Explore the Akin Studio Program at MOCA at Doors Open Toronto on May 25 and 26!

You are invited to visit the Akin studios at the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada (MOCA) for Toronto's Annual Doors Open Festival 2019. The event is free and open to the public all weekend. MOCA is a fully accessible facility.

Date: Saturday May 25th & Sunday May 26th
Time: 10am - 5pm
Location: 158 Sterling Road, 4th Floor

Featuring special events by Akin Studio Program at MOCA Artists:

WORKSHOP | Rock Covers Paper 
11am–4pm

Fold, bend, and create your own mini architectural sculpture with visual artist Jessica Thalmann. Transform images of concrete and historical photographs of the Tower Automotive Building into three-dimensional forms that reflect the characteristic edges and corners of concrete structures around the city. 

SCREENINGS | Eva Kolcze 
11am–4pm

Images of concrete architecture and natural parklands collide in this screening of three films by Eva Kolcze. All filmed in Toronto, Kolcze’s films reveal the city’s infamous Brutalist architecture, the dramatic cliffs of the Scarborough Bluffs, and the experience of moving through Toronto, from its urban to natural environments.

• All that is Solid, 2014

• Facing the Waves, 2016

• Dust Cycles, 2017

About Doors Open Toronto:
Doors Open Toronto returns to showcase some of the most architecturally, historically, culturally and socially significant buildings across the city.

A full list of participating buildings, special programs and walking tours at toronto.ca/doorsopen/.

About the MOCA building:
The MOCA building has always stood above, the tallest in Toronto when it was built in 1919, a factory that produced aluminium products during World War II. When it was built, a hundred years ago, designer John W. Woodman pioneered a new approach called concrete flat slab architecture. Each floor is a slab of reinforced concrete and supported by the columns that make the building so iconic.

About the Akin Studio Program at MOCA:
a unique and publicly open partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada to provide affordable studio space to more than 30 visual artists and cultural practitioners in the Museum's new home on Sterling Road through the Akin Studio Program. The Program is open to student, emerging and professional art practitioners, curators and writers living in Toronto. The inaugural cohort of the Program started their studio residency in the Museum in September 2018. Selected artists have moved their studio into the Museum for a term of one year and will share their practices with the Museum’s visitors through programs such as open studio events. For more information visit www.akin.art/moca

an endless, formless ruin by Jessica Thalmann

Jessica Thalmann

Such Places as Memory (Seattle I)

Folded archival pigment print, unique

22" x 17"

Enquire about this work

ANGELL GALLERY is pleased to present Toronto-based artist and Akin MOCA member Jessica Thalmann’s second solo exhibition at the gallery. Titled an endless, formless ruin, the exhibition presents new photographs and photo-based sculptural works, and opens on Saturday, May 4, with the public reception and artist talk on Saturday, May 11 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. The exhibition runs until Saturday, June 1.

It is the desperate moment when we discover that this empire, which had seemed to us the sum of all wonders, is an endless, formless ruin…

                                                                        — Italo Calvino: Invisible Cities (1972)

In the novella Invisible Cities, we find about fifty short impressions of mythical cities relayed to the Mongolian emperor Kublai Khan by the Italian explorer Marco Polo. Polo describes the different sensory, physical and psychological affects these cities have on their inhabitants, which have been interpreted as different aspects of one city – Venice. But, ultimately, the book is about more than a single city; rather, it raises ideas about what it means for a city to be ‘home’, and how we can feel either ‘in possession’ or ‘possessed’ by a place through our memories and experiences of it. Polo is the book’s main narrator, but we sympathize with Khan, a man who can’t rule his homeland effectively because he doesn’t truly understand it.

Jessica Thalmann is an artist, curator and writer currently based in Toronto and New York City. She received a Master of Fine Arts in Advanced Photographic Studies from ICP-Bard College and a BFA in Visual Arts from York University. She has worked at the Doris McCarthy Gallery, Toronto International Film Festival, C Magazine, the Art Gallery of York University and Yossi Milo Gallery.

