a few days ago, i got to see one of my pieces at a collector’s home. it was a fulfilling experience that i don’t get to do enough of. i really like having the chance to talk to my collectors in their homes, even if briefly. seeing my work hung in a collector’s home never gets old, especially if they have a great space.

i asked one of her kids, (shown here) if they liked the painting, she said,
“no, only the blue girl”.

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it has been a week since the opening of everything we wanted, in our nostalgic future, and i have been playing catch-up all week. sorry if i have not reached out to say thanks or responded to emails- i will try to get them out as soon as i can.

thanks to those who did their best to tell their friends about the show. thanks to the bloggers, tweeters, emailers, facebookers- etc. the support i received coming up to the show, that night and post-show has been unexpected and positively overwhelming.

you can find photos of the night here, and here. thanks to my pops antonius lo, simon cole, and richard ho for documenting the night. if you have pictures and would like to send them to me, i’d be very happy to add it to the flickr page, with your credits, of course.

my deepest thanks to the artists/friends who contributed to the installation; i could not have done it without the help and contributions of the following people:

agnes wiguna
alice lo
antonius lo
dion indraatmadja
erika danusasmita
fred hon
hannah lee
jeff garcia
jennie lo
jhosephine tanuwidjaya
martha chan
micah lukmana
nataly kim
nimit malavia
noah earle
peter chan
rosemary travale
rosena fung
simon cole

i was also very lucky to be featured on late night in the bedroom, which has been getting rave reviews,

if you so happened to miss it, i also had a short interview about the show on erratic phenomena. it was great hanging out with you, amanda .

a very special thank you to my collectors and patrons, you are helping me continue in my calling. i am lucky to be able to share my work with you.
there are still a few elephant sculpts, prints and catalogues left at the gallery. please get in touch with simon for yours.

finally, happy early valentine’s day and chinese new year, (they fall on the same day this year) it is the year of the tiger- give your chinese friend a valentine’s card with a quote like, “your love makes me roar.” or “how fierce is this romance?”

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Tessar Lo and Simon Cole

[Amanda Erlanson made the trip to Toronto for the simultaneous openings of solos by Tessar Lo and Nimit Malavia @ Show & Tell this past Saturday.  We’re pleased to bring you her recap and photos of the openings.]

Show & Tell’s opening for Tessar Lo and Nimit Malavia was quite well-attended, despite Toronto’s near-zero temperatures, with hundreds of art fans, friends and family coming out to support. There was a lot to take in besides the paintings on the walls, with a two-tiered bunk bed/fort installation from Tessar, as well as an assortment of very affordably priced handmade prints, show catalogs and adorable miniature elephant sculptures. A sign invited people to take off their shoes and lie down in the installation to appreciate the artwork inside, and another guided viewers up into the display window, where an installation of miniature figures arranged in an imaginatively makeshift landscape occupied the roof of the bunk. In the project room, Nimit’s visceral yet classically romantic black and white paintings provided a vivid contrast to Tessar’s colorful, playful dreamscapes.

[For more insight into the work of both artists, please check out Amanda’s in-depth interviews with Tessar Lo and Nimit Malavia on her blog, Erratic Phenomena].

Show & Tell Gallery
1161 Dundas St. West
Toronto, ON
M6J 1X3
Canada
+ 647.347.3316

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i have been at show & tell gallery setting up for the show this friday, things are shaping up quite nicely.

there is now a catalogue, prints and elephant sculpts available through the gallery. the catalogue is a limited edition of 50 and are $35 each. the prints are a 5-layer, hand-pulled serigraph, edition of 70; the prints and the sculpts are $25 each. everything is signed and numbered.

to get yours, please be sure to get in touch with simon at show & tell gallery. thanks.

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Tessar Lo. A Bridge to the Place with a Blackboard. 40" x 30". Mixed Media on Canvas.

Canada’s Show & Tell Gallery introduces two new shows next Friday, February 5: Tessar Lo’s “Everything we wanted, in our nostalgic future” (above)  and Nimit Malavia’s “I can’t love you, but we can romance.”

“Everything we wanted, in our nostalgic future,” reflects on the vastness and importance of wonder, a feeling that is often lost with the maturing in to adulthood. The narrative in these works is universal, stories that speak to the soul, creating a feeling of awe, comfort, and inspiration, all the while embracing the imagination. The combination between narration and wonder creates vignettes of possibilities, dreamscapes with no specific time and of no specific location, genuine moments which occur with in us all.

