Wednesday 2 January 2013

Art gallery of Ontario

The Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto is a beautiful building, with new architectural additions interwoven with the old building.  A main feature is the Italian Gallery, a structure of paralam wood and glass that runs the whole length of one side of the building.  The main ribs twist and curve and are shaped like a boat hull - a real challenge for perspective (which I failed at, even in this simplest view!)  The glass walls look out on old Toronto row-houses. with the new towers behind.  Curving wooden stairways that curl in and out of the old building are even more challenging to draw.
     The main show was Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, with lots of their paintings and many photos and films about their lives and relationship through time.  I drew them from a more-than-life-size reproduction of an old photo at the start of the exhibit (Diego was more-than-life-size in life, too).  It was funny listening to comments of people entering the show as I stood drawing there - many seemed shocked that a "celebrity couple" didn't look like Hollywood celebrities!

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