Fourth and fifth year Visual Arts students Ana Ghookassian and Eszter Rosta‘s Stages of an Extreme explores materiality, ecology, gravity and the process-based nature of their collaboration through large-scale sculpture, intaglio prints, and drawings.
“The title of the show, Stages of an Extreme, describes the investments with the materials and thoughts surrounding the work. Subsequently, as products of their environment, the work ensures the importance and evidence of the studio spaces where the objects will be created. The collaboration will be informed by our surroundings,and the tools, machines, materials, intellectuals and other artists that impact us. We intend to push the conceptual and aesthetic limits of our work through a more resolved examination of our collaborative processes, in large-scale formats.”
IMAGE: Eszter Rosta’s Wax Paper (Cyanotype, rag paper 12×16 2018)
Gallery Hours:
Monday to Friday, 10:30am – 4pm
Admission is free and all are welcome.
It’s getting colder, which means it’s time to get cozy! Keep warm at the second Winters Café next Monday, October 29th. We’re offering warm beverages, sweet treats and board games. Plus, we’ll have live performances from your student peers. Interested in performing yourself? Sign up HERE!
York University music students showcase their talent.
Free admission. Everyone welcome.
Embodied Thought is a duo-exhibition featuring fourth year Visual Art Studio students Esther Kim and Rebecca Garcia in the Samuel J. Zacks Gallery in Stong College. Using photography to experience time, sculpture to encapsulate the human form, and figure drawings to draw parallels, the two artists aim to create a dialogue through their respective media about the rawness of being human. By integrating sculpture with photography and illustration, the exhibit allows viewers to immerse themselves through the different layers of physical stress and psychological foundations as well as the emotional and mental burdens of the embodied thought.
Esther Kim is a Canadian born Korean artist that explores her obsession about the human body through the materialization of her work. Her practice involves metal fabrication, woodworking, and mould making; creating an indefinite permanence in a tangible form, emphasized through the juxtaposition in medium and scale. Inspired by the philosophy of the mind and body, her research becomes the grounding element from where her work stems.
Rebecca Garcia is a Toronto born Hispanic artist exploring identity through an androgynous perspective. As part of her groundwork, she uses her respective artistic media to project intense and dramatic emotions as repercussions of unstable thought. As part of her research, the artist tries to unravel the various feminine and masculine forms of expression and finding ways to homogenize them. By means of sculptural practices, figure drawing and black and white film photography, Rebecca is continuously sculpting ideas of a superficial beauty laden with dark and even unexpected emotional charge.
Where: Samuel J. Zacks Gallery, Stong College Room 109
When: Nov 5-30, 2018
Hours: 11:30 AM – 5:00 PM
Reception: Thurs Nov 15, 6:30pm
Growth & Decay highlights the intermingling of humans and nature. Third year visual art students Kathryn Ferragina and Olivia Williams use a variety of mediums including drawing, sculpture and serigraph, among others to show how humans affect and influence the environment.
“Humans have an inherent connection to the earth through the things we create and leave there, and through the show we seek to explore this idea. Our work highlights nature, man made objects, and the combination of the two. A lot of the imagery we use reflects scraps, natural forms, and material and environmental things “decaying”. We want to look deeper into this connection between the growth of natural forms and how they connect to decaying, while also looking at the certain mechanical aspects and its influence on the nature itself.”
Gallery Hours:
Mon. – Thurs. 10am – 4pm.
Admission is free and all are welcome
Second year visual art student Asifa Khan‘s painting and photography show Landscapes of Loss: Havens and Devastation in the Ecosystems of Trinidad and Tobago focuses on the impact of contemporary climate-change on the twin tropical islands. The artist’s work explores the ecological landscapes of the country where she was born and has lived for most of her life. Many of these spaces have been drastically altered in recent years due to changing weather patterns and man-made transformations in the environment.
