Five cool things to see
A free art gallery crawl on Sunday, May 3 is a great chance to see the visual art on display as part of the Ontario Scene Festival. Free shuttle buses will leave every 20 minutes from each of 13 locations, travelling around a loop. Get on and off wherever you choose.
MICHAEL DEFORGE ALL DOGS ARE DOGS
What: An exhibit of drawings, sculptures, prints, graphic novels and a comicstrip mural. Why: This is the first major exhibit for DeForge, originally from Ottawa. He’s giving away an original drawing to the art-lover who writes the best caption. Where & when: SAW Gallery, 67 Nicholas St. Runs to June 21
NORTH OF THE 45TH
What: Works by artists from northern Ontario. Why: See some cutting-edge art, including a video-performance piece by Tanya Lukin Linklater at 2 p.m. that will feature her video, poetry, and dancers. Where & when: Gallery 101, 301 Bank St. Runs to May 30.
BIO-ART COLLABORATING WITH LIFE
What: An exhibit of art inspired by life sciences. Why: The exhibit is billed as including “A lawn that mows itself, human cells co-cultured with apple cores, a feminist re-interpretation of military camouflage, and the ultimate locavore culinary experience.” One sculpture by Windsor artist Alana Bartol, called Un-Camouflaging #7, is made of “netting, synthetic fibre, weeds, and grasses common to southwestern Ontario.” Bartol will be in residence, inside the suit, staging some sort of performance. Where & when: Karsh-Masson Gallery at Ottawa City Hall, 110 Laurier Ave. W. Runs to May 31.
PRETTY LOFTY AND HEAVY ALL AT ONCE
What: An exhibition of works by Andrew Wright. Why: Wright messes with both your head and the very notion of photography. Disused Portrait Camera Considers Wedgwood Vase consists of an antique camera and a vase both coated in shiny, reflective silver and encased in a box made of one-way mirrored glass. Look into the box and you see “reflections of the vase and camera, repeated in every direction, to infinity,” as Citizen art critic Peter Simpson put it. When & where: Ottawa Art Gallery, 2 Daly Ave. Runs to May 10
RECESS
What: An installation by TO Union, a multidisciplinary company that brings together artists from a variety of mediums. Why: The folded paper game, variously called a Cootie Catcher or a Fortune Teller, has been played by children for generations. This giant version of it “allows an exploration of the various ways we attempt to bring control to our lives.” Where & when: NAC main lobby.