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Editors' Picks: Art

Art openings and exhibits.

by Craig Moy

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The Procession Wooden Figures

Image © Antonio Tan

EDITOR’S PICK

On Now
The manner by which a culture acknowledges death speaks volumes about how it views living. In Mexico, an annual fiesta honours ancestors and the recently deceased while affirming the values of life and family. The centuries-old holiday, known as the Days of the Dead, is the inspiration for the Harvest of Memories exhibition at the Gardiner Museum, where the legacies of the dead are celebrated with colourful ceramic, papier mâché and wood figures, as well as an enormous altar similar to those commissioned by Mexican families for the event. The relation of the Days of the Dead to the autumn harvest is also explored in a photo essay that documents migrant farm workers as they journey home for the festival.

Erin Vincent's Vintage VW.

Image © Courtesy of Art Interiors.

SIZE MATTERS

To December 24
Good things do come in small packages—or in this case, on small canvases—as popular imagery emporium Art Interiors (446 Spadina Rd., 416-488-3157) hosts its 15th annual Festival of Smalls. Ensconced in the upscale Forest Hill nabe, the gallery is known for being one of the first in Toronto to focus on making original art affordable, and this exhibition is one of its pioneering initiatives: framed, modestly sized works by more than 50 emerging artists—such as Erin Vincent’s Vintage VW—are available for purchase from $55 to $250. At those prices, we can all afford to own a little art!

The LifeStraw personal water purifier.

INNOVATION FOR ALL

On Now
The word “design” is today a loaded term, evoking images of consumer products made by and for millionaires, or buildings erected with an eye to form over function. But design isn’t only for the super-rich, as the newest exhibition at the OCAD Professional Gallery demonstrates. Design for the Other 90% showcases low-cost innovations—from the ingenious LifeStraw personal water purifier to the $100 “One Laptop per Child” computer—that address basic challenges faced by many of the world’s most impoverished people. They’re not diamond-studded or graphically chic, but these objects boast greater significance through utility, sustainability and the promise of real progress.