Period of Adjustment an Exhibition by Carrie Perreault

Working primarily in sculpture and performance, Akin St. Clair member Carrie Perreault balances resistance and restraint in onerous actions that recount long-term precarity. In making her work, she expends great effort to achieve minimal results. This isn’t about labour; she prioritizes process to reflect on systems of abuse and their connection to emotional and psychological experiences. Through gestural, often repetitive acts and narratives that resist closure, she alludes to complex trauma and its residual effects. By exploring, in a visceral way, failures, vulnerabilities, and the limits of her body, Perreault makes viewers keenly aware of their own.

NAC’s Show Room Gallery
Opening Reception Friday 10 May 2019 7PM-10PM
On display until Saturday 17 August 2019

Presented as part of NAC’s Homecoming Series.

Carrie Perreault is an artist based in Toronto and New York. Her work has been included in exhibitions and projects at Idea Exchange, Cambridge Galleries, curated by Iga Janik (2019); Deathnastics, as part of Gymsick, curated by Hazel Meyer and Lucy Pawlak, Toronto (2018); Hamilton Biennale (2017); Strange Beauty, Tangled Arts +Disability Festival, Toronto (2015); Treasure Hill Artist Village, Taipei (2014). Perreault has been awarded residencies at Open Studio (Toronto), The Banff Centre and Taipei Artist Village.

Have Some Printmaking Fun with Erin Candela this May!

Akin Creative presents D.I.Y. Printmaking with Akin King’s Erin Candela! Make your own custom-designed wrapping paper and a package of monogrammed stationary by learning to carve your own handmade stamps with artist and printmaker Erin Candela. Using 3 easy-to-learn printmaking techniques, this workshop is the first in a series of hands-on print projects geared toward beginners and craft enthusiasts. Basic Materials provided*.

This 3-hour workshop will guide participants through the creation of their own stamps to the development of a series of absolutely stunning and unique personal products. From a package of monographed stationery that can be taken home and used for special occasions, to hand-stamped invitations and decorative wrapping paper for gifts or table setting, this custom stamp workshop is ideal for anyone who loves to give that personal touch to special occasions.

D.I.Y. Printmaking with Erin Candela
Where: REMOTE Gallery, 568B Richmond Street West, Toronto
When: Friday, May 24th 2019, 5:30-8:30PM

*Materials: Each Participant will walk away with 3 sets of 5 printed cards, and a package of printed wrapping tissue to take home, as well as the handmade stamps they made during the workshop. While basic materials such as paper, ink and carving tools are provided, workshop participants are welcome and encouraged to bring their own special papers, paper-bound books or cards they wish to experiment on.

Erin Candela has worked in Print and Drawing for over 20 years. As the Co-founder of Graven Feather Studio & Gallery and a workshop facilitator for various organizations across the country from BC to Quebec, she brings a love of materials and a free spirit attitude to the practice of DIY art and craft. Candela's interest in print-making extends to her current art practice in ceramics She is currently a studio artist at Akin Collective and a member of various craft organizations in Ontario including Craft Ontario, The Toronto Potters Guild, and Fusion.

Accessibility Information:
REMOTE Gallery is a fully accessible space. Complete with barrier-free access, a gender neutral washroom and is level throughout. If you require any additional information regarding the space or its accessibility please contact us at janet@akincollective.com.

Idea Exchanges Show.19 Opens Friday!

SHOW.19 brings together emerging artists from across Ontario whose works, processes and preoccupations are the latest in the ever-changing world of contemporary art. The exhibition is exclusively dedicated to those new on the scene and gives the necessary and well-deserved voice to the most ambitious and dedicated.

Idea Exchange

Where: Queen's Square, 1 North Square, Cambridge, ON

Opening Reception: Friday May 10, 2019 7:00 - 9:00 PM

SHOW.19 Features work by Akin members Nicole Crozier and Melanie Keay of Akin Ossington, and Carrie Perrault of Akin St. Clair.

Selected from an open call for submissions, the 13 artists chosen for SHOW.19 shed light on what's happening today and what Ontario has to offer the world of contemporary art in the coming years. This latest edition of SHOW presents works by: Tommy Bourque, Nicole Crozier, Rosellen D'Agostino, Laura Demers, Ioana Dragomir, Sylvia Galbraith, Mélika Hashemi, Hilary Hung, Melanie Keay, Neeko Paluzzi, Michelle Peraza, Carrie Perreault, and Tait William.

