My journey on the train was beautiful; the view literally consisted of tree, tree, tree, sap, tree, lake, tree, tree etc. I found myself becoming slightly frustrated that I could not be out in the forest but the sighting of a bear quickly squashed this. I arrived in Toronto at 9 in the morning and knew I had a whole day before I would be on another journey, this time by coach, to New York. This part of my adventure has been planned to be the gallery and artist research time. And I think I can safely say I have seen a wide selection of work. To list all the galleries and discoveries would be very long so I will cut to the chase and praise a few. First off, AGO (art gallery of Ontario, Toronto) has an excellent collection of permanent works as well as changing exhibitions. I was so happy to see several pieces by Guiseppe Penone and David Altmejd’s piece that was at the 2007 Venice biennale entitled the index. I found new Canadian contemporary artists that I had not heard of before including Sarah Anne Johnson, who casts emotive bronze sculptures. David Harnah, who creates large-scale kinetic sculptures of animals out of sticky tape. And the most profound discovery was Marcel Dzama, a draughtsman who works with ink and who work makes me smile so much and oddly from…Winnipeg.
New York held more art highs and lows that I can’t even fathom now. I think I totaled around 35 galleries in 5 days. My sketchbook holds scribbles of excitement and notes-to-self of what not to do in a gallery space. I traveled between the small commercial galleries of Chelsea to the giants of MOMA. In between the vast amount of traveling and art absorption, I managed to find some sap, something that I thought would not be possible in NYC. I am beginning to see that this collection process could become obsessive, but I really enjoy it. I think its like search for gold but it’s free and nobody else seems to want it as much as I do.