“I can’t love you, but we can romance” is developed around the notions of relations and the reluctance of accepting a love that is real, and instead embracing a romance, that is forever a charming dance of attraction. Many of the paintings portray ideas and emotions that aren’t expressed easily through words, but can be felt in the heart of the viewer. An attempt to depict the human love story, and appreciate the beauty behind the essential moments of loss and hurt. Nimit’s hope for this type of relationship, to be satisfied simply longing for his work, and the passionate fury of it all. The paintings for this solo try to elaborate on these feelings, often times depicting the more tragic outcomes of love and loss, focusing on the classical romance of these moments.

Tessar Lo / Nimit Malavia
Opening February 5th, 2010 (7-11 PM)
Show & Tell Gallery
1161 Dundas St. W
Toronto, ON
M6J 1X3
Canada
+ 1 647 347 3316
info@showandtellgallery.com

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everything we wanted, in our nostalgic future, at show and tell gallery is coming up very soon.

as in the past, i am working to release a special print in conjunction with the opening. this time around i’m working with jeff garcia; director, coordinator, founder, master printer, connoisseur and security of halo halo print shop. here’s a peek of what’s been going on the last few days.

see you soon.

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in case you missed it, i did a personal year-in-review called two thousand nice, that in retrospect is missing a lot of important things- but i guess these are the things that stood out to me the most.

you can view it the whole thing here.

thanks to everybody who made 2009 a great one. if you’re partying this new year’s be safe. see you in 2010.

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i have been taking a lot of pictures with my 35mm minolta hi-matic af-d.
while busy painting for the upcoming show, i felt it was neccesary to introduce an aspect of creativity into my day that didn’t allow for total control.
this chance element in the form of a regular, old point and shoot camera humbles me as i never really know what i will get, shooting with it.
often times the pictures are not what i had anticipated.

in case, you haven’t had a chance to see them, here are some of my favourites from my flickr.

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my solo show is coming up on february 5, 2010 at show & tell gallery in toronto.
it will be called,

everything we wanted,

in our nostalgic future,

i’ve been in somewhat of a hermit mode, painting away and doing a lot of preparation for the show. it’s my first in my hometown and my second solo ever, so it’s important to me that it will be fun and worthwhile for everybody who comes to see it.

here are some shots of what i’ve been doing, to let you guys know i’m still alive:

more to come soon..

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DD contributors have been writing up a storm with coverage of events from LA to Miami to NY so don’t forget to keep an eye on what they are up to. Recently Art Consultant Annie Adjchavanich gave us some great coverage of Art Basel in Miami here. Collector Ronnie Pirovino gave us a preview of his new KAWS collection and showcase here, Artist Tessar Lo continues to give us insight into his studio and daily habits and do not forget Andrew Ford who has been teasing us with previews of NY shows here. Beau Basse, owner of LeBasse Projects also gave us some great images from Miami’s Art Basel here.

Make sure to keep up on what our contributors are up to, and if anyone is out there going to shows and think you can contribute to DailyduJour let us know!

last week i was invited to see a very humbling show at the chinese cultural centre of greater toronto called Embracing Life Art Exhibition. a show of works by a group of 30 artists with disabilities, the majority of them coming from hong kong.

the work spanned a few decades from artists both young and old. the artists’ teacher, emilie chan is a well-known and respected individual who devoted a lot of her time sharing the arts to people with disabilities.

the show unfortunately was in its last weekend when i went, but here are some of the highlights of the show for me:

circus, tiffany yuen

whale in a forest, taylor chan

various works by perry au, this kid was amazing. click the description to enlarge.

natalie yung

lo pui yang, click the description to enlarge.

lau wai ming, also really incredible. click the description to enlarge.

find the two staircases, alan chan

there’s not a tonne of info online, neither of emilie chan or the exhibition, but here is one good link about the foot painter, lo pui yang to get you started, in case you want to do more research.

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in other news, i have a piece in juxtapoz’s charity auction. here’s your chance to possibly get a piece of mine pretty affordably, and for a very good cause. here is the piece. thanks!

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i have been really lucky the last few days to have had the chance to interact with so many creative people. on sunday, rosena fung, nimit malavia and myself, (aka the zachary quinto trio) had a bit of a comic and drawing jam; you can see some of the comics over at rosena’s flickr.

yesterday, martha chan, erika danusasmita and nimit all graced me with their presence and we collaborated on some paintings and small drawings that will be part of my installation at my solo show in february.

here are some images to whet your appetite, but more can be found here, on my flickr.

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Team LBP

Finally got around to pulling some images off my camera from last weekend’s show in NY. Should be getting some better ones from friends soon, but in the meantime enjoy. If you want to see the actual artwork please visit the gallery website here.

Prints from the show will also be available on Paper Tiger this week and next…

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