CAS Lab: Documenting & Archiving Artwork with Jessica Thalmann

Artist and curator Jessica Thalmann will discuss the importance of clear, accurate, and striking documentation of artwork. Various technical and logistical issues will be broached while photographing paintings, ceramics, sculptures, installations, performances, and various print based media. Artists will learn best practices for photography including, lighting, placement, camera techniques, digital workflow, editing, export settings, and scanning. Archival and cataloguing practices will also be lightly discussed, focusing on data management software, long term storage, preservation, and creating an easy catalogue of current inventory to find and locate items.

After providing advice on each of these topics, Thalmann will offer a demonstration on techniques for photographing 2D and 3D media. This workshop is ideal for artists and makers of all skill levels who have some experience with a digital camera and tripod. Workshop will be followed by a Q&A.

Where: Gardiner Museum, 111 Queens Park, Toronto, ON

When: Wed, 8 May 2019, 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Cost: FREE

CAS Lab is a series of skills-building seminars co-presented by Gardiner Museum and neighbourhood hubs The 519, Akin, and Art Starts as part of the Community Arts Space project. These seminars, running from April 23 to May 22, are available to past and present Community Arts Space participants as well as artists and staff from The 519, Akin, and Art Starts. All workshops are free but require pre-registration. Space is limited.

Akin is a Toronto-based arts organization that provides affordable studio space as well as arts-based programming through its sister non-profit organization, Akin Projects. Their studios provide a working environment that maintains a friendly and inspiring atmosphere where people can work on creative endeavors and entrepreneurial undertakings of all kinds. Akin builds community through monthly art critiques, workshops, open studio events, gallery tours, exhibitions, as well as various other art projects.

Opening Today! Satisfaction Guaranteed by Stephanie Avery

Satisfaction Guaranteed: Paintings by Stephanie Avery
Where: Flying Pony Gallery, 1481 Gerard Street East
When: May 3 - 31
Opening Reception: May 4, 4 - 7
Interactive workshop: May 12, 1 - 4. Come make some AdHacks of your very own!

Join Akin MOCA member Stephanie Avery for an exhibition of her ongoing 'AdHack' painting series. Stephanie uses reclaimed magazine ads as her canvas, painting her own whimsical additions directly onto them to critique and subvert the duplicitous aspects of consumer culture. ‘AdHack’ shifts the traditionally passive viewer/advertiser relationship into something much more active and empowering. By using humour and absurdity to co-opt advertisements, viewers gleefully disengage from the original narratives. 'AdHack' is a fun and engaging way to inspire critical thought/dialogue about advertisements and the role they play in our everyday lives.

Stephanie Avery is a Toronto-based interdisciplinary artist. Focusing on themes of play, discovery, identity and memory, Stephanie uses humour and absurdity to intervene with familiar objects and imagery to give them new meanings and narratives. Her goal is to inspire new perspectives and initiate critical dialogue about elements of contemporary culture that are often taken for granted.

On View Now: Kin Collective's Constructing Liminal Space

In Constructing Liminal Space, KIN portrays the personal dilemma of being an immigrant and the impact of relocation on individual identity. Jieun June Kim of Akin MOCA and Marina’s immigration experiences have forced them to straddle the boundary between their homes in Korea and Russia (respectively), and their new home in Canada. Their work reflects the duality of the “in-between” space where their identities collide such as realities and dreams, and past and present life.

KIN Collective will also be hosting a FREE family-friendly collaborative art installation, “The Place of Belonging,” on May 4.

Date: April 25 – May 13
Opening Reception: April 25

Opening Reception: 6pm – 9pm

Gallery Hours: Tuesday to Friday 1pm to 6pm
Thursday, May 2 the Gallery will be open until 8pm

Place: Toronto Centre for the Arts, Lower Gallery

Ceramic Studio Sale at Akin Dupont this Saturday May 4!

