberArts Magazine.

sudandyo aprilianto
dec 04 / 2023 - feb 11 / 2024

Masks have always been a source of fascination for me, inspiring my work in countless ways. I take pleasure in crafting whimsical faces that ignite the imagination, using nothing more than simple shapes and lines. It is genuinely remarkable how creativity can be expressed through such a seemingly ordinary object.

I am an artist from Indonesia who spent 14 years living in America before moving to Toronto, Canada, in the summer of 2023. I currently reside in the Riverdale area of Toronto, and my primary artistic pursuits include drawing and painting. I received my art training at the Indonesian Art Institute in Yogyakarta and was an active Taring Padi art collective member. While in America, I pursued further studies in art at Washtenaw Community College, where I earned an associate degree in liberal arts.

Ruggero Racca | SOLO but in good company
July 01 - July 31 / 2023

I believe we all deserve to have our work on a wall. Not a digital wall, the old fashioned kind of wall. I believe that everyone can photograph, much as chef Gusteau, of Ratatouille fame, proclaims that everyone can cook. Contrary to food critic Ego, also of Ratatouille fame, I do not believe that not everyone should cook / photograph. Photography now lives in your pocket, is accessible to all of us at all times. This show is about the democratization of photography. Everything that is on the walls is created with a plain old iPhone, no apps, no software. The leap is in having the images printed, is in giving ourselves permission to be makers of artefacts that dwell outside the digital domain. This show is an invitation to trust in your ability to capture and interpret images, your ability to give those images permanence and to have them populate our living spaces.

Sue Stanley | Pandemic Prints
May 29 - June 30 / 2023

Sue Stanley first learned linocut print-making in art classes in school but came back to playing with the process many years later as a creative outlet.  Linocut is a process of hand-carving lino (linoleum) tiles, rollering them with inks with one or more brayers and hand-printing with a baren rather than a press.  The print series are limited and by the very nature of the printing process, each print is unique and original.

During the pandemic lock-down, inspirations for the prints were influenced by the times and found their expression in designs such as      "Confined", "Everyone is Fighting a Great Battle -- Be Kind", "Wreath of Compassion" and "Rooftop Room".  Other prints on exhibit include "Whenever You Need Me", "Hold onto your heart, your worth and the truth of you", "Woodeden" and "Laundry".

Though still experimenting with different papers, rollering with more than one brayer, hand-painting some details, adding newsprint collage, her print series became a bit more limited in number during lock-down to conserve art supplies and storage.  Some of the prints reflect a happy activity or imagined place, but the creative activity was, and remains, the happy place.

Enjoy these pandemic prints.  

Bill Perry | Telidon Art Project
March 26 - April 23 / 2023

Photography, photo essays in particular, were my first artistic interest and my focus during my 1st year at York’s Faculty of Fine Arts. My best known photo essay, shot in 1974 from the rooftop of the Church of the Holy Trinity in downtown Toronto, was about urban destruction and construction. In 2017,  I merged the shots into a 360° photo called “The Woman In The Window”.

Circa 1980, “videotex” grabbed my attention. I was fascinated by the telephone-based, back and forth, “interactive” narrative”. In time, I became “Canada’s most prolific Telidon artist”, creating pre-web online art, such as "Computerese", "ART vs Art”, "Pictures of Democracy" and countless other videotex “packages”.

The end of Telidon & Videotex was a setback, made more serious with the arrival of my first child in 1985. I quit art, we left Toronto, I reinvented myself as a “businessman” in small town Ontario. I transitioned from electronic back to paper publishing by opening a DTP photocopy/public fax storefront known as "Wm. Perry: Digital Text Services”.  Over the years it evolved into a printing company and finally an independent publisher with a remarkable catalog, including my best-selling “Be Nice In 60 Languages” and better-selling “Be Rude In 60 Languages.

By 2016, Telidon art was considered  The Lost Art of Canada's Doomed Pre-Internet Web. In 2017, a VHS tape turned up at Artexte in Montreal. It contained 72 minutes of my Telidon art, hundreds of images. It was such a remarkable find that Artexte made a documentary about it called “Around Computerese”. That led to John Durno and the Telidon Art Project.. Our goal was to search art organization archives and personal collections.

The results of our research were truly spectacular. We located and recovered close to 20K images created by more than 60 emerging and established Anglophone, Francophone and some Indigenous artists of the early 80s. all on 100+ 8” floppy disks, 35+ 5.25” floppy disks and 33 videotapes. The collection is currently stored on a private computer at U of Vic, waiting to be accepted by the Art Gallery of Ontario EP Taylor Library and Archive. It will be the first “born digital” art acquired by the AGO.

