If you’re an origami aficionado, you need to see these works by Madrid-based Gonzalo Garcia Calvo. He makes the intricate, folded animals and objects when he isn’t working his regular gigs as a musician. (Note the violin and grand piano that are part of his portfolio.) Origami Pegasus (alicorn) designed by Hojyo Takashi, folded using a square of mulberry paper 35x35cm For most of his works, he uses designs created by other origami artists, or patterns he’s adapted, but all the actual folding is his own.  (Owl, top of post: Tonight’s the Night, designed by Katsuta Kyohei). Origami Do ..read more

Nika Belianina, a mid-career artist, photographer and seasoned filmmaker, brings a surrealist twist to her cinematic photography with her exhibition ‘Enchanted Journeys of Desire’, as part of the 2024 Contact Photography Festival (go to her exhibition works here) Mirror, Mirror (details here) Through movement and predominantly in-camera techniques, Belianina creates characters full of magic and cinematic mystery, festival notes say. Rebirth (details here) She is represented by Abbozzo Gallery in Toronto, where the solo exhibition takes place through June 1. Below, from the gallery’s Instagram ..read more

An exhibition of rarely seen photos offers a candid and intimate portrait of life in Indigenous communities in Canada’s Hudson Bay watershed in the 1950s and 1960s. Henry Kechebra calling a moose, Mattigami Reserve, 1959, photograph, John Macfie fonds, Archives of Ontario The exhibition at the McMichael includes more than 100 photographs taken by John Macfie (1925–2018), a settler trapline manager who worked in Northern Ontario in those decades. He recorded life in Anishinaabe, Cree, and Anisininew communities far north of Lake Superior, in the territory along James and Hudson Bay. Seal blubbe ..read more

This is a new feature: a short video pick, once a week. This week’s is focused on the art of travel, so well done ..read more

Internationally renowned street artist Stikki Peaches is known for his satirical graffiti and multilayered wheat-paste prints, bursting with nostalgic pop culture references, punk symbols, and tattoo designs. The Montreal-based artist gathers and superimposes layers of paper, old magazines, comics, fabrics, reclaimed objects, then writes, spray-paints and tattoos the works. Above: The late US Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg via Instagram Stikki Peaches, from his website Like Banksy, the Quebec-born artist operates anonymously and has been photographed only while masked. He ..read more

This work showing Indian Residential School boys praying to “get the hell out of here” is by Judy Chartrand, a contemporary artist of Manitoba Cree heritage based in Vancouver. She is one of five nominees from the Pacific region for the prestigious 2024 Sobey Art Award. The full list of 30 nominees from across Canada is here. The short list will be announced June 11. Judy Chartrand: It Was a White Problem, 2017, ceramic with wood base, 35 x 35 x 25.5 cm, Rennie Collection. Photo: Blaine Campbell If you are not familiar with the horrific record of Canada’s residential schools, the National Cen ..read more

Painter Eliza Kożurno meticulously composes still-life paintings with an eye for colour, texture, and a special focus on how objects and their reflections interact. STILL LIFE WITH WAR NEWS 42 x 48 in. / acrylic on canvas Based now in Toronto, Kożurno majored in decorative textile design and studied painting, drawing, sculpture, and photography at the Strzemiński Academy of Fine Art in Łódz, Poland. STILL LIFE WITH ECONOMIST 20 x 16 in. / acrylic on canvas Arriving in Canada in 2002, she worked under Toronto fashion designer Izzy Camilleri, collaborating on collections for international client ..read more

In theatre, a monodramatic is a piece for only one performer. In the hands of Japanese photographer Daisuke Takakura, it means cloning one figure into a riveting medley of personalities, actions and perspectives. Sometimes, the figures in his surreal series Monodramatic are packed together, differentiated by expression and gestures. In larger areas, body posture or large movement is the distinguishing factor. Takakura describes the series as an exploration of the idea of self, how one person sees themselves and interacts with others in many different ways. See more on Takakura’s website, h ..read more

Matthew Stephenson’s photography captures a wide swath daily life, from the streets of Cairo to the vibrant wet markets of Hong Kong, all the shots brimming with vitality and movement. (Above, Wetmarket 2019) City in Motion is a feature exhibition Stephenson’s series – titled City in Motion – is a feature exhibition at Abbozzo Gallery as part of the 2024 Contact Photography Festival. His exhibition runs May 10 to June 1 at the Toronto gallery. Above: A Tale of Light, 2018, 24 x 36 in: “Capturing the serene beauty of a woman in colourful attire as she prepares for the lunch rush in the a ..read more

In this photograph with its single-point perspective, a mammoth bridge with repeating concrete arches appears to recede into history. In this work by Jin-me Yoon, a Korea-born, Vancouver-based artist, people in camp chairs look small in relation to the built form. “The bridge testifies to the naturalization of the past’s vision of “progress”; the photograph documents a witnessing of that past—a listening place,” she says. Seated there are Chung-soon Yoon and Hereditary Chief Találsamkin Siyám Bill Williams of Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), representatives of two different cultures c ..read more