Akin Dupont ceramicists Karolina-Anna Hanja, Laura DeGroot, Loren Kaplan, and Bettina Rouble (Awesome Fortress Goods) invite you to their studio sale this Saturday May 4th from 11am-5pm. Don't miss this chance to pick up some handmade ceramic art and objects by these talented artists!

Awesome Fortress Goods

Loren Kaplan

Laura DeGroot

Karolina-Anna Hanja

Through Rose — a solo exhibition by Curtia Wright

The MOEG invites you to join us for the opening of ‘Through Rose’, a solo exhibition of Akin King member Curtia Wright. ‘Through Rose’ is a series of works discussing the complex skin of Black femininity through Wright’s own relationship to femininity as a Black womxn. Directly referencing the phrase "through rose coloured glasses", ‘Through Rose’ suggests that our concept of Black women’s everyday reality is stilted by a blissful ignorance. Delving into the psychological ramifications of having to navigate spaces that dissect you – examining our perception of Black femininity and the often one-dimensional the gaze that dehumanizes Black women’s bodies.

Opening Reception: April 18th, 2018 from 7-10pm
Exhibition Dates: April 19th – May 4th
Gallery Hours: Wednesday to Friday from 12-7pm, Saturdays from 12-5pm

Entry to the exhibition will be PWYC, will all entry proceeds donated to Black Women in Motion.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Curtia Wright is a multidisciplinary artist and muralist based in Toronto, Ontario. She’s interested in the way society’s perceptions of bodies—specifically Black bodies—have the ability to shape their narratives without consent. Her current works delve into the spiritual and mental wellness of African peoples, links to mythology, and disseminating what 'fantasy' is and who it belongs to. Her work questions our indoctrinated beliefs of what femininity and Blackness are, the perseverance of the black body, and issues surrounding mental illness in the Afro-Caribbean community.

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CUE is a radical arts initiative dedicated to providing funding and support for new-generation artists who live and work on the margins in Toronto. Since 2008, the initiative has provided almost $300,000 in high-access grants to support the creation of more than 290 art projects.

The MOEG is a project of CUE: a multidisciplinary arts space dedicated to showcasing the work of new generation artists aged 15-29 who live and work on the margins. Some of the most important artwork is being created by artists who experience social, cultural, and economic marginalization, and systemic barriers can preclude many relevant artists from contributing to our cultural narrative. The MOEG is a space to engage with these artists and their work--an environment where communities that have been excluded within the arts can be recognized and represented.

Akin Vitrine Gallery + Sara Pearson

Introducing our April 2019 artist, Sara Pearson. Sara is an Akin Dupont member and her multi medium installation, Wayfinder is on exhibition in the Akin Vitrine Galleries for the months of April and May.

Using material as a narrative tool, Wayfinder is a layered installation of collage imagery. Shimmering mineral watercolour on terraskin paper (made from stone) the overscaled landscape references a desired destination: as we travel through life and forge our path, we set goals, build foundations and envision our future. The floor of the gallery is covered with handmade unfired clay pebbles- impermanent objects that suggest that sometimes/many times the ground shifts, falls away, and we must again find our footing and start in a new direction. Standing on this landslide is a Wayfinder, a sculptural form of ceramic and aluminum mirror, a navigational tool used as a beacon or a landmark to guide us along our new path.

Sara Pearson is a Toronto based artist whose work has centered on the merging of science (geological and gemmological) and a self-reflexive fine arts practice choosing materials and references that relate as elemental to the earth. Through abstracted painting of gemstone refraction and land formation, and sculptural methods of bronze casting, ceramics and assemblage, she has explored concepts such as human value systems, the sublime quality of nature and the journey of transformation. Sara holds a BFA from the Ontario College of Art and Design. She has participated in solo and group exhibitions with Patel Gallery, and has shown work in Ontario and British Columbia.

Wayfinder
Mineral watercolour on terraskin paper, ceramic, aluminum, and unfired clay.
Dimensions variable
2018

To contact the artist:
Instagram: @_sarapearson_
#Akinvitrine
www.sarapearsonart.com

Akin Collective + Akin Projects are excited to present our 2019 programming in two Vitrine Galleries located at Akin Dupont and Akin St. Clair. These miniature galleries feature the diverse talents of our members with travelling installations rotating each month. Each artist will be featured for the first month at Dupont and second month at St. Clair. For more information about our artists and our programming, join us on Instagram @akinvitrine.