My exhibition at Supernova is a self curated collection of images recovered by the TAP. These are laser printed on 80lb, bright, white paper in limited editionS of 25, each signed by me and embossed with my own corporate seal for authenticity.  Every picture in the set tells a story. I’m thankful to Supernova for the opportunity to collect those stories (online) during my April 2023 exhibition.

Essays and videos about Canada’s long lost and found Telidon art.

2016 

Jordan Pearson, Vice, 

The Lost Art of Canada's Doomed Pre-Internet Web

2017

Hélène Brousseau, Artexte On Air

Around Computerese: the Electronic Media Magazine

2018

Chris Hampton, CBC Arts

This Canadian dial-up art is older than the internet, and was long thought to be lost — until now  

2019

Bill Perry, TAP

The Telidon Art Project

anna prior | Still Life, Work in Progress
Feb 18 - March 26 / 2023

Anna Prior has practised photography for over 30 years - focusing on portraiture, photographing events, architecture and interior design. This art show showcases Anna’s personal work. She has been influenced by the quality of light and detail of European Still Life Painting and most recently
the Dutch Golden Age.

This show should have the feel of being in an artist’s studio. With work on different kinds of paper, different sizes and unframed, this shows the process of bringing work to the final presentation. 

Katika Marczell | solo show
Nov 9 - dec 11 / 2022

Katika Marczell (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist and muralist. She graduated with (honours)BA from the University of Toronto, and an MFA from York University in 2019. She is a recipient of a York Master’s Fellowship, and the Canada Graduate Scholarship – Master’s (SSHRC). She embraces and celebrates community-building, with a focus on creating public spaces that engage and acknowledge children, who are vital members of our local communities. Her work often involves the illustration of personal stories, local histories, and/or the natural world. She has shown work in Toronto, Milton, Montreal, at the Varley Art Gallery in Markham, and at the Art Gallery of Peterborough. She has worked with Bell Box Murals, Kensington BIA, West Queen West BIA, Street Art Toronto, The Personal Care Bank, Mural Routes, Arts Milton, as well as private clients. Her murals can be found in and around Toronto, Etobicoke, and Milton.

Project info:

This body of work was created in the summer of 2020 during a time of unknowns. Stuck inside, I read about climate change and the melting permafrost. I learned that in the Arctic, craters are being created as this ice thaws, leaving deep depressions in the earth known as mega slumps. I learned about the different bodies that have begun to emerge from these depths: ancient viruses, old-growth forests, and the carcasses of animals long extinct. Stretching my mind to these strange depressions in the earth, I began to imagine what else might emerge. What else might result from the melting of the permafrost?

These works explore the beauty and horror involved in turning into or coming out of the earth. Making connections and blurring the boundaries between human bodies and plant bodies. Thinking about the strangeness of what is resulting from climate change, and how we can and can’t understand what will happen.

The background of these works was created by freezing layers of paint and water, laying down the scrunched-up canvas, and then melting the paint/ice onto the canvases. The works embrace a washed-out style mimicking the watery depths such creatures might emerge from.

If you are interested in content with a similar subject matter, here are some resources/influences for further research:

Ovid’s Metamorphoses (novel)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (film, 1978)

Annihilation (film, 2018)

Ed Pien (artist)

Jude Griebel (artist)

Keyword searches for Google: permafrost, arctic, mega slumps, batagaika crater, The New York Times: Russian Land of Permafrost and Mammoths is Thawing, The New Yorker: The Great Siberian Thaw

Carole Milon | colour contemplations
May 9 - June 6 / 2022

Carole Milon’s artistic practice explores the beauty and fragility of the Canadian landscape. Her connection to nature is continually deepened through hiking in the river valleys of Toronto and the forests of Haliburton, where she has a studio cabin in the woods. Her on-going art education spans decades, learning from many artist-teachers, painting; drawing and collage. Recently, her abstract mixed media works on paper have been included in juried group shows in Toronto and Haliburton at The Artist’s Network; John B. Aird; Propeller; and Rails End Galleries. In the past three years, she had a solo exhibit at the Toronto Public Library and mounted a two-woman exhibit entitled Bold Erratics. In 2020 she received an Ontario Arts Council Exhibition Assistant Grant. Her work is included in private collections.

