Toronto International Art Fair 2011


Installation view including works by Derek Sullivan and Luis Jacob from the special onsite projects “Everything Must Go” at last year’s Toronto International Art Fair 2010. Image via BlogTO.

The 12th edition of Toronto International Art Fair (TIAF) kicks off on 28 October, showcasing over 100 galleries across Canada, USA, Mexico and Europe. Compared to the rising scale of mega fairs like Art Basel and Armory, TIAF weighs into a somewhat modest division, even frugal in terms of the international hype generated. Mind you, an effort was made to spark up some glamour last year, in laying out their red carpet entrance. Seriously though, TIAF has slowly but surely grown in reputation over the last few years, firstly for the quality of the works on offer. Various new programs are being designed this year to survey contemporary Canadian art, including a talk with Denise Markonish, curator of the much anticipated exhibition “Oh, Canada” at MASS MoCA in May 2012. Other activities include theme-based guided tours such as Quebec galleries, photography galleries, and so on. Furthermore, the audience can explore onsite projects such as “The Art Game” by Toronto based artist Kent Monkman, a performative event “Collage Party” by Winnipeg based Paul Butler and many more.


Paul Butler’s “Collage Party” will be on site at Toronto International Art Fair 2011. Image from Collage Party in Paris 2011 via cbc.ca

TIAF has also programmed much around collecting, featuring panel discussions between some of the most prominent contemporary art collectors in Canada. Adding gravitas to these developments, Sydney based critic Nic Forrest recently published a series of positive articles on his blog about the latest figures in the Canadian art market. Although mostly based around auction houses in Canada, his outlook seemed confident when quoting David Silcox, president of Sotheby’s Canada: “The variety and quality of paintings in this spring’s offering at last brings Canada closer to other countries in the sales of contemporary art”. M-KOS will be reporting from Toronto to investigate TIAF 2011’s contributions to Canadian art and its market.


Sarah Anne Johnson “Fireworks” 2010. Johnson will be featured in this year’s Canadian Art Now entitled “Storylines: Space, Colour, Geometry” Courtesy of the artist and Stephen Bulger Gallery

Art Toronto 2011
28 – 31 October 2011
at Metro Toronto Convention Centre
www.arttoronto.ca

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