‘Wayfinder’ will be on view for the month of April in our Dupont Akin Vitrine Gallery, located in the Clock Factory Building at 1485 Dupont Street (entrance on Campbell Avenue). Find Akin Studio 215 on the second floor and follow the sign into the hallway around the corner. The building is open from 9am to 6pm, Monday to Saturday.

The exhibition will then travel to the Akin St. Clair Vitrine Gallery and be on view for the month of May at 1747 St. Clair Avenue West. Gallery is street level and can be viewed at any time.

For more information about Sara and her work, follow our Instagram account @akinvitrine
**Sneak peek images of the work located in the event posts!

Art for Lunch with Michael Vickers - Tomorrow!

Looking for something to do on your lunch break this Friday? Come out to the MacLaren Art Centre for a discussion with artist Michael Vickers, Co-Director of Akin, which provides affordable studio space to practising artists and a range of public programs in Toronto through its sister non-profit organization, Akin Projects.

Art for Lunch with Michael Vickers from Akin
When: Friday, April 5, 12:15 to 1 pm
Where: Rotary Education Centre, 37 Mulcaster Street, Barrie, ON
Admission: free

About the Artist

Michael Vickers works in sculpture, installation and painting. His practice addresses the seductive and poetic qualities of form and text, while investigating the limits of different materials and presentation methods. Vickers holds an MA in Modern and Contemporary Art History from the University of Toronto and a BA from the University of Ottawa. He has exhibited his work at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; Mercer Union, Toronto; the Siena Art Institute, Italy; and Clark House Initiative, Mumbai. His multidisciplinary practice has been featured in publications such as Art F City, Esse Arts + Opinions, Canadian Art, The Toronto Star, and GQ Magazine. Michael Vickers is a former resident of Barrie and is currently based in Toronto.

About the Gallery

The MacLaren Art Centre is the regional public art gallery serving the residents of Barrie, the County of Simcoe and the surrounding area. The Gallery has a permanent collection of contemporary Canadian art held in trust for the public and presents a year-round programme of world-class exhibitions, education activities and special events.

Akin Creative Presents: Pysanky Egg Decorating with Natalie Waddell

Learn traditional techniques to decorate your own festive egg! Eggs are decorated with designs in the technique known as "wax resist". Traditional symbols, designs and patterns are applied with melted beeswax using a tool called a kistka. Eggs are then dipped into successively darker dye baths. At the end of the process the beeswax is melted off to reveal a dazzling display of colour.

Most popularly known as a Ukrainian tradition this is actually common across many Eastern European countries and the practice has been around for thousands of years in celebration of Spring and fertility.

Date: Saturday, April 13th, 2019

Time: 1pm-4pm

Location: Remote Gallery - 568 Richmond St. West, Toronto

$25/person - all materials included / limited seating: get your ticket at https://www.universe.com/intro-pysanky-egg-decorating

All materials are included. Please note that we will be working with: indelible dyes, raw eggs, and a candle flame.

About the instructor:
Natalie Waddell is a Toronto ceramic artist and a passionate 'Maker of Things' currently practicing out of Akin’s King location. Always exploring different materials and techniques she saw a photo of Pysanky eggs 7 years ago and has been making them ever since.

Accessibility information can be found at http://www.akincollective.com/richmond

Please let us know of any other accessibility needs so that we can assist. Email janet@akincollective.com with advance notice and we will do our best to accommodate you! Thank you.

'Don't We Know' by Laura Kay Keeling

Laura Kay Keeling’s newest collage series Don’t We Know, features interesting and beautiful images found in field guides, 35mm film photographs, National Geographic Magazines and other vintage books which have been cut apart and put back together in a new way. Not only does Keeling love photographing nature, she also enjoys allowing it to inspire her and guide her collages to become a new representation of things organically found in nature. Themes she is exploring with these new works include but are not limited to: ideas and concepts of “home”, the internet, television and effect of social media.