Colour Contemplations show is a collection of found paper collages, each a meditation on a single colour. I began this series in December 2020. With the waning light, the shadows getting longer with the sun lower in the sky, my guiding star in the studio was a project of simple colour. Through the shortening days and darker evenings- colour, shape, and texture got me through to the Winter Solstice.

I worked on one colour at a time, tearing, cutting, and gluing. The colourful scraps filled my worktable, my floor, and my sights. Using papers already in my stash, I limited myself to materials I had accumulated over the years. I didn’t need more.

This winter and spring of 2022 I have returned to this quiet practice. Creating these Colour Contemplations has helped to ground me in tumultuous times.

Anna zhyn | Astonishing and disastrous, one-of-a-kind inventions 
Aug 15 - sept 30 / 20212

Anna is an emerging artist and graphic designer. She works in a variety of media, including photography, painting, collage, and installations. Anna studied linguistics, web design and graphic communications. Raised in authoritarian Belarus, and as a first-generation Canadian, she focuses on topics that range from her personal journey to find a place in this world to contemporary culture to environment, human rights and politics.

All objects we use in our everyday lives have been invented by somebody. Those past inventors’ creations have passed the test of time and became part of our day-to-day activities in their present form. When admiring the power of human thought and the successes of early trailblazers, we rarely take a moment to think about those inventors who also invested time and effort into bettering human lives but for whatever reason were not able to achieve this goal. Looking back at these inventors’ creations, we often find them amusing and ridiculous and believe that their authors have failed. This is perhaps largely true, but we would still like to give due credit to the enthusiasm and courage of the people who offered never-before-seen objects to the world. After all, today’s inventors will also, one day, be replaced by their new and improved successors, who will change the world once again.

Commissioned by LEXPATENT LLC, Patent Attorneys and IP Lawyers, Belarus | www.lexpatent.by
Copywriting: Kiryl Dubouski | Translation to English: Natalia Khomenko

Sarah Imrisek | Fluid
February 11 - May 9 / 2022

Artist and coder in Toronto. Previous career as a software developer making educational games. Now making art in public and with the community, including interactive art installations, live coding, and painting murals and canvas. Style tends toward symbolist and psychedelic, with nature in a starring role.

Paint poured on canvas has a life of its own; it is an equal collaborator with the artist in these pieces.

During the pouring process, both the paint and the artist are in flow. I explore colours, pursue patterns, learn new subtleties of the way my partner moves, and grow in boldness and creativity in our dance together.

After the paint is dry I hang the poured canvas on my wall and it becomes a Rorschach window into worlds of imagination. As it suggests pictures to me, my joy is to go back and embellish details with a brush, to tease out dreamlike views from the abstract fields of colour. I don't like to paint on top of all of the pours or to paint too much over any of them because I want to share with you the fun of scrying into the paint and following your own perceptions.

I'm presently rediscovering my life after divorce, bereavement and complex trauma. I'm slowly, gently, learning to see myself as worthy of love and worthy of following my bliss. This is my bliss. I don't know how I would have been able to start painting again, without my playmate, the poured paint, to make the first move with me and throw a soft ball to my imagination.

What you see is a selection of the results from my first two years of apprenticeship to paint. I would love to find new homes for these, my first fruits, so that I can make more space on my walls for what comes next! I'm looking forward to working on some bigger canvases.

Paul foster | solo show
jan 17 - feb 18 / 2022

I am a 63-year-old, retired, gay man living in East York. I am an avid collage artist, bird watcher, cyclist, caregiver, meditator, gardener, and walker. For the past few years, I have been a volunteer at the Todmorden Mills Wildlife Preserve (TMWP) on Pottery Road. Working with this group on habitat restoration through planting native species and removal of invasive species.

In my early twenties, I studied Graphic Design at Community College and worked in a related field for several years. In my late twenties I went to U of T and studied part-time. I completed a BA in Sociology while working full-time as a public servant for the Government of Ontario. In government I worked in program and policy for people with disabilities and seniors. While working I studied (painting, printing, collage, and mixed media arts) and had an art practice and exhibited.

My focus is collage on paper which I find to be a truly accessible form of art. All you need is paper and glue to create. The form of collage that I practise is ‘analog’ or hand cut or torn paper glued with acrylic medium. I love to work with my hands, which helps to ground me in the present moment. Making collages gives me joy. I can play, create, and use colour to my heart's content. Also, I love working with paper, due to its tactile, pliable, and durable nature. 

