What a fun, wild’n’crazy night we enjoyed at the groovy Jinks Art Factory (cafe & tattoo parlour) in Toronto’s Parkdale neighbourhood as photographic artist, writer and pop-culturist DONNA LYPCHUK opened her solo show Mystical Toronto: The Oculis of Donna Lypchuk for this year’s Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival. So many friends and fellow artists showed up to make the night a great success for Donna who held court at this fun schmooze-fest – below Donna (2nd from L) welcomes some old friends.
The venue, Jinks Art Factory, is a charming neighbourhood social hub for artists, writers, bon vivants and miscellaneous wastrels who enjoy the hospitality of Sarah and Jen, the owners and hostesses for last night’s soiree (pictured below with Donna in the centre).
Jinks Arts Factory offers delicious coffees and edible treats in the cafe up front and has a comfortable tattoo parlour in the back where you can acquire your own personal art. Below – the ladies are their own best walking promo for their ink skills.
Donna’s photos were simply and effectively displayed, featuring various sizes of prints on metallic paper giving the images an iridescent quality…
…and her guests loved ’em!
Donna was happy…just an hour into the opening party, she had the red dots out and applied them to several photos. Congrats to the buyers – smart choices!
As the night progressed, lots of bo-ho chic guests showed up and the energy in the cafe ramped up…
…and our happy smiling barista worked hard ensuring all were well “lubricated” with celebratory drinkies!
Loved meeting these three “cheeky monkeys” – longtime friends of Donna’s…thanks for playing along for this photo, ladies.
The party eventually moved out to the sidewalk ….
…where Donna enjoyed more warm camaraderie with new arrivals.
Back inside Jinks, I tried my hand at snapping some “photographic art” – below, I spied the mid-century modern furnishings and a gorgeous cappuccino machine.
And I had a blast resting my bum on this fab wooden bench from Playdead Cult, a decorative art, clothing and home furnishings store located on the next block along Queen St West.
By 8pm, lots more people arrived to see the photos taken of various locations and hidden spots around the city…
Congratulations to Donna for her successful CONTACT launch party….(below, Donna “works it” with this photographer!)
….and big thanks to Sarah and Jen of Jinks who are also hosting a neighbourhood BBQ tomorrow, Sat. May 13 (12-4pm) as part of the Spring into Parkdale street party.
Mystical Toronto: The Oculis of Donna Lypchuk runs until May 31st at Jinks Arts Factory, 1664 Queen St West (near Roncesvalles). Photos are all available for sale: prices range from $25 – $60 and sizes range 8″x 10″ to 11″x 17″. Come out and support local artists…and coffee shops!