Don’t We Know

Location: QEPCCC, Corridor Exhibition (main corridor, entrance into the gallery at Queen Elizabeth Park Community and Cultural Centre in Oakville)

Dates: January 20th- May 31st, 2019

Rough Gem by Laura Kay Keeling. On view now at QEPCCC.

About Laura Kay Keeling

Travels, daydreams, field guides, coffee and film. Laura Kay Keeling, a member of Akin’s Dupont location, resides in Toronto, ON and pulls inspiration from beautiful everyday moments shared through her 35mm photography, collage work and installation projects. She has always been drawn to extreme environments and things that come from nature. Her focus is on creating work that instills an overall feeling of calm, curiosity and peacefulness within others as well as introducing opportunities for celebration and self reflection often with her own humorous twist. She aims to explore the idea of “home”, how we utilize and design living spaces and form connections with our communities. She is driven to explore the connection between art and nature and environmental elements are often the main focus of her work.   

Akin Artists Included in blog TO's list of Up and Coming Artists

This past weekend blogTO released their list of 10 up and coming Toronto artists and many are current Akin members. The list includes Kendra Yee of Akin Ossington, Joshua Advincula, Chason Yeboah, Liang Wang of Akin MOCA, Jill Smith of Akin Dupont, Amika Cooper, Charlotte Penabel, Raquel Da Silva of Akin MOCA, Alexander Robinson, and Allana Cooper. BlogTO compiled the list of up and coming artists based on suggestions from local arts institutions and organizations. The individuals who made it onto the list are all visual creatives who have emerged on the scene in the last couple of years with some exciting work. Some of them already have a few solo exhibits under their belt, while others' CVs consist solely of group exhibits. Regardless of how many past shows these artists have done, the future looks promising (blogTO, 2019).

Continue reading to learn more about the Akin artists who made it onto the list.

Diverting Cracks Found in the Cement, 2017 by Kendra Yee

Kendra Yee

Kendra Yee is a Toronto-based artist, designer, and curator. Her work consists of mixed-media paintings, ceramic sculptures, and panel-based illustrations. Yee pulls tales from her personal history, lived experiences and collective memory to form speculative worlds where fluid characters come to life through the conversations of interactive bodies.  

Yee is currently developing a program with Davenport-Perth Neighbourhood and Community Health Center that centers around alternative education. In fall 2018, selected women participants aged 13-19 in the west end area of Toronto will join together to create an independent comics anthology surrounding topics on personal identity.

Liang Wang beside his painting The Colour of the Wheat, 2017, Oil on panel, 18” x 24”

Liang Wang

Liang Wang is a Toronto-based painter raised in various parts of Taiwan, China, Australia and Canada. He has exhibited work in numerous groups shows at locations including Northern Contemporary Gallery (Toronto); Federation Gallery, Turnbull Gallery (Vancouver); and Rutherford Galleria (Edmonton). His work is in private collections in Canada and New Zealand. One day I saw the sunset forty-four times is his first solo show. Wang currently teaches painting at the McCanny Secondary School.

Us by Jill Smith, performed at Forest City Gallery, 2018, part of in attendance

Jill Smith

Jill Smith is an interdisciplinary artist based in Toronto, Ontario (1995). Her most recent work explores everyday absurdity, as well as the connective possibilities of materiality. By re-contextualizing familiar motifs with organic, bodily forms, her work calls into question how one both exists and performs as a social body. While Smith’s work stimulates the imagination through whimsical and nonsensical colour and form, it is the relatable, yet ambiguous materiality that offers a platform to question the familiar, and escape to the alien and the uncanny.

Detail view of work by Raquel Da Silva

Raquel Da Silva

Finishing up her degree in Painting and Furniture Design at OCAD, Da Silva's super clean and colourful acrylic paintings have caught the attention from the likes of Nike (she designed a shoe for them in August). Plus her furniture is rad too (blogTO, 2019).

CAMH One Brave Night 2019

From now until May 10th, Akin Dupont member Jill Smith is participating in CAMH's One Brave Night and raising funds to support mental health. Jill Smith recently started a new position at the CAMH Foundation. And this campaign is near and dear to her heart! 

