CANADIAN ART

Keg de Souza’s Gonflables et amuses-bouches brought a big, inflatable, picnic-tablecloth hut to Montreal’s Darling Foundry this fall. The point? To encourage discussions about food and food activism. Find out more about de Souza’s project in Amber Berson’s review on our site.

Rodney Graham, Canadian Humourist, 2011. Courtesy the artist / photo Scott Livingstone

If an understated sense of humour is one of the hallmarks of modern Canadian identity, there are few who play that role with sharper wit than Vancouver artist Rodney Graham. Whether in the altered mental states or absurdist narratives of his film works, like Halcion Sleep, Vexation Island or The Phonokinetoscope, the nod-and-wink visual puns of his stage-set photos, or, most recently, his ironically edged experiments in modernist painting, Graham consistently upends expectations of art and popular culture with a wry touch. Read more…

Ivan Jurakic Pylon 2012 Installation view / photo K.J. Bedford

TH&B, a collective named after the defunct Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo Railway, mounted its second large group show this spring. As Caitlin Sutherland observes, the exhibition evoked Steeltown’s struggle to redefine itself as a cultural hub. Read more…

Edouard Vuillard, Woman in a Striped Dress from The Album, 1895. Courtesy the National Gallery of Art Washington

A new exhibition of works by turn-of-the-century French painter Edouard Vuillard at New York’s Jewish Museum is at once predictably quiet and unexpectedly thrilling. David Balzer reviews one of Manhattan’s mandatory summer art events. Read more…

Deborah Samuel, Barred Owl.I 2012 © Deborah Samuel, Courtesy Royal Ontario Museum.

Have you ever wished you’d done something other than make art? Maybe done something that could tangibly help other living beings? Janieta Eyre has felt that way, but the ROM’s Deborah Samuel exhibition is reminding her how art itself can be helpful. Read more…

Jon Rafman, 214 9th Ave., New York, NY, United States, 2010. Courtesy Angell Gallery.

Jon Rafman’s work enjoys a deservedly high profile at this year’s Contact Festival. As Saelan Twerdy observes in this review, Rafman’s stunning, and often funny, Google Street View scenes demonstrate how the Internet is making everything public, from information to intimacy. Read more…

Jeff Thomas, Richard Poafpybitty, Pink Panther, 1982. From the series Strong Hearts: The Powwow Dancers 1981–96

The history of indigenous people performing for colonial audiences inspires “Sovereign Acts,” a current Toronto group show. As Max Mosher writes, the show—featuring Lori Blondeau, Adrian Stimson and others—is both campy and contemplative. Read more…

Louise Bourgeois’ 2004 works Untitled / photo Barbara Solowan

Frieze opened its first New York edition last week with some surprising highlights: sculptures that were free for public viewing outside the big commercial tent. Canadian Art art director Barbara Solowan was there, and she brought back this slideshow. Read more…

Philippe Chancel,
 Arirang, 
2006. Courtesy Eric Franck Fine Art

From the series Arirang, Philippe Chancel’s C-prints document the eerie control with which North Korea directs its performer-citizens in its annual mass games in Pyongyang. Read more…

Luke Painter, The Arch of William Morris. Courtesy LE Gallery and Luke Painter

Melding William Morris–style ornamentation with more contemporary concerns, artist Luke Painter detours around dry academicism for something more vibrant and visceral. Mariam Nader reviews his current Toronto show at LE Gallery, finding depth in decoration. Read more…