Often an image or scrap of paper will catch my eye.  It could be on my desk, on the floor, or on the sidewalk. It might be the paper’s texture, colour, or shape that attracts me. As I work the piece will speak to me, I will move the elements about before deciding on the final placement. I might let the work sit for a day or so, sometimes a longer period and then come back to the work. At this point, I might add or cover or paint over a portion of the work. Often, I will have two or three pieces I am working on at the same time. I find this allows me to approach the piece with a lighter hand and can prevent from overworking a collage. Less is often more. 

The work in this exhibition are all collages on paper, mounted on acid-free watercolour paper. Most are small intimate pieces. Some of the collages focus on birds, others on people. A few are more abstract.

carmen mahave | touch
march 17 - april 10 / 2022

Carmen Mahave is a 21 year old artist and student practicing out of OCAD University in Toronto.

Her work revolves around the concepts of body and the themes of the grotesque, always existing on the line between appalling and appealing. This middle ground of being repulsed by something and yet deeply intrigued by it is where Carmen is most comfortable. With a goal of creating encompassing tactile experiences that elicit visceral reactions in the viewer, Carmen creates intriguing works that allow the audience to explore their notions of the body whether it be their own or otherwise.

Touch (Silicone, Pigment, Acrylic, Moss, Found objects) is a singular body of work that strives to entice the audience to experience art not only with their eyes but with as many senses as possible. To engage the multifaceted sensory experience in a safe, controlled environment led by the audience’s own comfort level, this body grapples with the idea of the abject. Abjection as described by Julia Kristeva as “the repugnance, the retching that thrusts me to the side and turns me away from defilement, sewage, and muck” and with this piece, it is my intention to turn towards that muck, and turn towards that feeling of repugnance that I have with open arms and create a space where abjection and I can exist in a space together.

This work began with an interest in nudibranch slugs, highly poisonous and incredibly intricate-looking these slugs are incredible to look at, and although the idea of it disgusted me I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to touch one, to hold it in my hands, stroke it’s back, press it to my face; I was faced with a feeling that exists at the intersection between abhorrence and intrigue. This spurred the urge to create an environment where, on one’s own terms, one could touch and experience these creatures that are so otherworldly and dangerous in a controlled and comfortable way.

Linda Block | solo show
nov 16 - dec 18 / 2021

Linda Block was born May 10, 1954, in Calgary, Alberta. She was an artist her entire life and was influenced by her time living near the mountains and from here in Toronto. 

She moved to the Riverdale community in the late 70s, where she spent the remaining years of her life with her three children. Linda was a big part of her community: she was an activist for LGBTQ rights and a counsellor at the Toronto Rape Crisis Centre, to name a couple. Most of the pieces displayed in this solo show were created by the artist in the 90s. These art pencil drawings and paintings reflect how Linda saw the community and the world itself. She used a combination of oil paints and pencil/pens for her many pieces, and she expressed her rich inner world through different styles, including geometrical, abstract, cityscape, Indigenous imagery and landscape/nature.

BRYONIE WISE | SOLO SHOW 
JULy 13 - AUG 8 / 2021

Bryonie Wise is an artist, heart alchemist and a daughter of nature. Curious as can be, her life is rooted in the belief that when we come from a place of love, everything is possible, which of course doesn't mean it has to be perfect. The multimedia pieces adorning the walls of Supernova are a collection of ongoing translations found in a single heart which carry a certain kind of hope for our collective heart. As we begin to transition slowly (ever so carefully) into a post-pandemic new world, this body of stories encourages us all to step into the responsibility of being human and to allow ourselves to be changed.

Cassie Pyatt / Hand & Foot 
FEB 16 - MARCH 15 / 2020

Sit back and relax as you sip your coffee and dive deep into Cassie’s colourful mind. Cassie is a Toronto-based multimedia artist who is inspired by bold, vibrant colours. Hand & Foot is a playful series of characters that have filled her notebooks for years. They’ve stretched across school essays, napkins, coffee sleeves and have now made their debut on Supernova’s walls. 

In addition to her painting, Cassie works with digital illustration, collage, photography and video editing. You can catch her wandering the streets of Toronto, with a notebook in hand, ready for inspiration to strike. She holds a BFA in integrated media from OCADU.