Did you know that one in five Canadians experience mental illness in any given year? And yet many don't consider it a real health issue. By supporting this fundraising campaign with a donation, YOU can shine a spotlight on mental health. Together, we will help shape a world where mental illness is seen in the same light as every other illness, and all people receive the care they need and deserve. 

Jill Smith is an interdisciplinary artist based in Toronto, Ontario (1995). Her most recent work explores everyday absurdity, as well as the connective possibilities of materiality. By re-contextualizing familiar motifs with organic, bodily forms, her work calls into question how one both exists and performs as a social body. While Smith’s work stimulates the imagination through whimsical and nonsensical colour and form, it is the relatable, yet ambiguous materiality that offers a platform to question the familiar, and escape to the alien and the uncanny.

As a thank you, for each donation Jill Smith will be making a mini ceramic sculpture. She will be delivering/shipping them to each donor after May 10th. Please donate today and help Jill Smith reach her fundraising goal $1,000.00. Every little bit helps!

Akin Launch New Exhibition and Community Programming Space ‘REMOTE’ and New Studio Location, Akin Richmond

REMOTE and Akin Richmond
Gallery, Programming Space and Art Studios
568 Richmond Street West
www.remote.gallery
 

Launching Friday, March 29th, REMOTE is Akin’s new dedicated exhibition and programming space at 568 Richmond Street West. REMOTE will provide opportunities for artists and members of the public to rent low-cost space for exhibitions and programming of all kinds. This multi-use space will be available for workshops, presentations, meetings, and community events as well as exhibitions, performances and other artistic programs.

To inquire about REMOTE space rentals, please email sara@akincollective.com to discuss availability and pricing. Please include a brief description of your exhibition or idea, the dates you are looking at, and any other pertinent information in your inquiry. We aim to make our space rentals as financially accessible as possible and look forward to hearing your ideas! Akin will be prioritizing Toronto’s newcomer artists, the Toronto Arts Council’s Equity Priority Groups and Akin’s current members for rentals of the space, but everyone is welcome to inquire!
 

Gallery Launch & 'Movement' Exhibition Opening Party Next Friday!
Friday, March 29th, 6-9pm. 
Cash bar.
Join the event on Facebook 
Follow REMOTE on Instagram

Join us as for the public launch of REMOTE as we celebrate the opening of our inaugural exhibition, “Movement” featuring new and recent works by Akin artists Clara Hirsch, David Salazar, Helen Dreifelds, Jamileh Salek, Julianne Ess, Nicole Krstin and Zach Tuinman.

A huge thank you to the Toronto Arts Council for their collaboration on this space, without whom this would not have been possible. Special thanks also to our friends and collaborators Neighbourhood Arts Network and Toronto Employment and Social Services’ Art Connectionsprogram.

Programming Space Features:
Total Square Footage: ~300 sqft.
Gallery quality fluorescent lighting
Polished concrete floors
Fully accessible entrance and bathroom
Additional promotion on our website and across Akin’s social media channels
Occupancy: 42 people
Please note that artists are responsible for providing gallery attendants for their exhibitions, and planning any associated events and receptions.

Akin Richmond

In addition to programming space, Akin is also launching Akin Richmond artist studios next door, which will be available to rent on a month-to-month basis, specifically prioritizing Toronto’s newcomer artists, the Toronto Arts Council’s Equity Priority Groups and Akin’s current members. To be added to the waiting list for studio rentals at 568 Richmond Street West or inquire about any of Akin’s studio locations please contact info@akincollective.com

Akin Richmond Art Studio Features:
Studios Ranging in size for 25sf to 60sf
Shared memberships available for $70/month
Fully accessible entrance and bathroom
Separate entrance from main REMOTE programming space

Accessibility:
Akin Richmond and REMOTE are fully accessible spaces. There are no steps to access the space, automated entrances, and both have gender-neutral washrooms with grab bars.

Akin Studio Program at MOCA Year 2 Applications are due on March 31, 2019

The Deadline for Applications to the Akin Studio Program at MOCA Year 2 is fast approaching! Artists of all skill-levels are invited to apply - get your applications in by March 31, 2019 at 5:00pm! 

