Arts
Art Agenda: Group show at Angell Gallery, Annie MacDonnell at Katherine Mulherin and Mitchell F. Chan at Engine Gallery
This week, it's all about motion. Sometimes the art moves and sometimes it's just about moving, or even about not moving at all.In this edition:
- Summer group show at Angell Gallery
- Annie MacDonnell's "Beside the midnight lake" at Katharine Mulherin
- Mitchell F. Chan's "Foundations" at Engine Gallery
Arts
Can new Toronto web series make it big?
Cats. Boobs. YouTube. It's a recipe that can't possibly fail. Or can it? Little Cat Version of Me is a new Toronto based web series that debuted at the end of June and so far - well, let's just say the video views aren't exactly reaching lonelygirl15 proportions. But it's not for lack of trying. This is good stuff - well written, well edited and better than any Canadian produced comedy shows on TV.Adam Goldhammer, a 23 year old self-described struggling actor who has "become sick of auditioning for commercials and decided to stop waiting around and make my own project", is one of the brains behind the show that's filmed out of his apartment near Bloor and Lansdowne. Last night we connected over Gchat to talk about the series and what it's going to take to make it the next YouTube success story.
Arts
Art Agenda: Micah Lexier curates at MKG127, Eli Langer and Jane Buyers at Paul Petro, Eric Farache and Isabelle Hemard at loop
It's just about the middle of the summer, but it wasn't the busiest week for galleries in the city. There were still plenty of things to see though. This week I visited a new show by some well established Canadian artists, one by some names that aren't quite as well known and a fascinating collection of the known, unknown and unknowable all collected together in a kind of party in a mini crystal palace. Arts
Stephen Harper! The Musical
Stephen Harper! The Musical, just like most productions with "The Musical" attached to it, is a cynical cash grab that preys on the unwashed masses. They practically say as much in the show.So you'd think that the final product, which opened Tuesday night at The Second City, would become less of a self-parody than it is. But what I ended up having to sit through was an hour of no LOLs.
There are some attempts at clever writing and catchy songs here and there, thanks to the Second City's resident musical prodigy Jay McCarrol. But something went amiss along the way. I felt as if I was at a sub-par Fringe play. I expected much better from Canadian Comedy Award winners The Shehori Brothers.
Arts
Art Agenda: Sol LeWitt at Mercer Union, Daisuke Takeya at Christopher Cutts, Hanna Hur and Laurie Kang at the Department, Anthony Lister and Niall McClelland at Show & Tell
There's something new and something old that's become new again in my latest edition of the Art Agenda. Sol LeWitt, a legend of conceptual art, returns to town to help celebrate the history of one of the city's galleries while a few younger artists reflect on life in the city and the effects of technology on our eyes. There are also several takes on identity, albeit in very different fashions and milieus, from twins to white trash. Arts
Art Agenda: Jack Burman at Clint Roenisch and group shows at Gallery TPW, MOCCA and the Gladstone
It's an eclectic batch of shows this time around. I spent a busy day jaunting around last Saturday before the TTC and the cops shut down and the entire downtown core, essentially turning it into its own little performance art show. Perhaps it was appropriate then that dystopia and social experiments would be one of the consistent themes to spring up over the course of the day. 