Haven Hues & Jonathan Parra / almost unlucky
Jan 16 - Feb 16 / 2020

Who is Haven Hues? I'll try to tell you. The snapshots of his memories are freeze-frames of a storm in which every snowflake is a galaxy. His Lungs are the Feet of Time, bringing the destination closer, left & right & left & right. Everything that everybody needs exists - it's only a matter of access and transportation. You share this in common with him. The artworks are stubborn studs for decorating visible surfaces. The effectiveness of the messages re-lie on the skilful application of consideration. If I could tell you exactly what I mean, that would be precisely useless. Our understanding exists in the breaks of our telephone transmission.

Haven Hues is an international muralist, an everyday winner, and a 'real artist.' Falling through the cracks, and growing back up out of them - since 1992.

Jonathan Parra was born in Bogota, Colombia, he is now based in Toronto. Jona is an emerging artist whose work has been based on politics, literature and social activism. Jona's work always contains a message that attempts to shake people's minds with honesty and bluntness. However, this showcase will be dedicated to a variety of drawings that have been part of a creative growing process throughout the last year and which and which have also been part of the inspiration.

BOMI / Solo show
DEC 16 - JAN 18 / 2019-20

Rodrigo Castro, aka "Bomi" was born in León Guanajuato, Mexico and is now based in Toronto since 2007. Bomi work reflects a universal visual language through the use of symbols and geometrical patterns. Straight lines, symmetrical shapes and bold colours are direct influences from artists' Latin American culture, which Bomi arranges on his painted canvases using primal and minimalistic approaches. The meaning of each piece varies, and it can be representative of many things, such as Mexican slang, an abundance of mother nature, mysticism, life & death, childhood, people, time, brotherhood, revolution, self-belief, party & love.

In 2012, Rodrigo attended The Art Centre at Central Technical School where his interest in painting grew stronger, and he began to develop his unique style.

GUN ROZE / MANHATTAN 1982
SEPT 16 - OCT 20 / 2019

Gun Roze is a Toronto born Fine Art Photographer. His fascination with photography began when he was gifted his first camera at the age of 8. Though he studied photography and darkroom related courses in school, his most valuable knowledge was gained as a Master Analog Darkroom Printer for professional photographers during his devoted 35 year career. The demands for his expertise as a personalized colour printer opened up opportunities for work in Vancouver, San Francisco and New York City. Throughout this period Gun also continued to engage in his own photography interests and projects.

For his personal photographic work, 2012 was a defining year for him. While living and working in NYC, he rediscovered 28 rolls of 35mm colour negatives in his archives. The film was shot mainly on the streets of Manhattan in 1982. This series showcases his first exploration into street photography and is titled “MANHATTAN 1982”. In 2013, three of the images were included in a prestigious NYC gallery group show focused on NYC life in the 80s. Two years later, 21 of these images were exhibited for his premiere solo show in Toronto at Akasha Art Projects.

The enthusiasm surrounding this discovery inspired Gun to return to street photography in NYC, though from a resident’s perspective. His daily practice is reliant on the easy access of his ever present point-and-shoot compact digital camera. With this dedicated method he has gained a solid following and reputation for his unique captures. Since returning to Toronto in 2015, Gun has continued with his daily approach to street-based photography and its detailed representation of his hometown’s various neighbourhoods. His most recent solo show in Toronto (2017) was a combination of his finest NYC and Toronto street-based photos since 2013. Gun is currently working on publishing hardcover photo art books of MANHATTAN 1982 and his current series titled DUNDAS STREET WEST.

I visited New York City for my first time in 1980. As a mid-20s artist and photographer living in Toronto, NYC immediately presented everything I had seen in the media, fantasized about and beyond. In 1982 I intentionally returned for two stays to photograph and capture the feeling of the city I was enchanted by. Shooting on the streets in the early 80s was a much freer experience than the guardedness with the public today. People were intrigued by my camera and even asked which magazine I was employed by. I photographed this project entirely on 35mm colour negative film. Once back at home, prints were produced in my private darkroom. After creating a small portfolio to impress my friends, this project was then put to rest. I moved to NYC in 1997. The demand for Analog Darkroom Printers was great enough then to warrant being sponsored for my first 01 Visa. Though by 2012 the demand for analog colour printing was swiftly being replaced by the digital method. With this free time available I sensed it was my time to return and fully embrace my own photography. Going through my archives I rediscovered my MANHATTAN 1982 negatives. Impressed by what they saw, my colleagues encouraged me to work towards having a photo exhibit and publish a book.

