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Thread: Art Gallery of Ontario

  1. #16
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    This year the AGO will showcase a Surrealist exhibition.
    Can't wait for that.
    I don't know why people hate on Toronto.
    I mean I do, and I don't.
    I've lived here since last October and this city amazes me.
    Did you know Hemingway lived here, from 1920-23?
    He did, on Bathurst street. Wrote for a local paper.

    Some more facts that I got from the paper:

    Elvis' first show outside the U.S. was at Maple Leaf Gardens (April 2, 1957)
    The Beatles first North American tour included Maple Leaf Gardens too .
    The Doors played here a few times, and so did just about every major performer there is. Babe Ruth hit his first ever home run here, into Lake Ontario.

    We have an 88-acre property in Guildwood called The Guild Inn.
    In 1914 it was a private residence for a retired American soldier.
    It was sold in the thirties and became a Depression-era arts colony, a huge area of gardens and woodland. (Appropriately named "THE GUILD OF ALL ARTS").
    It has a collection of 70 architectural fragments and sculptures, mostly salvaged from old Toronto buildings slated for demolition. (Some are sticking out of the ground at odd angles, half-buried).
    I was only there one day, but man did I NOT want to leave!
    It's a good distance east of downtown- way past the beaches.
    I read about it in the paper and I had to go check it out.
    It is a truly surreal property to roam.
    Last edited by Johann; 03-24-2009 at 02:41 PM.
    "Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd

  2. #17
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    Some other artworks that I took note of at the AGO:

    - a stunning bronze statue by Giovanni Battista Foggini called "Perseus Slaying Medusa"

    -Degas' "Woman at her bath" is beautiful. I stared at it for a while.

    -Kiki Smith's "Self Portrait" made me think, shocked me and reinforced the notion that disturbing things can sometimes be mute-exalted works of art. Look up that photo online. It's powerful. (Made with gelatin and silver)

    -Luigi Bazzani's 1917 "Arch of Septimus Severus" was cool to look at

    - Otto Dix' 1922 "Portrait of Dr. Heinrich Stadelman" freaked me out

    - Waterhouse's 1915 "I am Half-Sick of Shadows" (said the Lady of Shallott) commands you to look at it. It's just amazing to see up close and in person. The details are dreamy...

    -Roberto Matta's 1939 "Psychological Morphology" will morph your mind into appreciating the use of color in bold new ways. (It's also a painting that's very psychedelic, kinda like Dali, so if you go in to look at a Matta, some pharmaceuticals might help the experience...)

    and of course, these names of simply gorgeous ART by William Holman Hunt:

    -"Isabella and the Pot of Basil" (1866)- jaw-dropping!
    -"Il Dolce far Niente" (1859)
    -"Bianca" (1869)- gotta see that one. It's so detailed, with Bianca holding a lute...
    -"The Birthday (of Edith Holman Hunt)" (1868)
    -"Portrait of a Lady"( Mrs. George Waugh) (1868)
    -"The Flight of Madeline and Porphyro during the drunkeness attending the revelry (The Eve of St. Agnes) (Mouthful, huh? 1848)
    -"Valentine Rescuing Sylvia from Proteus" (1850)
    -"Claudio and Isabella" (1853)
    -"The Long Engagement" (1859)
    -"Peace Concluded" (1856)
    -"The Awakening Conscience" (1853)- this one is featured on the cover of one of the deluxe books on Hunt in the gift shop, one I'll be buying on a future visit to the gallery.
    Last edited by Johann; 03-24-2009 at 03:44 PM.
    "Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd

  3. #18
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    Those Thorne rooms are astonishing, aren't they?

    That is the zenith of technical artistry..
    Such skill and vision required to create them..
    I love enlarging the photos of each room.
    That is truly amazing art, from a real artisan.

    Thanks again for the link cinemabon.
    Love it.
    "Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd

  4. #19
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    Been planning to use my pass to go to the Royal Ontario Museum but haven't had enough time to get over there. Must make the effort.

    The ROM is massive and I know I won't be able to post anything comprehensive about my visit, but I'll say my two cents. It's perhaps more significant a landmark than the AGO.
    I've noticed recently on TV that the AGO is putting out many ads, "You gotta go to the AGO!"- nice little commercials that get people thinking about going there. I was sad to learn that they're also letting a lot of people go. Doesn't this economy just RULE? Thank you Bush and Cheney!
    Last edited by Johann; 04-13-2009 at 03:50 PM.
    "Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd

  5. #20
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    Apparently in June the Royal Ontario Museum will be showcasing the Dead Sea Scrolls: "Words That Changed The World", and they've already received nasty complaints over ownership and the rights to display the scrolls.
    So far the installation is going ahead.

    I've been reading the Bible at a snail's pace, over the years, and my NIV copy is marked up with a lot of pen ink. I absorb it in my own way, and it is powerful reading. I know what I must learn from it and it's tough to get my head around it. Hunter Thompson got me peering more deeply at it and it's affecting me, although I can't say exactly how. The way it's written, with the various perspectives, is beyond awesome in scope. There are truths in it, things that I'm retaining, but to go full-bore Commando Christian?
    I don't know.
    Last edited by Johann; 04-13-2009 at 04:07 PM.
    "Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd

  6. #21
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    I've been back to the AGO this summer (for the Surrealist exhibition) and I took photos. The gallery does not allow photographs ANYWHERE- in an album I posted on facebook all you can see is the architecture of the AGO- inside and outside.
    I took one photo of a Christian work of art and security was on me immediately. They let me keep my camera, and the picture, but I was warned not to do it again- they have cameras and surveillance watching every single person in every gallery.
    I would've been kicked out if I took another picture.
    Just FYI.

