Five Notes

Yang Zhenzhou: Light and Easy2002: Courtesy BAGART, Art Metropole, Toronto and Gendai Gallery, Shanghai.By Ann Dean

1. The BAGART Project from Shanghai with invited Toronto artists

BAGART has been created by the Shanghai art collective, Birdhead, which includes the artists Ji Weiyu and Song Tao, as a tool to help artists survive and prosper. With its plan to circumvent the established methods of the traditional art market, the project is passionate, hilarious and hopeful. I really admire Birdhead's energy and ambition. This year-long web-based game/exhibition/sale is being supported by Art Metropole and Gendai Gallery.

Krista Buecking: Oblivion #1: Graphite on paper, plexiglass (2009). Courtesy the artist and Susan Hobbs Gallery, Toronto. Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid.2. Krista Buecking at Susan Hobbs Gallery

Full disclosure… I work with Krista, and well appreciate her professionalism and intelligence, but I don't get to see much of her art. Her recent exhibition at Susan Hobbs Gallery elicited a surprising, visceral reaction in me. The seven lean graphite drawings conjured wailing heartbreak and abject ruination through a cool-handed visual conjugation. Associating song lyrics and images of stone and blackness, a sort of transposition of meaning occurred, generating a delicious ontological despair in me.

3. Reading current affairs on the web

I know many people feel that the news is a big waste of time and intellect, and has no effect on their "real" lives and interests. I am, however, fascinated by the world at large, particularly these days, and spend hours reading through the world wide web. I love having access to original source articles and video reports. Sites I visit regularly include BBC News, China Daily, the New York Times, the Guardian, Al Jazeera (in English), The Economist, the Huffington Post, the Washington Post, and the Globe and Mail.

4. Collaborating with other institutions

During the school year, Art Metropole works with student interns from various universities, colleges and local high schools. Their talents, interests and ambitions provide fresh eyes to view our own achievements, and energize our workday. The professors and teachers who facilitate these programs are great to work with. As well, in the past few years we have found ourselves collaborating more and more with other arts organizations. We enjoyed the opportunity to set up an experimental shop in the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art’s foyer and work with their crew for six months in 2009. We've also shared our booth at the Basel Art Fair in Switzerland and at Art/Basel Miami with Printed Matter, Inc. from New York for the past five years. It is great to partner with our brother organization in the United States. We attend Printed Matter’s NY Art Book Fair and we go to the Art Librarians Conference together every fall.

5. Ydessa Hendeles Foundation

778 King St. West, Toronto

This is my favorite place to look at art. The Ydessa Hendeles Foundation is an astonishing creation. It is completely unique in its curatorial premise, and provides the most wonderful viewing experience anywhere. It’s like walking into another world. Supremely considered, Ydessa Hendeles has created a magical reality that everyone should experience.

Ann Dean is the director of Art Metropole, an organization that specializes in the production, exhibition, promotion and distribution of artists’ multiples and book works, and marked its 35th anniversary in 2009. Portrait of Ann by Zeesy Powers.