PAINTING: TORONTO
Alex Colville
By the time of his death last year, Canadian painter Alex Colville had firmly established himself with his pastel-hued portrayals of everyday life. In Toronto the Art Gallery of Ontario is presenting the most comprehensive Colville retrospective ever with over 100 of his paintings on show. Even for those unacquainted with Colville, some of his works may still be familiar. For instance, his 1965 piece “To Prince Edward Island” was restaged by US director Wes Anderson for his film Moonrise Kingdom. Like many of Colville’s works there is something slightly unsettling about its supposed “regularity” – perhaps it is the fact that the woman in the painting is staring directly at the viewer with a pair of binoculars – there’s no escape from normality.
Art Gallery of Ontario, 317 Dundas Street West. Open Tuesday to Sunday, 10.00-17.30; Wednesday 10.00-20.30. Until 4 January
ago.net
PERFORMANCE: HELSINKI
Helsinki Festival
For the final few days of the summer Finland has gathered a robust line-up to wave off the season and celebrate the arts at the Helsinki Festival. Last year over 200,000 arts lovers gathered for the two-week celebration of local and international talent. If you’re in Helsinki for the weekend, be sure to spice up Saturday with Salsa Celtica, the troupe daring to mix Afro-Latin Salsa with traditional Scottish and Irish music. Other acts playing over the fortnight include US rocker Jonathan Wilson, British songstress Sophie Ellis Bextor and New York art-pop icon Laurie Anderson, who will be accompanied by the sweeping strings of Kronos Quartet.
At venues across Helsinki. See website for schedule.
helsinginjuhlaviikot.fi/en
ART: HONG KONG
HK-FOREWORD
Stop by 10 Chancery Lane Gallery in Hong Kong for the third edition of HK-FOREWORD, an annual exhibition showcasing recent works from seven of the city’s brightest upcoming artists. The show aims to actively promote and build stronger relations between a new generation of Hong Kong contemporary artists and local art institutions. HK-FOREWORD features work from video-artist Carla Chan Ho-Choi, who likes to toy with notions of reality and illusions in her abstract short stories. Alternatively, poet and conceptual artist Iriz Yuen mines themes ranging from the subconscious self to addiction. Head down to see some of the other videography, photography and paintings on show.
10 Chancery Lane Gallery, G/F, 10 Chancery Lane, Central, Hong Kong. Open Tuesday to Saturday, 10.00-18.00. Closed on Sundays and Mondays.
10chancerylanegallery.com
PAINTING: LONDON
Katrin Koskaru: The Valerie Beston Artists’ Trust Prizewinner 2013
Artist Katrin Koskaru’s muted, abstract watercolours are currently on show at the Marlborough Fine Art gallery in London. The works are influenced by the landscapes of her native Estonia and the country’s stark and militarised architecture. Finding inspiration from grids and lines, the exhibition’s six large paintings recall 20th-century art ranging from Cubism to Malevich and Mondrian. The pieces are a result of Koskaru’s studio residency as the Valerie Beston Artists’ Trust Prizewinner of 2013.
Marlborough Fine Art, 6 Albemarle Sreet. Open Monday to Friday, 10.00-17.30. Until 30 August
marlboroughfineart.com
MUSIC: GLOBAL
Ty Segall: Manipulator
Prolific LA-based garage-rocker Ty Segall has made so many albums that sometimes keeping up with his quickfire, feedback-and-distortion-drenched output has felt like a tiring endurance sport. But Manipulator, which is (probably?) his 18th record in around five years is something a little different – in that Segall has reportedly been making this album for a whole year – and it shows. The doors to a rich and melodic pop landscape have suddenly been kicked open for him by Manipulator – these are songs you can actually sing along to (albeit still buried under some heavy fuzz). From here, who knows where he’ll go next ? Judging on past work rates, he’s probably already there.
‘Manipulator’ is out now.
ty-segall.com
