In the newsletter: I don't want summer to be over, but...
Have you seen what's coming to Nuit Blanche? That plus our favourite links of the week
Hello! You're reading the CBC Arts newsletter, and if you like what you see, stick around! Sign up here, and every Sunday we'll send you a fresh email packed with art, culture and a metric truckload of eye candy, hand-picked by our small and mighty team. Here's what we've been talking about this week.
Hi, art lovers!
Look, I definitely do not want the summer to be over. There are too many summer movies left to watch! Too many summer outfits I want to wear! (And too many outfits inspired by this particular summer horror movie.) But damn if this week's Nuit Blanche announcement isn't already making me desperate for October to get here already.
The all-night event returns to Toronto Oct. 5, and it'll include a few new far-flung neighbourhoods this time around (e.g. an exhibition zone in East Danforth). And there are so, so many artists involved who've been featured on CBC Arts, which is maybe why I'm already overwhelmed by the schedule. They've got Hatecopy, Layne Hinton and Rui Pimenta, Camille Jodoin-Eng, Director X, Jordan Bennett (who'll bring Tepkik, which is currently up in New York City), Kent Monkman, Esmaa Mohamoud and Bryan Espiritu. (Esmaa and Bryan are creating a tribute to the Raptors, by the way. Go, sparts!)
Get the full program here. Plus, here's a short video about one of the event's tentpole attractions, Lunar Garden. It's an eerily peaceful installation by Daniel Arsham (read: supersized pink Zen garden on the moon), and it'll be taking over Nathan Phillips Square to Oct. 14. And because Nuit Blanche always has a certain urban playground vibe, here's an intriguing long-ish read about the man who invented the ball pit. (There's a Canadian connection, too. Somebody get this guy a Heritage Minute.)
And because we promised you eye candy
Enough thinking about October, there are things happening RIGHT NOW — things like the Up Here festival in Sudbury, Ont. This year, they've recruited international street artist Risk to paint them the biggest mural in Canada. That's not it in the picture, obvs. (This relatively diminutive wall's in Miami.) Follow his progress on the festival's IG.
Do you have a designer's eye? (I passed, but I'm not about to quit this gig, either.)
Like aura photos but with pencil crayons. Portraits by Calgary artist Kelly Isaak. (See them in person at Edmonton's Galerie Cité at La Cité Francophone to Sept. 21.)
In case you've been wondering what our old Exhibitionist in Residence Mike Pelletier's been up to…
You've got to see this
She canoed to Thunder Bay in a big Victorian dress — and the trip's not over yet - This time last summer, Naomi Harris was scared for her life — over and over and over again. The artist made a 70-day canoe journey, "paddling in the footsteps" of 19th-century painter Frances Anne Hopkins, and while the trip could've killed her, she's retracing her steps later this month. (Live and learn. She's taking a car this time.) Read about the whole adventure.
Under the bridge - She's the Canadian choreographer behind your favourite Feist and Carly Rae Jepsen videos (or mine, at least), and earlier this summer, Noémie Lafrance gave Toronto a treat. We head to The Bentway, a unique stretch of park space under the city's crumbling Gardiner Expressway. That's where Lafrance debuted Dérives, an outdoor production featuring 50 dancers. Watch highlights from the show and go behind the scenes of its creation.
Fall in love with Saint John - The New Brunswick city is an unusually decent place to see public art. (You've scrolled past the new Hula mural on Instagram by now, I trust?) Filmmaker Matthew Brown (a guy who's contributed a ton of short docs to CBC Arts) knows where to find the best stuff — and there are loads of the usual touristy tips (Food! Sights! More food!) in his guide to the city, too.
Follow this artist
KC Wilcox (@kc.wilcox) - Speaking of Saint John, that's where KC lives! And we hung out with her at the city's Tin Can Beach. That's where she finds the odds and ends (read: litter) that become works of art like this. KC's big on sculpting discarded objects with rubber latex, which she will explain to you in detail at this handy video link.
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Until next week!
XOXO, CBC Arts
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