OCAD University partners on two student-focused projects at Art Toronto 2021 with many more graduates and faculty represented by commercial galleries from across Canada.
This Friday, Canada’s largest art fair opens, in person and virtually, at the Metro Convention Centre. Art Toronto is the most significant art event of its kind in the country, bringing together over 60 international and Canadian galleries to showcase and sell works by an enormous range of contemporary and modern artists.
This year, OCAD University has partnered on two projects at the fair, including a collaborative exhibition, Radiance, with University of the Arts London (UAL) that features alumni from both institutions. The in-person exhibition runs from October 29 to 31 while the online version is available until November 7.
Radiance includes works that range from morose and contemplative such as Devon Pryce’s Piece of Mine (Bruised ego), a 2020 Drawing and Painting graduate, to tempting and beautiful in Raquel da Silva’s The Siren, a 2020 Painting and Furniture Design graduate. Soft Moss, a painting by Indigenous Visual Culture graduate Kaya Joan, reflects on kinship and healing through a representation of the Haudenosaunee creation story.
"I am very excited to have my work shown at Art Toronto. It’s such a great opportunity to present my work in a more international context and gain more perspective on my art through a wider lens, says Mekayla Dionne, a graduate of OCAD U’s Drawing and Painting program whose work, Radiant, is also included in the show and inspired its title. Since graduating, Dionne, who is of Métis descent, has gone on to become a children’s art educator at Art City in Toronto’s St. James Town neighbourhood.
This is the second year that OCAD University has partnered with UAL on an exhibition for the fair.
“Art Toronto is a vital opportunity for OCAD U alumni to connect and show work alongside peers from UAL. It exemplifies our shared commitment to collaboration and exploring new directions in artistic engagement. We are enthusiastic about how this opportunity offers a valuable international context for the artists to see themselves and their work,” says Dr. Glen Lowry, Executive Director and Advisor to the Provost.
This year, over 30 per cent of exhibiting galleries at Art Toronto are presenting works by First Nations, Inuit and Métis artists, including faculty member Jason Baerg who is Cree Métis and 2010 OCAD U photography graduate Meryl McMaster who is Plains Cree.
RBC Centre for Emerging Artists and Designers partners with /edition
Also, part of the event is /edition, Toronto’s art book fair. Always a buzzing and vibrant component of the fair, /edition showcases artist-led publications and editioned artworks.
Nine OCAD University students are participating in the book fair this year, through the Career Launchers program offered by OCAD U’s RBC Centre for Emerging Artists and Designers.
The program facilitates high-profile, real-world opportunities for OCAD U students. At /edition, recent graduates, selected from a call for submissions, will have their own exclusive table and an opportunity to sell their works among the country’s biggest figures in the art publishing industry.
OCAD U has partnered with /edition since 2018. This year, works by the following recent graduates will be featured:
Rui Cao, BFA 21, Illustration
Jessica Huynh, BDes 20, Advertising
Nomi Juhasz, BFA 20, Material Art and Design
Varvara Nedilska, BFA 20, Illustration
Olivia Mae Sinclair, MFA 21, Interdisciplinary Art, Media and Design
Helen Tran, BFA 21, Print and Publications
MICK Agnes Wong, BFA 21, Print and Publications
Melanie Yan, BFA 21, Illustration
Nancy Zhang, BFA 20, Illustration
While at Art Toronto, you can also catch a glimpse of works by other members of the OCAD U community, including Faculty of Art instructor, Derek Liddington who is represented by Daniel Faria Gallery, Rajni Perera, who graduated in 2011 from the Drawing and Painting program and is represented by Patel Brown Gallery and Kaley Flowers, who graduated in 2015 from the Material Art and Design program and is represented by The Plumb, among many others.