Category Archives: art

Vintage Canadiana: Eija Seras

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One of my not-so-guilty pleasures has been catching up on all the episodes of Backyard Bounty on the Cottage Life channel. Hosts Marty and Bam Bam drive around southern Ontario visiting yard sales, homes of collectors (aka hoarders), country thrift stores, and people who have a lot of stuff they want to get rid of. Marty also runs an antique business at Modern Hipster Antiques out of Ingersoll (online or by appointment) and I believe London ON that often features finds from the show, along with lots of other great stuff. He posts items for auction at a facebook group and I enjoy seeing what he’s got going, and occasionally bidding.

This little set caught my eye a couple of weeks ago. The signature etched in the bottom of each piece is EIJA CANADA and for some reason, it captured me. There are three separate pieces: a mother and babe, two children fishing (with string and spear), and two children sitting with a dog.

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I did a little research and found out that the artist was Eija Seras, a Finnish-Canadian modernist artist.

“Seras produced a range of Inuit figurines, hand sculpted from terra cotta clay, in the late 1960s through the 1970s based on her four years living at the U.S. Air Force base in Goose Bay, Labrador in the mid 1960s….An Eija Seras chess set was exhibited during an official Canada Week exhibition in Tokyo, Japan, in 1969, and the artist was awarded the Canadian Design of Merit citation in 1974 by the National Design Council of Canada for her native figures.” (Source)

From an expired listing on Etsy, I read “This miniature Inuit (formerly known as Eskimo) family set  [not the same as mine] was handmade in the 1970s. They were created in Windsor, Ontario, by Canadian artist Eija Seras. Each figure was molded in clay, hand finished, fired, painted, glazed and signed by the artist. Seras’ Inuit clay figurines were featured in galleries both in Canada and internationally. Today, these charming and unique pieces of Canadiana are increasingly hard to find and collectible.”

As I googled her name, I also came across her immigration record:

Incoming Passenger list for the Carinthia Cunard), sailing 23 Sept 1959. Liverpool to Montreal
Incoming Passenger list for the Carinthia (Cunard line), sailing 23 Sept 1959. Liverpool to Montreal (ancestry.com)

 It shows Ms Sera as a single female, born in 1927 (so she was 32 at time of sailing), occupation as artist, and as being in transit from Finland. The only other record for her is on the 1974 Voter’s List in Toronto, living at 266 Manor Road East, with occupation “Sculptoress”.

There are a few of these floating around on auction sites. They’re also by Seras.

seras chess set
Eija Seras Chess Set. Source: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/131698733357?item=131698733357

Many of the sites listing her work include her with Inuit artists, but this was clearly not the case. I’d be interested to know anything more about her and her life.

If you’re interested, I paid $35 plus another $10 for shipping. And I may be starting to collect more of these lovely little items as I find them.

Ai Weiwei: According to What? at the AGO

art,
Ai Weiwei.
Ai Weiwei.

I had some time to kill downtown last week and headed to the Art Gallery of Ontario to see the Ai Weiwei exhibit, here until October 27. I did not know much about this contemporary artist before I attended, other than what I’d read of his house arrest in Beijing and his work on Beijing’s 2008 Olympic Stadium (the “bird’s nest”) (and subsequent withdrawal from the festivities surrounding the event.)

There were many surprises in store for me.

Arriving at the exhibit space, I encountered his piece entitled Snake Ceiling, made out of 5,000 backpacks, commemorating the 5,000 school children who were killed due to shoddily-built schools, during the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan province. I had seen photographs of this piece, but did not realise the medium the artist had used, nor the statement that he was making in it’s construction.

Snake Ceiling, Ai Weiwei, backpacks.
Snake Ceiling, Ai Weiwei, backpacks.

Upon entering the exhibit, I learned that there was an audio guide available via the AGO app, and with the gallery’s free wireless, quickly downloaded it onto my smartphone and dug out my earbuds. It’s available here if you plan to attend. There is also a toll-free number that you can call to hear the audio if your phone doesn’t permit you to load an app.

Perhaps the overriding message from the exhibit is the quote from the artist that appears on buttons and t-shirts and notebooks: “Everything is art. Everything is politics.” And that materials and process are part of the meaning of art.

A couple of examples:

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This piece was constructed from rebar reclaimed from the aforementioned schools that collapsed during an earthquake, and then laboriously straightened. On the wall behind the work is inscribed the name, birthdate, address, and school class of each of the 5,000 children. The work itself represents the fissure in the earth created by the quake, and better photographs (from the Vienna Biennale) can be viewed here.

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These two pieces explore the notion of authenticity, value, and meaning, and the transformation of tradition through iconoclasm. He also painted Coca-cola logos on antique vases.

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Finally, in these works, the artist uses wood reclaimed from dismantled Qing Dynasty temples. The artist uses these works to consider the loss of traditional in the quest for modernity. In China Log, constructed from temple pillars, he has carved and outline map of China. In Kippe, he has taken iron parallel bars, found in every schoolyard and a memory of his childhood, and combined it with temple wood, intricately fitted together. He states that this is reminiscent of the neatly stacked wood outside his childhood home.