VICTOR Fraser / SOLO SHOW
Nov 10 - Dec 15 / 2019

During this showing, we are displaying work by a unique artist with a unique life story. Victor Fraser has been beautifying our city's paved surfaces for the past three decades. The art, which is always freehand, is created mostly in daylight therefore directly interacts with the heartbeat of the city and includes intricate letter faces, ornaments, and heartfelt characters. Victor’s paintings are placed mindfully, addressing the local character and essence of a place itself. The works engage public grounds, meeting squares, piers, hospitals, back alley lanes, museums and storefronts of small local businesses.

A strong sense of community lives at the heart of Victor's work as he uses his creative medium with the intention to act as a bridge that helps bring together fragmented societies. Several times, not only in Toronto but also in the U.K, this has seen him painting large intricate compasses which depict a sense of 'direction' to those who may seem to have 'lost' their way. Victor paints for people who are connected to and involved with such places and in doing so reminds us to look at life with brighter eyes and more loving hearts. One of many examples is when Victor painted a massive heart on the pavement by the SickKids hospital to lighten up the hearts of little ones. He is also known for many other paintings such as the 'Unicorners', Heart Nose unicorns, Toronto Island pier compass, Mel Lastman Square memorial, the Zodiac Compass at Chester Hill Look Out, Cabbagetown Fire Station 325 crest and many more. Victor has also been the artist for The Maple Leafs and The Raptors for the last 17 years.

Victor cares deeply for the environment. He sweeps and cleans the areas he paints in, demonstrating how simple it is to equally care for and give back to the communities and neighbourhoods we all belong to. In recent years, Victor has used his art to respond to acts of hate with love. This saw him painting in and repeatedly returning to Nice, France, Manchester, England and also here in Canada following brutal attacks. It's extremely important to him, especially as a man, to be a force of love in this world. In 1995, Victor was charged three times with obstruction of a public walkway for painting murals on Yonge & Bloor Street. Local media overlooked him for not being a part of an official artists' organization and therefore wouldn't acknowledge the adversity he faced for simply contributing to the inner city environment. Victor had to face his peers in a court of law but eventually, all charges were dismissed because....ain't nobody got time for that!

Besides being a master of his brush, Victor also works with stained glass, wood, and mirror. You might have seen him painting dressed in a mirror jacket and mirror jewelled top-hat, allowing reflected sun dots being scattered across the pavement, walls and passers by. To accompany his typography mural on the pavement outside the Supernova coffee shop, Victor will also exhibit his stained glass collection along with his mirror unicorn sculptures and other crafted bespoke items. This is going to be his first-ever indoor show and there will be a chance to purchase some of these unique creations by the artist. Come and support this incredible creative being, Victor has given so much to our communities, it is time to give something back to him. One LOVE

SUE STANLEY / LINOCUT PRINTS
OCT 21 - NOV 9 / 2019

Sue Stanley re-discovered an enthusiasm for linocut printing as a creative outlet while engaged in full-time work at public libraries. In addition to planning and providing arts and crafts programming, creating puppets for puppet performances and providing reference services, she had 4 well-received shows of her linocut prints last year.

In the past Sue has taken art and photography courses and engaged in exploring art activities such as batik, embroidery, jewelry-making, photography, life-drawing, intaglio and silk-screen printing.

Sue enjoys experimenting with colours and different papers and printing techniques, inspired by memories, meditative moments, favourite things and places, and personal concerns. Occasionally she has taken up the challenge when asked to do commisioned prints of pets or cards on particular subjects, but is happiest to carve whatever comes to mind to please and challenge herself.

ANNA ZHYN / PERCOLATE
AUG 14 - SEPT 15 / 2019

Anna is an emerging artist and graphic designer. She works in a variety of media, including photography, painting, collage, and installations. Anna studied linguistics, web design and graphic communications. Raised in authoritarian Belarus, and as a first-generation Canadian, she focuses on topics that range from her personal struggle to find a place in this world to contemporary culture to environment, human rights and politics. Collage has always been one of her favourite tools to deconstruct and question contemporary society, self-image and art.

Percolate is an ongoing mixed media project where each collage is made using materials from a single magazine, along with pencils and acrylics. The subject matter of ‘fast media cycles’, shifts and anxiety evoked by uncertainties of everyday life, contemporary society and future is transformed into visual artefactsby means of analogue collage. Every piece remains a reflection of a specific issue – percolated – where it can become a poem composed from different parts of the magazine or a simple photographic representation of the artist’s reaction to what struck her most.