This major retrospective celebrates Alex Janvier’s lifetime of creativity, knowledge and perspective, gained through his love of the land, art and Dene culture. Exploring his 65-year career through more than 100 remarkable paintings and drawings, it is the largest and most comprehensive retrospective on the artist to date.
Instruction will be offered to artists working to refine their offerings in the subject of their choice—landscape, still life, figurative/portraiture, wildlife/pets—and in their individual style, be it realism or varying degrees of abstraction. Demonstrations will be done in water-mixable oils and acrylic; offering solutions in areas artists need help in. Sample topics covered include: mastering perspective, reflections in water, patterns, texture, skies and clouds, dramatic light, depth, using negative space, and more. Special attention will be given to basic drawing techniques, composition, colour, texture, use of materials and effective brushstrokes. Andrew Sookrah uses a combination of painting demonstrations and individual guidance to create a fun, supportive and collaborative atmosphere in the McMichael’s well-lit Pine Cottage studio.
Culture Days at the McMichael is a unique opportunity for the whole family to discover the latest innovative exhibitions through the public tours and enjoy art making through O’ Canada, a family drop-in art workshop inspired by the mixed-media works of Joyce Wieland currently on view at the gallery.
Luthier George Gray created this guitar inspired by the work and life of Frank Johnston. Gray and Jonhston share a passion for flight, and Gray's guitar incorporates a photograph he took from his own two-seater airplane of the same view of Beamsville that Johnston painted from above. Gray will be in a moderated conversation with musician Don Ross about the creation of the guitar before a live performance, where Ross will perform
A guided tour in French of Passion Over Reason: Tom Thomson and Joyce Wieland, the exhibition that offers a new critical look on the life and work of Tom Thomson through the feminist lens of Wieland’s art. The event will begin at 10 am with a petit déjeuner of coffee and baked goods.
This fun and intense introductory weekend workshop is geared toward those who would like to begin expressing their creativity through painting, whether that’s with realism, abstraction, or conceptual techniques. The workshop begins with the basics: drawing, composition, observation skills, values, colour, colour mixing, brushstrokes and use of media. Participants then learn how to develop and refine painting techniques by building on those basic skills. This class is taught in acrylic and water-mixable oils and, if needed, watercolour.
Cutting Ice is a term that implies something that matters or has consequence. Dr. Nancy Campbell, acting as lead curator, will take a community approach to this project with a range of individuals from Cape Dorset who knew the artist. Dr. Campbell’s curatorial expertise will lend new insights to our understanding of Annie Pootoogook’s work and will enliven the many voices from the community that she has come to know well. This exhibition celebrates the strength and contemporaneity of Pootoogook’s work but also uncovers how it has influenced her peers. Alongside works by Pootoogook, this exhibition will include works of art by Shuvinai Ashoona, Itee Pootoogook, Jutai Toonoo, Ohotaq Mikkigak and Siassie Kenneally, showing how Annie Pootoogook made it possible to begin a different conversation that celebrates Inuit art in new ways in Canada and the world.
Luthier David Wren created this guitar inspired by the artist Franklin Carmichael, and Wren will be in a moderated conversation with musician Mike Francis about the creation of the guitar before a live performance, where Francis will perform.
Delve into various string instruments and their cultural importance across the world through instrument-making workshops, art workshops, and in-gallery iPad activities.
Luthier Linda Manzer created this remarkable guitar inspired by several works by Lawren Harris, and with the spirit: "if Lawren Harris were to build a guitar, what would it look like?" Manzer will be in a moderated conversation with musician Tony McManus about the creation of the guitar before a live performance, where McManus will perform.
Including Sonic Palette – Tom Thomson’s Voice through Music 100 Years Later, an immersive musical celebration capturing the spirit of his landscapes through original compositions created by Kathryn Briggs, Terry Tufts and John Geggie and performed by The Algonquin Ensemble.
This Family Sunday, explore Tom Thomson’s art and life through the gallery tours and outdoor painting workshops. We also have a special performance happening at 2pm: an immersive musical celebration capturing the spirit of Tom Thomson's landscapes through original compositions performed by The Algonquin Ensemble.
An evening of art, history and music to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the mysterious and early death of Tom Thomson. Starting at 5 pm, the event will include a presentation by the McMichael’s Executive Director, Ian Dejardin, along with readings by Murdoch Mysteries’ Yannick Bisson and a musical performance by Kathryn Briggs and Terry Tufts.
Dr. Sarah Stanners and Zachari Logan in conversation highlighting the connection of this very special artist residency to the thesis of the Passion Over Reason exhibition.
This family festival engages the senses through various art workshops related to exhibitions on view. Evolving around musical themes, take part in family performances and outdoor activities such as McMichael Art Battles and the En Plein Air Competition. This programming will be offered in partnership with JAZZ.FM91 Youth Big Band and Kleinburg BIA.
Consider this exhibition to be a love letter to Tom Thomson and Canada – two subjects at the core of the 2017-year as we celebrate Canada’s 150th year and the centenary of Thomson’s death. Passion Over Reason will take a critical approach to our fascination with Thomson and show how today’s current culture of hipster or lumbersexual fashion, as well as cultivation of outsider creed, has confirmed what Wieland pointed to in the 1970s: Thomson is Canada. This exhibition will also allow for an account of feminist approaches to the topic of Canada in art then and now.
Zachari Logan’s artist residency at the McMichael, and related artwork commissioned by the gallery, folds seamlessly into Passion Over Reason as a 21st-century complement to Tom Thomson’s subject matter and Joyce Wieland’s strategically ‘feminine’ approaches to art making. Like Thomson, Logan (b. 1980) has Scottish roots but was born in Canada. Logan’s pastel and paint celebrations of flora and fauna in dense configurations would make any naturalist swoon, and the tender treatments of the human body interwoven among them make us think twice about sexually suggestive flora which is commonly associated with women artists.
On June 21, celebrate National Aboriginal Day at the McMichael! Enjoy heritage trail walks led by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA), family story walks from Vaughan Public Libraries, storytelling and workshops in the McMichael's gallery spaces, and live performances by national hoop dancing champion Lisa Odjig, and the Manitou Mkwa Singers! A Land Acknowledgment Ceremony with Elder Jim Dumont will take place in the Sculpture Garden earlier in the day.
Sergei de Jonge created a birchbark guitar inspired by the work, and historical context, of artist J.E.H. MacDonald. The luthier will be in a moderated discussion with musician Emma Rush before a special live performance with this guitar.
Explore The Group of Seven Guitar Project through a conversation led by exhibition curator Sarah Stanners, Director of Curatorial & Collections at the McMichael, with producers Jason Charters and Liam Romalis of Toronto-based Riddle Films, the production company that produced a feature-length documentary on the making of these very special guitars.