These are just a few of the thought-provoking and at times thrilling experiences that await a visitor to this exhibit. If you have a chance to see this, either in Toronto (until October 27), or at its upcoming venues (the Miami Art Museum and The Brooklyn Museum), take it.

Oh, and the soft-bound exhibition guide is a steal at $8. Organizers wanted to make it accessible to the public (unlike so many hardcover ones, also available.)

[Photography is mine.]

 

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Gorgeous poster for The Toronto Comics Art Festival 2011 by Jillian Tamaki

art, books, reading
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via torontocomics.com

I have been reading lots of graphic novels over the past six months, including Skim by Jillian Tamaki and her cousin Mariko Tamaki. Jillian has designed this poster for the Toronto Comic Arts Festival 2011 and you’ll spot many of your fave comic characters in it.

I look forward to attending the Festival in May, possibly with my son Michael who is also a graphic novel devotee.

An alternative view of the AGO.

architecture, art, photography, Toronto

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I had never been around to the rear of the new-ish Art Gallery of Ontario transformation (Frank Gehry) until last Friday when I found myself with some time to kill between dates. I settled onto a bench on Grange Park and enjoyed the sun and a good book. The back of the gallery is such a contrast to the front, yet almost as interesting. The shots above are from my iPhone, so not the greatest of quality.

Below, an image of the front facade from the AGO website.

Also from the AGO website, a shot of the staircase (above) from the inside.

Must see: The Warrior Emperor and China’s Terracotta Army.

art, food, Toronto

I had a lovely day out with two friends.  We met at the Royal Ontario Museum to take in the Terracotta Warrior exhibit, here from China.  These artifacts are from the Qin dynasty, and include some of the full-sized sculptures of warriors, administrators, and horses.  It’s the first exhibit of these items in North America and it’s very impressive. Zouheir had the privilege of seeing them in the original site of their discovery when he was in China last year, and so I was happy to see the exhibit here in Toronto with friends.  We spent a couple of hours at the exhibit.  The documentation was excellent: a mix of text, photographs, maps, and video commentary that added to the excitement of seeing these ancient artifacts. 

At noon, we went upstairs to C5 for lunch, the elegant restaurant added to the ROM during the renovation.  On the top floor, it has lovely views to the south and west of Toronto, including a new garden/green roof that was added since I was there last.  While still relatively young, it provides a respite from what was a rather “industrial” view of the adjoining rooftop.

We all chose the special Terracotta Warrior menu (pdf), starting with a hot and sour egg drop soup, a choice of two entrees (Duck Confit or Tong Mein Noodles), and then a fabulous puff pastry with mango puree, fresh fruit, and sesame ice cream.

The exhibit is a must-see, and is on until early in 2011.  With the wonderful conversation and a delicious lunch, we’re making plans for another outing next month.

A winning day!

art, family

We attended the award ceremony for the Nihongo Art Contest at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre today.  Michael won an Idea Prize for Kanji – Grades 4-8.  The competition is open to students across Ontario who are studying Japanese.  This art form requires students to capture the meaning of a Japanese character in an art work that incorporates the character itself.

This is the first year that the competition has received works done using computer graphics, of which Michael’s was one.  Before the ceremony, guests were able to browse the artwork displayed in the gallery.  Here is a shot of Michael standing beside his piece, in which he used the Kanji character for “sword” to create his entry.

Here he is with a couple of friends from the Toronto Japanese Language School who were also winners.

Lily (left) won in her category and Sarah (centre) won the grand prize for her beautiful depiction of cherries.

Here she is with one of the judges holding a poster created from her artwork.

A winning day!

art, family

We attended the award ceremony for the Nihongo Art Contest at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre today.  Michael won an Idea Prize for Kanji – Grades 4-8.  The competition is open to students across Ontario who are studying Japanese.  This art form requires students to capture the meaning of a Japanese character in an art work that incorporates the character itself.

This is the first year that the competition has received works done using computer graphics, of which Michael’s was one.  Before the ceremony, guests were able to browse the artwork displayed in the gallery.  Here is a shot of Michael standing beside his piece, in which he used the Kanji character for “sword” to create his entry.

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Here he is with a couple of friends from the Toronto Japanese Language School who were also winners.

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Lily (left) won in her category and Sarah (centre) won the grand prize for her beautiful depiction of cherries.

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Here she is with one of the judges holding a poster created from her artwork.

We have a winner!

art, family, Toronto

Michael is in his third year of Japanese language studies at the Toronto Japanese Language School and entered a Nihongo Art Contest at the end of the last school year.  He is one of the winners, and his work will be exhibited at the Gendai Gallery at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre from November 24 to December 12, 2009.   He will attend the awards ceremony on November 28.

I’ll post his artwork as soon as he remembers to send it to me!