A new wave of visual artists is surging into Toronto galleries. Throughout April and May, a series of exhibitions showcases the work of rising young talent graduating from York University’s studio art programs.
For the third year running, the Propeller Centre for the Visual Arts is hosting a juried group exhibition by undergraduate students from York. The show, titled Synesthesia, runs to April 11. Coordinated by visual arts Professors Michael Davey and Brandon Vickerd, it draws from the hugely successful visual arts open house of the same title which took place on campus in March.
The works in the exhibition, ranging from sculpture, installation, painting and drawing to photography, time-based art and print media, were selected by Art Gallery of York University assistant director and curator Emelie Chhangur and assistant curators Michael Maranda and Suzanne Carte-Blanchenot. Participating artists are Nazanin Azari, Marianne Burlew, Robert Clements, Alex Fischer, Maggie Flynn, Selena Lee, Phoebe Lo, Sara Moffatt, Josh Pogue, Sherisse Teixeira, Brad Tinmouth, Tasha Turner and Natalie Viecili
The Propeller Centre for the Visual Arts is located at 984 Queen St. W. Gallery hours are Wednesday to Saturday from 12 to 6pm and Sunday from 12 to 5pm. There will be a closing reception for Synesthesia Saturday, April 10, from 3 to 6pm.
Ten artists from York’s Master of Fine Arts in Visual Arts Program are presenting their thesis shows at a variety of uptown and downtown venues.
I Thought I Knew You, an exhibition by Jaime Angelopoulos, is on view until April 9 in the Gales Gallery in the Accolade West Building on York’s Keele campus. The show features new sculptures and poetry written by the artist to trace her creative decision-making, responding to the visual stimuli that motivated her to create the sculptures. The gallery is open Monday to Friday from 10:30am to 4pm.
Cheryl Rondeau presents Elusive Body, a sci-fi inspired video installation, at Gallery 47 from April 8 to 18. The installation is a dual-channel video of vignettes that mix footage from science fiction films featuring female protagonists in action with original recordings captured from the handlebars of Rondeau’s bicycle. What emerges is a frantic esthetic and radical reframing of the original imagery.
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| Above: An image from Cherly Rondeau’s Elusive Body |
The opening reception for Elusive Body takes place April 8 from 7 to 9pm. Gallery 47, located at 47 Milky Way (near the intersection of Queen and Dufferin Streets) is open Wednesday to Sunday from 12 to 5pm.
Anthony Koutras showcases his thesis exhibition Explication at Stephen Bulger Gallery April 15 to 24. The exhibit is comprised of a collection of photographs that examine everyday objects in the public realm, such as pylons, cardboard boxes, mailboxes, garbage cans and phone booths. Each of these objects was originally manufactured for a specific purpose, but over time begins to hold its own unique, individual character as it is affected by vandalism and weather. Koutras draws attention to the way photographs can disconnect and distance objects from their original meanings, 
illustrating the tension between reality and photography.
Right: Pylon by Anthony Koutras is part of his thesis exhibition Explication. The exhibit is comprised of photographs that examine everyday items in the public realm.
Stephen Bulger Gallery is at 1026 Queen St. W. Gallery hours are Tuesday to Saturday from 11am to 6pm or by appointment by calling 416-504-0575. The opening reception for Explication is Saturday, April 17, from 2 to 5pm.
What You Wish For, a show by Lauren Goldman, will be featured at AWOL Gallery from April 22 to May 2. Through a series of small-scale oil paintings, Goldman depicts a fictional universe inspired by the idea of piles. Combining many different modes of painting, the works explore ways in which close interactions affect meaning and how individual parts work together to make a new
whole.
The opening reception for What You Wish For takes place Friday, April 23, from 7 to 10pm. AWOL Gallery, located at 76 Ossington Ave., is open Thursday to Saturday from 12 to 6pm and Sunday from 1 to 5pm.
Zev Farber’s exhibition, If It Happened at All, It Happened this Way, will be on view April 26 to 30 in the Special Project Gallery in the Joan & Martin Goldfarb Centre for Fine Arts at York. This multimedia installation draws on a narrative involving an investigation into a family that suddenly and unexpectedly disappeared. Special gallery hours for Farber’s exhibition are Monday to Friday from 12 to 4pm. The show’s opening reception will be held Tuesday, April 27, from 5 to 8pm.
Right: An image from Zev Farber’s multimedia installation
Narrative 3: Piles by Catherine Lane will be at Katharine Mulherin Contemporary Art Projects from April 28 to May 9. A collection of 2-D and 3-D ink and watercolour drawings on paper, Narrative 3 explores three separate stories by drawing narrative elements and connecting them in piles. Through her work, the artist strives to present an exploratory form of narration where definitive 
answers and truths are not given and the audience can draw on their own experience to fill in the gaps.
Left: An image from Catherine Lane’s Narrative 3: Piles
The opening reception for Narrative 3 takes place Thursday, April 29, from 7 to 10pm. The gallery, located at 1082 Queen St. W., is open Wednesday to Friday from 11am to 6pm, Saturday from 12 to 6pm and Sunday from 1 to 5pm.
The Disobedient Dollhouse – a very gothic paper dollhouse featuring giant insects and damask “wallpaper” – by installation artist Jennifer Linton can be seen at Board of Directors Gallery, 1086 Queen St. W., from April 28 to May 9. Gallery hours are Wednesday to Saturday from 12 to 6pm, and the opening reception is Thursday, April 29, from 7 to 10pm.
Dustin Wenzel‘s interdisciplinary exhibition, New Wonderment, is showing at York University’s Gales Gallery April 28 to May 4. Through sculpture and new media, the show addresses the complexity of representing and perceiving the internal body – in particular, the heart – in a multi-sensory way. Traditional anatomical illustrations, medical models and modern medical images are presented alongside a series of alternative ways to view this complex and dynamic component of the body. The 
gallery is open Monday to Friday from 10:30am to 4pm, with a closing reception Tuesday, May 4, from 5 to 8pm.
Right: Dustin Wenzel’s exhibition New Wonderment shows the complexity of the internal body through sculpture and new media
The thesis show by Julieta Maria, Exercises in Faith, will be on display May 3 to 7 in the Special Project Gallery in the Joan & Martin Goldfarb Centre for Fine Arts at York University. The gallery is open Monday to Friday from 8:30am to 4pm and the opening reception for the exhibition takes place Tuesday, May 4, from 5 to 8pm.
In his video and digital print exhibition The New(be)comers, Rodrigo Hernandez-Gomez explores and documents the knowledge that adult immigrants bring with them when they arrive in Toronto. The artist is particularly interested in knowledge which, in light of the change of place and culture, may become devalued in its new context. For exhibition dates and locations, contact newbecomers@gmail.com.