Tag Archives: street-art

FRENCH POP ARTIST VIKKA CELEBRATES 1st CANADIAN SOLO SHOW AT TORONTO’S URBAN GALLERY

Although he was suffering a little jet-lag, French artist VIKKA came straight from the airport and walked through the doors of Urban Gallery last night to see his latest art project hanging on the walls…and it all looked great!20191205_161952 20191205_162024 20191205_180037The multi-disciplinary self-taught artist is showcasing his pop-art paintings, sculptures and photography in his first ever Canadian month-long solo show titled “In Memory of Witold and Max” – a visual tribute to his beloved grandfathers, both of whom were talented artists, too. He was joined by his sister, Bénédicte, who also assisted with translations, when necessary.20191205_170331

His colourful, surreal street art style canvases attracted a lot of attention last night and visitors marveled at the details and intricacies of each painting – you can stand there for half an hour and still discover new little embedded characters and features! 20191205_175951(0) 20191205_18000520191205_161937 20191205_162045There are a trio of paintings dedicated to 3 of his art heroes, Warhol, Basquiat (pictured above) and Haring; here the artists talks about these pieces, mostly in French but his passion transcends language!

Gallery Director Calvin Hambrook (below L) and Curator Allen Shugar (below R) were thrilled with the artwork which was shipped direct from France and only arrived earlier this week.20191205_172138In Memory of Witold & Max runs in Toronto now until December 28th – for directions and gallery hours, visit: www.UrbanGallery.ca  and to learn more about Vikka’s work, follow him on IG @vikkaartist20191205_180037 20191205_162127

 

MR. HYDDE’S GROOVY GALLERY OPENING FOR “HAPPY TYME” SOLO SHOW

I discovered a great gallery on Spadina Ave (Toronto) last night when I attended the opening soiree for the fabulous Mr. Hydde‘s solo show titled “Happy Tyme”Coldstream Fine Art represents a number of exciting contemporary Canadian artists and I was thrilled to see Mr Hydde’s new works hanging in this space. His show runs util March 23rd so please scroll down and check the websites linked at bottom of this blog for info & gallery directions.20190228_185236Upon entering the 2nd floor gallery, I was amazed by the brightly coloured large, fanciful paintings, each of which intrigued with Mr. Hydde’s embedded text and imbued with his sense of humour and social commentary.20190228_185224 20190228_185127I managed to grab a quick Q&A video with the man himself….

I met up with some friends from the Toronto arts community including (below) Val Peter (L), Tanya Solonyka (C) and Michelle Dinelle (R) who were their to support our talented friend, Mr Hydde.20190228_191919I had my eye on this one, Flowerz (below) and decided to commit. Yes, that’s my red dot alongside. The eyes followed me around the gallery and kept drawing me back so….I just had to have it!20190228_191842I encourage you to visit Coldstream Fine Art and view Mr. Hydde’s work in person…see if any of the other eyes follow YOU around the gallery. Thank you for supporting local artists.20190228_185139 20190228_185159Coldstream Fine Art, 80 Spadina Ave, Ste. 208   www.coldstreamfineart.com/

www.mrhydde.com20190228_185443