Insider Insight: get to know our talent spotters
By Doreen Dawang
We wouldn’t be able to feature our great group of Wondereur artists without the help of our talent spotters. These established artists, curators and critics introduce us to new talent week after week, and we can’t thank them enough for their recommendations.
The talent spotter pages in our app establish the art-world cred of these leaders of local art scenes, but we’d like to take this opportunity to share some insights that we couldn’t fit onto those pages. This is a chance for our readers to get to better know the people behind our talented artists.
Our talent spotters are an international lot, and they bring a cosmopolitan perspective to emerging talent across the globe. A case in point is Mona Filip, who recommended Wondereur artists Corwyn Lund and Flavio Trevisan. Mona emigrated 12 years ago from Romania to Canada, where she became the curator of the Koffler Gallery. She says her move to Toronto influenced her curatorial practice, in that she sees the practice as a way to relate and rethink the act of immigration.
“All my works stem from my own condition as an immigrant and the conditions I’ve had to work with – the nomadic institution of the cultural context that the institution is based on.”
The Koffler Gallery’s, says Mona, focuses on the themes of identity and migration, connected interests of the gallery’s primary audience: the Jewish community.
“All of these factors together shape the vision for the Koffler program.”
Lives of the artists: candid confessions from the Wondereur Questionnaire
By Myles Herod
It’s important to us at Wondereur that we understand what makes our artists tick; so we can share that with our readers.
That’s why we ask every Wondereur artist to fill out the Wondereur Questionnaire, a series of 22 questions inspired in part by the Proust questionnaire. This is in the ‘get to know you’ stage of our research, before we do the interview and photoshoot. The goal of the questions – from ‘Is art good for your health?’ to ‘What material do you like most next to your skin?’ – is to encourage our artists to divulge their thoughts and hopes straight from the heart.
Ranging from curt to candid, the confessions we’ve elicited are a key ingredient in the relationship we build with our artists, and in the stories we build about them. We pack a lot into every story, but there’s still an abundance of material that never sees the light of day.
That’s about to change. We’ve selected some of our favourite questionnaire responses, which we’ll be sharing with you here over the coming weeks. We’re starting with one question that gets a range of reactions, from the silly to the poignant.
Q. If you weren’t an artist, what would you do?
photo by Renaud Philippe
Mathieu Latulippe: ”Bank robber, even though I’m really afraid of jail.”
photo by Nick Kozak
Keesic Douglas: ”Motivational speaker, since that’s what I feel like I am doing when I teach photography and video.”
photo by Renaud Philippe
Sara A.Tremblay: ”I don’t think I would have my place in society, really…I’d be lame.”
photo by Chloë Ellingson
Sarah Beck: ”I tried everything to not be an artist, so I’m afraid the answer is: ‘I have no choice!”
photo by Julien Pebrel
Mathis Collins: ”I would use more drugs.”
photo by Johan Hallberg-Campbell
Julia Callon: ”Still trying to work on that backup plan…”
No.43
THIS WEEK ON WONDEREUR, KARINE ROUGIER DRAWS US DEEPER INTO HER IMAGINARY WORLD OF EXOTIC CHARACTERS
As with many artists, the starting point of Karine’s work consists of observations from her real-world experiences. From this realistic beginning, however, Karine adds layer upon layer of fantasy, horror and whimsy, re-imagining real life to create artworks that delve into the delightfully monstrous. Through this cast of fantasy characters, Karine investigates a host of subjects including myth, magic and what it really means to be human.
Karine Rougier was recommended for Wondereur by Dorothée Dupuis. The photos for Karine’s Marseille-based story were taken by Hélène David.
ps: Did you hear that Wondereur got an honorary mention in the Lifestyle category of the 2013 Webby awards? We’re thrilled to share the (virtual) stage with such fantastic companies as Martha Stewart Living and The New York Times. Thanks, Webby’s! “
Enjoy the story & the storefront now on your IPAD or on your COMPUTER.
No.40-41
THE LAUNCH OF A COLLABORATION BETWEEN WONDEREUR AND THE KOFFLER GALLERY
The Koffler Gallery is part of the Koffler Centre of the Arts, which describes itself as functioning within the Jewish community of Greater Toronto as its pivotal cultural arm, and within the arts community as a professional, vital centre of the arts.
We couldn’t agree more. The Koffler Gallery, set up in 1980, has been one of Toronto’s preeminent venues for contemporary Canadian art for almost two decades, so we’re very pleased to present this special issue focused on the Koffler Gallery’s latest project: Word Count, Toronto artist Cory Lund’s site-specific installation for the Koffler Gallery Off-Site program.
“Untitled (tache)”” by Mathieu Latulippe endorsed for Wondereur by Yann Pocreau.
Source: wondereur.com
“Death Flower 1” by Mathieu Latulippe endorsed for Wondereur by Yann Pocreau.
Source: wondereur.com
“Death Flower 2” by Mathieu Latulippe endorsed for Wondereur by Yann Pocreau.
No.39
NEW IN THIS WEEK’S WONDEREUR
We added information on Mathieu Latulippe’s artworks – touch the red dots on four of the storefront pages for the artist’s behind-the-scenes comments on creating these works.
Also, we added a fun treat for our readers – we’ve set up a play date with the online arts and style journal frank by The Genteel. Their series “Wear This & Hang That” explores the convergence between style and art, and this week the art is by Wondereur artist Walter Segers. Check out Walter’s story for more.
New edition is on your iPad or on your computer
“Teleportation: nouveaux developpements” by Mathieu Latulippe endorsed for Wondereur by Yann Pocreau.
No.38
WONDEREUR PRESENTS MATHIEU LATULIPPE THROUGH THE LENS OF RENAUD PHILIPPE.
There’s a fine line between the real and the surreal. Montreal-based artist Mathieu Latulippe investigates the intersection of these concepts through his sculpture, videos, installations and prints, creating artworks that question what exactly it means for something to be “real.” While his oeuvre and chosen media are incredibly diverse, they are united by a notion of perception, of the mystery of human interaction with a given object or space. Building on this element of the unknown, Mathieu’s work explores the many possible dimensions of reality, layering ideas and interpretations, giving each of his artworks a chorus of possible voices.
Mathieu’s story is featured on Wondereur from April 12 – May 17. For this limited time, our readers will have exclusive access to a selection of Mathieu’s prints and sculptures, available for purchase directly through the Wondereur Storefront.
Mathieu Latulippe was recommended for Wondereur by Yann Pocreau.
“If You Know What I Mean” Original painting by Paris-based graffiti artist Pablo Cots endorsed for Wondereur by Dorothée Dupuis.
“Hemos Llegado” Original painting by Paris-based graffiti artist Pablo Cots endorsed for Wondereur by Dorothée Dupuis.
“How Alien Have Infiltrated Galleries” Original sculpture by Paris-based graffiti artist Pablo Cots endorsed for Wondereur by Dorothée Dupuis.
“Metamorphosis” by Paris-based graffiti artist Pablo Cots endorsed for Wondereur by Dorothée Dupuis
“Vung Tau” by Paris-based graffiti artist Pablo Cots endorsed for Wondereur by Dorothée Dupuis
