1. Yorodeo at Open Studio 104-401 Richmond St. W., to Oct. 30
This is the most fun I’ve had in a gallery all year. Forget 2010’s buzz about 3-D TV and 3-D magazines — Halifax’s Yorodeo, which started as a gig-poster company in 2003, branched out into 3-D art prints in 2008. This Toronto premiere of their eye-popping oeuvre (accompanied by a bin of retro, blue-and-red-lensed cardboard glasses) features out-there imagery and excellent execution. The content, admittedly, mostly runs the Comic-Con-to-indie-hipster spectrum: There are crystal igloos in darkened, bat-filled caves; wolves prowling bottled cities; and skyscrapers growing out of clouds — a more analogue version, perhaps, of Star Wars’ Cloud City. But there’s also a sweet, fairy-tale quality that comes across in scenes of a dog-coached dogsled wending through snowy mountains, mystical worlds attached to swimming turtles’ backs and braided waterfalls flanked by turrets. A series of smaller vignettes — a rooster in a peaked cap and lace collar, an elf napping in a peanut shell and winged horses out to pasture — also charm with precise, ridiculous medievalism. Throughout, Yorodeo’s craft shines; rather than being muddled like old-school 3-D, these scenes are clear, standing up to extended viewing. Overall, a delightful twist on op-art and printmaking traditions.
(Image of someone giving their eyeballs a treat at Open Studio by Sara Kelly, via the National Post)
posted by Leah Sandals at 10:15 AM on Sep 25, 2010
"401 Richmond Picks: Yorodeo @ Open Studio, Lara Rosenoff @ Gallery 44, Dianne Pearce @ Red Head"
No comments yet. -