let’s heal the divide
let’s heal the divide was installed on International Women’s Day, March 8, 2015. It was
followed by an official launch and public panel discussion the following week. Since then, the project has received a tremendous amount of press and public interest. The work will remain installed on the facade of the Vancouver Community College until summer 2016.
1st Anniversary Blog Post (March 2016): Life Changing Perspectives on Art by Toni Latour
Post/Past Vancouver Biennale Project
The artists Virginie Lamarche and Bastien Desfriches, from VNB Photo, shot Toni Latour in front of her work Homage to Wayne (2014-). This image was made using a modern adaptation of the Calotype process (special coated paper) on a 1920s 8×10″ camera. Their project documents all the players involved in the Vancouver Biennale and can be seen at: VBN
photo credit: VBN Photo
Neither/Nor
Neither/Nor, curated by Fay Nass, was an exhibition at the Ayden Gallery in Vancouver, BC. It featured Latour’s piece Homage to Wayne. The show ran from July 4-27, 2014.
Studio Art Closure
Despite valiant efforts on the part of students, staff, faculty and the community, the Capilano University Studio Art Department and the Textiles and Interactive Design Departments were illegally closed in 2014. The lack of consultation around the abrupt closure violated the University Act and displaced many students, staff and faculty. Arbitration is still unsettled.
Brazilian International Residency Panel Discussion
Toni Latour moderated an exciting discussion about the work of visiting Brazilian artists to the Vancouver Biennale. The event took place at Emily Carr University on March 12, 2014.
The Femme Project at World Pride in Toronto
The Station Gallery
this Magazine article
Bitch Magazine article
The Scope at Ryerson Radio Interview
The Femme Project was shown in its entirety at the Station Gallery in Whitby, ON from May 24-July 6, 2014 in conjunction with World Pride, Toronto. This was the first time that queer content had been programmed into the gallery and the first time one project had filled all three gallery spaces. Check out the media coverage and gallery website links above.
Dedicated Drawing Club
Dedicated Drawing Club was formed by Nicola Tibbetts and Toni Latour in 2011, and launched publicly in 2014. Meeting on a regular basis over a three year period, the artists came together to produce drawings that act as homages and dedications to people in their lives. Since completing the final suite of 48 drawings, the duo has launched two exhibitions, a website, a book, and a line of DDC products for sale.
2014-16 Vancouver Bienalle Proposals receive $20 000 Canada Council Grant and $5000 Kwantlen University Funding
Proposal Drawings for the 2013-15 Vancouver Biennale
Toni Latour received a 2014 Canada Council for the Arts Production Grant, and a 2014 Professional Development Grant from Kwantlen University, for her Vancouver Biennale work.
The theme for the 2014-16 Vancouver Biennale was Open Borders/Crossroads Vancouver. Latour proposed 2 pieces that included pink neon signs to be installed in East Vancouver.
The first piece was proposed for the cross streets of Cambie and Hastings. It involved painting the crosswalk pink and hanging signage that would read “Let’s Heal the Divide”. It was a site-specific work that addressed the economic, social and physical divisions between the Downtown East Side and the commercial and business areas of Vancouver. It came to fruition in the form a yellow neon sign hung on the facade of the Vancouver Community College in March 2015.
The second piece Latour proposed was for the artist’s neighborhood, specifically at the Broadway and Commercial Drive Skytrain Station. It was the location of an Idle No More protest that the artist attended. That gathering of divergent communities under common causes was inspiration for her proposed work that would read “Let’s hold hands across the divide”. The location was architecturally aligned with the theme, as the glass walkway bridged the two ends of the station. In addition, it is the stop that connects Vancouver to the neighboring cities of Burnaby, New Westminster and Surrey – acting as an intersection between perceived borders and a place ripe with convergence and exchange. The proposed piece was not realized.
Homage to Parenthood
Brighouse Station, Richmond, BC
As part of the 2009-11 Vancouver Biennale, Homage to Parenthood was adapted as a 6-panel public art installation at the Brighouse Skytrain Station in Richmond, BC. Facing street level passersby, the panels depicted 100 clichés, idioms and sayings in a rainbow of colours. The piece was inspired by the artist’s deceased father, who used several of these lines as a means of creating levity and teaching his children about the world. The piece stayed up for years after that Biennale cycle ended.
Vancouver Biennale Catalogue featuring Homage to Parenthood
Big Draw
The ‘Day of Drawing Collective’ brought their art truck pop-up gallery to the Kwantlen University campus on Oct 17-18, 2013 to participate in ‘The Big Draw’ – an international celebration of drawing based in the UK. Many students and instructors, including Toni Latour, participated in drawing activities throughout the 2 days.
The Femme Project at the Firehall Arts Centre Gallery
Pecha Kucha
Toni Latour gave a Pecha Kucha talk at the Richmond Cultural Centre on Friday June 12, 2013 on the subject of queer identity in relation to her art practice.
