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Urban Planner: March 13, 2009
ART: Harbourfront‘s York Quay Centre hosts the opening party for eight new art exhibits. The highlight may be the Canadian premiere of Penny Klepuszewska‘s Living Arrangements, a photographic series studying the conditions of elderly people living alone in Britain. Other exhibits include New York artist Alfonso Volo messing around with the anthropomorphic critters of his childhood for “Creature Riffs,” and a look at the work of Toronto design group Motherbrand for “Material Culture for the Modern Age.” There are also three animation exhibits being shown in conjunction with the upcoming Images festival: “Frame by Frame,” “Goodbye 20th Century,” and “Topsy-Turvy.” A two-hour film of “Frame by Frame” participants screens tonight at 7 p.m. Harbourfront (235 Queens Quay West), 6–10 p.m., FREE.
ART: A few steps away from York Quay, the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery hosts the opening party for its two spring exhibits. The gallery’s major launch is a new show by conceptual art pioneer Lawrence Weiner. “The Other Side of a Cul-de-Sac” displays text-based work across the architectural space of the power plant itself, including an offshoot of a 1998 piece More Than Enough that inhabits the Power Plant smokestack. The concurrent exhibit “Counter Offer” gives an overview of UK conceptual artist—and former multinational corporate employee—Carey Young‘s work, which humorously plays on themes from her business world experiences. Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery (231 Queens Quay West), 8–11 p.m., FREE.
MUSIC: The Studio Gallery presents “When Bad Things Happen: An Indie Exposition,” a one-night exposition of all things indie music. The showcase brings together a handful of Toronto indie bands—Pirate/Rock, Brides, and Dawn of Humans—with some of the businesses that help foster Toronto’s indie music scene. Featured exhibitors are artists Brittany Shepherd and Marlow Glitterati, magazine Bad Day Magazine, email blog Daily Value, gallery space The Baitshop, party collective Friends Explode, promoters The Musebox, and paraphernalia producers Mrchgrl. Studio Gallery (294 College Street, second floor), 9 p.m., $10.
FUNDRAISER: Dance away to top-40 under the magic light of classic film clips while surrounded by members of Toronto’s independent film scene. Runaway Cinema Party II turns rep theatre the Bloor Cinema into a dance club for the night, moonlighting as a fundraising venue for the theatre’s latest venture into the production side of cinema. See our coverage of last year’s Runaway Cinema Party I here. Bloor Cinema (506 Bloor Street West), 11:45 p.m.–3 a.m., FREE (and licensed).
MUSIC: Our Canadian Music Week pick of the night is the line-up playing the Horseshoe. The Chart Attack showcase delivers a delightful burst of pop happiness from the likes of Dinosaur Bones, Daniel Wesley, the Schomberg Fair, Black Hat Brigade, The Bicycles, Human Highway, Handsome Furs, and Hot Panda (second half of the show brought to you by the letter “H”). Horseshoe Tavern (368 Queen Street West), 8:30 p.m., $20, or with wristband ($25 for one day).