While Trinidad and Tobago have been framed most often in contemporary media culture as prime tourist destinations and showcased for their pristine beaches, lively festivals, and regional cuisine, Khan’s work reveals the hidden dimensions of the landscape in the mountain ranges and forests frequently overlooked by both visitors and citizens alike. By addressing this blindness to both natural beauty and the grave dangers it now faces, she seeks to trace out new zones of visibility and to raise awareness on many different levels.
The show will consist of both paintings and photographs. While the photographs will serve primarily to document the devastating changes, the paintings will both present and lament a vanishing beauty. Through alternating perspectives of proximity and distance, Landscapes of Loss will memorialize and mourn landscapes whose radiance may be erased in an instant.
Gallery Hours:
Monday to Friday, 10:30am – 4pm
Admission is free and all are welcome.
We’re working with the lovely local business Succuterra to bring the students of Winters College a fun experience at this term’s “stressbuster” event. Choose and pot your very own succulent to keep in your bedroom, or gift to a friend. Come discover your green thumb!
**limited plants available – provided on a first come, first served basis**
Young artists from York University’s classical vocal performance program share the stage in a series of concerts featuring arias, art songs and ensemble pieces.
Admission is free.
Admission is free. All welcome.
The Visual Art Speaker Series is organized by the Department of Visual Art & Art History in the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design.
The York University Chamber Choir
Dr. Lisette Canton, Conductor
Matthew Larkin, organist
Join the York University Chamber Choir as they perform part of Handel’s epic masterpiece, The Messiah (Part 1).
Advance Ticket Admission:$20 adults, $10 students and seniors (advance purchase until Tuesday, November 6, 2018)
Box Office: Purchase tickets online or call 416-736-5888
Tickets at Door: $20 adults, $10 students and seniors
Location: Grace Church on-the-Hill
300 Lonsdale Road, Toronto, ON M4V 1X4
JAZZ @ MIDDAY: Jacob’s Cattle
Roy Patterson-guitar
Burke Carroll-pedal steel
Andrew Downing-bass
Mike Billard-drums
Free Admission.
“Jacob’s Cattle (Atmospheric guitar) Canadian guitarist Roy Patterson evokes big-sky vistas with sturdy riffs that traverse the fretboard with purpose and ease. His roots as a country player, and the steel guitar in his current band, Jacob’s Cattle, add to the rural mystique and beauty. –City Newspaper, Rochester
Jacob’s Cattle is the name of the current project led by guitarist/tunesmith Roy Patterson. The band’s hybrid instrumental form of Roots/Americana is highly evocative and reflects a level of artistry that is both sophisticated and emotionally compelling.
The band’s first CD, “Songs From my Father’s House” released in June, 2014, was inspired by the imprints of the music that Roy heard on the radio on a daily basis while growing up in rural Nova Scotia and the music of his teenage years; a steady stream of country music and a diverse hit parade of songs from Hank Williams and Buck Owens, Ray Charles, Harry Belafonte, Petula Clarke, The Ventures and the gamut of artists who defined the popular music of the era.
Although Jacob’s Cattle represents a new/old direction for the guitarist/band leader, it is definitely not his first time out. For roughly three decades Roy was part of the Canadian jazz scene and racked up an impressive list of credits. In 1996 his quartet won 1st prize at the Montreal International Jazz festival (the first Toronto based band to do so) the Jazz Report’s “Guitarist of the Year” award for 2000, performances in Europe, the U.S.A. and Asia. There were numerous Canadian tours in support of six CDs released under his own name and radio and TV appearances including a one hour special for Bravo. Ironically, at a time when he is moving away from the jazz world and returning to a roots-based style, Roy was recently profiled in the Hal Leonard book, “The Great Jazz Guitarists – The Ultimate Guide” authored by Scott Yanow.
For those who might be worried that Jacob’s Cattle is “too jazzy” one need not be concerned. Roy’s earliest playing experiences at all-night blues jams in Nova Scotia as a teenager, dance band tours of Atlantic Canada during the 1970s and the six-nighters on the Queen St. country & western circuit when he first moved to Toronto serve to ground his playing, and with three east coasters and a seasoned pedal steel player the band’s roots run deep. It’s all about carefully crafted tunes, depth and communication.
