news
Urban Planner: September 19, 2008
ART: As part of the continuing Manifesto Festival of Music and Art, there will be an opening party tonight at the Well and Good Art Space for “Us & Them,” a four-section art expo that will run until September 30. One section will showcase the work of artists who over the last ten years have been a part of Canada’s largest street art organization, them.ca (Dstrbo, Fauxreel, Omen, and Specter, to name just a few). As well, there will be a display by the Z’otz* Collective, known for their artistic exploration of the urban lifestyle. “Banknotes” is a showcase of youth artists producing art on, well, money. Each banknote will be up for auction, with all proceeds going to Amnesty International. The fourth section is “The Puzzle Project,” a collaborative effort of eighteen Toronto artists to create a single piece of artwork. Well and Good Art Space (639 Queen Street West on the third floor), 8 p.m., FREE.
WORDS: Simon and Schuster Books is having a launch party at The Revival in celebration of the new book by “author” Prince, 21 Nights. Like most celebrity indulgences of things fans can otherwise find for free on the internet, the book will spill intimate details of Prince’s life, accompanied by lyrics, poems, and behind-the-scenes photos of The Artist Formerly Known as Unpronouncable Symbol. The launch is in association with “Purplelectricity,” a recurring Prince tribute dance party, so like, if you don’t like Prince, maybe you shouldn’t go. The Revival (783 College Street), 10 p.m., $7.
FILM: The Cinema Studies Student Union at the University of Toronto is showing another of their Free Friday Films this evening at Innis Town Hall. Tonight, they’ll be screening Anthony Mann’s 1961 epic, El Cid, starring Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren. The film tells the story of Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar’s 11th century defeat of the Moops Moors in Spain. For a full list of upcoming Free Friday Films, check out the CINSSU Facebook group. Innis Town Hall (2 Sussex Avenue), 7 p.m., FREE.
ART: Toronto artist Nora Camps has a new photo exhibition running this weekend at The Gladstone Hotel. “Mugs with Frames: Portrait of a City” was inspired by a conversation overheard by the photographer: two strangers sitting on a bench agreed aloud that Toronto is not a very friendly city. Camps set out to prove these two wrong and show through photography that Toronto is (mostly) a warm and friendly place. The exhibit will feature more than 100 photos of different smiling faces, with each person wearing the same pair of oversized sunglasses. Those who visit the gallery tonight will also be able to get their own “mug” taken. The Gladstone Hotel Art Bar (1214 Queen Street West), 6 p.m., FREE.
WORDS: A reminder that folks will be gathering at 9 p.m. in Trinity Bellwoods Park to observe a moment of silence in honour of the late David Foster Wallace. Trinity Bellwoods Park (790 Queen Street West), 9 p.m., FREE.
Photo courtesy of the “Us & Them” art expo.