Monday, September 28, 2009

Out today: Unofficial Nuit Blanche & Rues des Refuses in the National Post


What can art rebels do when major exhibitions move out of the box and into streets? Go right along with them.

That's what the Toronto project Rues Des Refuses is doing with respect to Nuit Blanche, taking the longstanding Salon Des Refuses tradition out of the box and into open air.

You can read more about the project in my piece in today's National Post.

In the piece, I also try to point to the fact that there are tons of unofficial projects running during the Nuit Blanche time slot that have no affiliation with the corporate-sponsored fest—-nor any desire to join a "refuses-style" initiative.

One of these latter types of projects is "Out of Site", a show organized by independent curator and critic Earl Miller and sponsored by the Queen St West BIA.

Unlike RDR, "Out of Site" sports artists more in the respected-gallery-circuit vein, like Lisa Neighbour, Kerri Reid and duo Daniel Borins and Jennifer Marman. It will also likely turn heads with its use of Queen West storefronts, including that of the much-loved, recently defunct Pages Bookstore.

More coverage of Nuit Blanche is bound to dominate the local media this week--including welcome snark and snappiness from Artstars*, who promise to cover the Nuit as it unfolds. Stay tuned.

Image of Teeth's saloon-doors project from Rues des Refuses

1 comment:

AndyEWilliams said...

Hi Leah I look forward to seeing more of your coverage of Nuit Blanche. You can find photos of mine here: http://andyewilliams.com/blog/?p=1611