“Every note that he plays seems to have a purpose and a place, and both purpose and place usually have something to do with melody.”
-The Globe and Mail
“Roy Patterson is undoubtedly one of Canada’s leading guitarists……glorious clarity of tone, sophisticated voicings and featherlight fingerwork.” -the Toronto Star
The York University Wind Symphony, under the direction of William Thomas, joins forces with the York University Symphony Orchestra, directed by Mark Chambers, in a preview concert featuring selected works from their upcoming end-of-term concerts.
Admission: $5
Elements of Oz by The Builders Association. Photo by Gennadi Novash, courtesy of Peak Performances at Montclair State University.
Intermedial Narrative & Performance: New Approaches will focus on new modes of storytelling at the intersection of performance, technology, art and design, and the ways in which they are producing alternative kinds of knowledge in and outside of the academy. Specifically, how do emerging multimedia performances and artworks use augmented and mixed reality tools, network archaeology, and new information infrastructures to generate creative opportunities and alternative modes of transmitting self, culture, and memory?
Join us for keynote presentations and workshops by:
The Builders Association (New York City)
Artistic Director Marianne Weems
Writer and Performer Moe Angelos
Video and Interactive Media Designer Larry Shea
IRL Labs (Pittsburgh)
CEO – Design & Pedagogy Ali Momeni
COO – Operations & Development Aparna Wilder
Following the symposium, our keynote speakers will be staying on for a 2-day workshop with our students.
Panel participants include:
Tim Carlson (Theatre Conspiracy), Nyla Innuksuk (Mixtape VR), Lisa Jackson (York University), Alison S.M. Kobayashi (Say Something Bunny, UnionDocs), M.E. Luka (
Stay tuned for our full schedule of events!
Sponsored/supported by: Sensorium: Centre for Digital Arts and Technology, the Graduate Programs in Cinema & Media Arts, Digital Media, and Theatre & Performance Studies, Performance Studies (Canada) Speaker Series, and Canada 150 @ York University.
Led by members of The Builders Association and designed for emerging and professional artists and media-makers working in a variety of disciplines, this hands-on workshop invites participants to explore not only “how” but “why” we integrate media into live performance. Drawing from the unique collaborative creative process of The Builders Association, students will engage in observation, discussion, and devising sessions focused on the use of media in creating live performance.
About The Builders
The Builders Association is an OBIE-award winning performance and media company based in New York City. For over 20 years, The Builders have been at the forefront of the integration of advanced technology and media with live performance. Innovative collaborations are at the heart of Builders productions, which combine media, architecture, light and sound with live performers into an integrated performance aesthetic that has become our signature. The Builders’ focus on “real world” stories as content for our productions — digging into subjects as diverse as Indian call centers, dataveillance, and the recent global economic crisis. We tell these stories through the lens of technology in order to creatively represent the economic, political, and technological forces which affect us daily — to make the invisible visible through the creative potential of multimedia theater.
Our educational programs have engaged diverse groups from a wide range of backgrounds, from high school to professional artists. We have presented workshops at Columbia University, New York University, University of California Berkeley, Ohio State University Columbus, University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, Duke University, Gesnerallee Zurich, V2 Rotterdam, and many other institutions.
Saturday, November 10, 2018: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Sunday, November 11, 2018: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Accolade East Building, Rm 209
This workshop introduces tools, techniques and repertoire for combining analog drawing techniques with real-time digital tools for live performance, installation and public interventions. This methodology departs from the accessibility, expressivity and versatility of mark making with traditional tools (pencil, maker, paper, transparency). The strengths of the medium are then enhances with real-time video processing that allows artists and designers to record, loop, scale and overlay drawings to create complex animations created from simple drawings. The workshop will introduce participants to existing commercial tools for live video and projection mapping (Millumin), as well as custom tools created with frameworks common in new media art (OpenFrameworks, Max). Participants are encouraged to integrate their own tools and work into the workshop activities: bring your laptop, your phone, drawing or sketching tools, lighting implements, etc.