Parkdale International Art Fair
September 29 – October 27, 2008
convenience announces the first annual Parkdale International Art Fair (PIAF), which takes place September 29 – October 27, 2008, to coincide with the Toronto International Art Fair (TIAF).
Art fairs are de rigueur. They feature prestigious vernissages, are attended by thousands of art-lovers and art-world personnalités, and prices soar into the millions. Ooh la la. During our slightly contracted economy, contemporary art sales continue to set new records and raise new eyebrows.
Art lovers love art fairs. And we love Parkdale.
PIAF will showcase the work of twelve Parkdale International Artists. They are:
Diane Borsato
Chris Curreri
Robert Fones
Sara Graham
Melissa Levin
Myles McCutcheon
Jon Sasaki
Judith Schwarz
Shawn Skeir
Monica Tap
Orest Tataryn
Laurel WoodcockEach artist has been assigned a booth made of plywood, painted white, measuring approximately 2 x 3 x 2 feet. The artists have been carefully selected to fit the strict criteria of PIAF: 1. be a visual artist; & 2. live in Parkdale.
Parkdale is a neighbourhood in the south-west end of Toronto. Its boundaries are: Roncesvalles Avenue (west), Howard Park Avenue & Dundas Street West (north), the railway tracks from Dundas St. West to Queen and Dufferin Street (east), and Lake Ontario (south).
Parkdale is roughly one square kilometer of diversity, disparity, and coexistence. A 19th century village turned prosperous residential area, Parkdale since the 1980s has been home to the working class, artists, immigrants, addicts, the homeless and the newly trendy.
PIAF will also include a series of educational/outreach activities in intimate salon-style and public agora-style fora. Audience participation is integral to the interpretative strategy and sales. On October 18/19, Parkdale luminaries, long-time residents and ordinary people will discuss such pressing issues as “Where is Parkdale and what can I buy there?” and “Who are the Internationals?” PIAF will culminate with the announcement of the Parkdale International Artist of the Year. Further details to be announced.
PIAF is organized by your friendly neighbourhood international gallerists: Flavio Trevisan, Georgiana Uhlyarik and Scott Sørli.
Parkdale International Art Fair might very well be this year’s answer to the sadly defunct Toronto Alternative Art Fair International, as it also runs alongside the establishment-heavy Toronto International Art Fair. PIAF’s press materials snidely refer to such “pressing issues” as “who are the internationals?”—as the fair celebrates Parkdale’s more rough-and-tumble qualities. Participants, including such local artists as Robert Fones, Monica Tap and Jon Sasaki, place works in two-by-three-foot plywood booths in the window of Lansdowne’s Convenience gallery. Artwork prices TBA.—David Balzer