The 14th annual Nuit Blanche Toronto filled the city’s streets with nearly 90 contemporary art projects on Oct. 5. Pictured is ‘Chasing Red’ by Bekah Brown.
The 14th annual Nuit Blanche Toronto filled the city’s streets with nearly 90 contemporary art projects on Oct. 5.
The projects involved more than 300 local, national, and international artists. This year featured two City of Toronto-produced curated exhibitions, in addition to a large-scale artist installation that used the event-wide curatorial theme of Continuum.
The topic follows many paths during Nuit Blanche. Set against the back drop of the ever-present renewal of night into day, a continuum of experience and ideas is brought to light by the participating artists.
Nineteen commissioned art projects were presented as part of the three city-produced exhibitions. The first two are curated presentations of art works, while ‘Lunar Garden’ is a single, massive installation:
‘Creation: Destruction’ curated by Layne Hinton and Rui Pimenta (Toronto), is located in Toronto’s Fort York neighbourhood. Inspired by its geographical area, this exhibition challenged understandings of creation and destruction. Artists include Max Dean and Jared Raab (Toronto), Kim Morgan (Halifax) and Kaitlyn Bourden (Bowmanville, Ont.), and Jonathan Schipper (Ellenville, N.Y.), among many others.
‘Queens and Kings of Scarborough’ curated by Ashley McKenzie-Barnes (Toronto), is located in the Scarborough City Centre neighbourhood. This exhibition confronts systems of social marginalization, self-identity negotiation, and racial stereotyping within a modern framework. Artists include Ebony G. Patterson (Chicago), Kent Monkman (Toronto), Jordan Bennett (Terence Bay, N.S.), Hatecopy (Toronto), and more.
‘Lunar Garden’ created by Daniel Arsham (New York) and sponsored by Shiseido, is an installation that was located at Nathan Phillips Square. This large-scale project re-interpreted a traditional Japanese Zen garden with colour, sculptural casts, and a musical score by Charlotte Day Wilson (Toronto), to create a fully immersive experience.
“Nuit Blanche Toronto creates significant artistic and cultural energy in our city,” said Toronto mayor, John Tory. “By making a wide spectrum of contemporary art accessible and enjoyable for everyone, it is as much a celebration of our diversity as it is a showcase for the creativity of our talented artists.”