The Akin Studio Program is a unique and publicly open opportunity for art practitioners, curators and writers (hereafter referred to as artists) to lease shared studio space within The Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada (MOCA) at 158 Sterling Road in Toronto. In addition to a one year studio space rental, selected artists will be immersed within a community of peers, offering various opportunities for engagement. Studio members will be encouraged to develop and expand their individual practices while playing a role in the artistic community within the museum itself. This Program is open to students, emerging and professional art practitioners, curators and writers living in Toronto. 

Studio Rental Year 2 Program Start Date: October 1, 2019
Studio Rental Year 2 Program End Date: September 31, 2020

MOCA Toronto is a fully physically accessible venue.

Visit www.akin.art/mocacall2019 for full application details. 

Networks of Experience: Art and (Dis)Embodiment Conference

Any encounter between an audience and a work of art is experiential. Beyond this universal dimension, much contemporary art asks more of its viewers than just viewing. These works engage multiple modes of observation, sensation, participation, reflection, and (dis)embodiment that have the power to affect and engage bodies in new and adaptive ways. Art that demands physical attention, emotional labour, or visceral reactions crosses into new territory and invites varied modes of experience, including those of memory, haunting, and tradition. It can lead the audience to a deeper understanding of practices that affirm experiences from the past, as well as experiences of the Other that aim to dismantle Western colonialism. In this context, experience turns from an act of recognition of a meaning intrinsic to the object, to a meaning that is grounded in the encounter between the artist’s experience and that of the spectator. Keeping open the multiple threads of experience , this conference invites investigations of experience in contemporary art, across its various embodied practices: artists’ lived/personal experience as embodied in their art; the experiences of spectators and audiences; and experience as cultural legacy/history, including experiences of colonialism and decolonization.

The 2019 Contemporary Art, Design and New Media Art Histories Conference invites proposals for academic papers/practices from Graduate students, independent scholars, and artists.

Conference Date: March 15 – 16, 2019
Location: OCAD University, Room 190, 100 McCaul Street, Toronto, Canada

Topics for discussion include, but are not limited to:
● Internalization/Affect of embodied experience vs. disembodied experience
● Institutional spaces and the shaping of experience (museums, galleries, schools)
● Individual and/or collective experience
● Sites, venues, locations of experience
● Virtual spaces, alternate realities, and re-embodiment
● Craft as embodied experience and site of resistance
● Experiences of transgression and subversion in contemporary art

The conference invites theoretical reflections, case studies, and/or performances on questions of (dis)embodied experiences in the discourses of contemporary art history, design history, new media studies, critical theory, visual arts, and art criticism.

This event is hosted by current OCAD University second year CADN (Contemporary Art, Design and New Media Art Histories) Graduate students Samantha Robbie-Higgins of Akin King, Rachelle Rabourin, Katherine Walker, Maddy McMillan, and Alessia Pignotti.

Being Scene 2019 featuring work by Stephanie Avery

Workman Arts presents BEING SCENE, a sweeping exhibition encompassing over 100 artworks by 60+ artists, including work by Akin MOCA member Stephanie Avery, that give shape to compelling ideas and narratives from the sublime to the absurd to the fearless. Being Scene covers a wide range of conceptual and material approaches, giving voice to diverse life experiences.

Location: Toronto Media Arts Centre

Dates: February 28 - March 23, 2019

Exhibition is FREE and open daily from 12-6 PM.
Toronto Media Arts Centre is an accessible venue.

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AdHack by Stephanie Avery. More on view at Being Scene.

About Stephanie Avery:

Stephanie Avery is a Toronto-based artist currently working out of Akin’s MOCA location. She is best known for her ongoing project Ruins, a photographic journey through abandoned buildings around the world. Abandoned buildings possess a unique and surreal beauty that is completely unlike any other environment. Within the confines of abandoned spaces, time is in limbo. We are able to glimpse a lost vision of the past, as well as a potential future where human life is absent. Their combination of time, nature and vandalism imbues each image with a chaotic beauty, effectively transforming the familiar into the surreal, the every-day into the extraordinary.