    I just wanted to comment on how incredibly profound it was seeing Salvador Dali's actual artworks mere inches from my eyes.

    I don't know how many here know Dali's works, but the one canvas I stared at for almost an hour was
    Apparition of a Face and Fruit Dish on a Beach (1938-39)

    It is simply astounding.
    Profound art to my mind. I'll be buying an art print of that canvas very soon. And custom framing it. It was a truly surreal experience to be mere inches from it, looking closely at the mind-blowing double images Master Salvador Dali painted.
    It's hand-of-God talent that very few people possess.
    Last edited by Johann; 10-10-2009 at 10:56 AM.
    "Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd

  7. #22
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    Patti smith: Camera solo

    Just posting that I attended the BEAUTIFUL Patti Smith Camera Solo exhibit, and I will be writing about it in greater detail later.
    I took detailed notes.

    She designed the gallery showcase herself, and it was very beautiful. I was extremely impressed with the Arthur Rimbaud items she had in there (which included an exact replica of the litter he designed and was carried on when he was injured in Africa).
    Patti is a REAL ARTIST. Her photographs are exquisite. Her eye is Divine- she has many photos of famous graves and places- even the bow of the Costa-Concordia cruise ship that capsized.

    So stay tuned to this thread- I will post later in greater detail about my experience at the AGO with her CAMERA SOLO exhibit.
    "Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd

  8. #23
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    Thanks Johann. I am very interested in this exhibit. I remember buying her album Easter AND COMING HOME TO PLAY IT WHEN I WAS A TEEN. I STILL LISTEN TO PATTI SMITH.

  9. #24
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    Awesome. She is a very PURE SOUL.

    She had a 7-minute short film on loop in the gallery too (with her voice reading poetry over black and white images).
    I'll post soon. Gotta get my butt in gear. So much to post about, including Malick's TO THE WONDER....
    "Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd

  10. #25
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    CAMERA SOLO by Patti Smith

    Not everyone was born to be a
    prophet. We smile down. We know
    all about it. We were born to be.
    Born to be: wild necks green Rimbaud
    We do the grind to the organ music.
    We know where we're coming from.
    We cut a womb rug.
    A Mean rug. you should see us
    Jitterbug. Go rimbaud. doo-wa.
    dyna-flow
    Rimbaud
    with the
    Power
    of the
    Word.



    Legend Patti Smith's CAMERA SOLO exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario was beautiful.
    She organized the gallery space herself, and one can feel her presence in the space even though she wasn't there the day I went.
    She had a multitude of objects on display that are simply fascinating.
    for instance, the Arthur Rimbaud items, which impressed me immensely:
    - his utensils in a black and white photo taken by Patti herself at the Musee Rimbaud in Charlesvilles-Mezieres in France
    -a b/w photo of the Rimbaud monument in the town square
    - a stunning portarit of Rimbaud (UNIQUE POETRY) painted by Patti herself in December 1970, with amazing handwritten poetry dripping down the page
    -his litter, made of graphite, painted black, with netting, an EXACT replica- dead-center of the gallery space. Arthur was carried across Ethiopia (100 miles) for medical assistance on it.
    - an original 1892 copy of LES ILLUMINATIONS, printed by Leon Vanier in Paris- amazing to see an original copy!
    -a French Rimbaud postage stamp.

    Just amazing to gaze at. This exhibit is on display downtown Toronto only until July 2013.


    She made a black and white 7-minute, 19-second film with Rene Daumal, with images of reliefs and tombstones with Patti reading poetic words as a soundtrack.
    I watched it twice. It's hypnotic.
    She had a totem she made for Brian Jones (nice), she had a photo-booth filmstrip of her and Robert Mapplethorpe, as well as his Crucifix, she had photos of Modigliani's grave, William Blake's grave, herself in self-portrait, (with Thunderbolt tattoo was GREAT- and the one of her as a young woman- what a Goddess. She also had photos of Frida Kahlo's bed, Virginia Woolf's bed (and would you believe a round stone from the river Ouse in East Sussex where Virginia drowned herself?- She filled her coat pockets with stones).

    Baudelaire's grave is among her "sacred relics". She shaped her style over years of observation it says in the program, taking photos with her special Land 250 Polaroid camera (also on display, with Nuryyev's practice slippers). The Land uses special black and white film that delivers an instant picture with a narrow white border. Her photographs are infused with a deep personal meaning.
    Patti says that these photographs are like diary entries in her Life.


    -
    "Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd

  11. #26
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    Gracias. Thanks!
    I did some research about this exhibit and learned that Jem Cohen lensed the short film you discuss here. Cohen is a major experimental filmmaker with a new feature film called MUSEUM HOURS that I hope to catch soon. Check it out if it comes your way.
    Here's (our own) Chris Knipp's review:http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.p...0019#post30019
    Last edited by oscar jubis; 05-27-2013 at 05:32 PM.

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