Under light rain and single-digit temperatures, Toronto was once again transformed for the city’s 10th annual Nuit Blanche. The event celebrates contemporary art with an estimated attendance exceeding one million Torontonians and out-of-town tourists for the past few years.
This year has seen a diverse set of artworks categorized under four main curated exhibitions and a range of independent pieces. Curator Che Kothari organized 10 for 10th exhibition, celebrating the 10 years of Toronto’s Nuit Blanche; Curator JR’s Black and White Nightaimed to turn the city inside out with vivid works; the final two exhibitions titled HTOUS/HTRON curated by Agustin Pérez Rubio, and The Work of Wind curated by Christine Shaw discuss and explore geopolitical topics, the force of wind, and other environmental concerns.
With a heavy lineup of artists, seven York alumni and current students have been chosen to showcase their work this year. One of which included Ekow Nimako, who had his work “Silent Knight” on display at the Gardiner Museum. This particular piece is composed of over 50,000 LEGO pieces, all arranged together to create a spectacular sculpture of a barn owl taking flight.
Nimako states that it took him 817 hours to create this eight foot tall structure, so it comes as no surprise that the piece garnered several admiring spectators. Namiko explains his choice of animal for this piece, stating that it was a monument to the Ontario barn owl.
“I chose the barn owl because one, I think it’s a fascinating creature, and two, because it is [exhausted] in Ontario. It is highly endangered and on the brink of local extinction,” says Namiko.
Namiko, who graduated from York’s fine arts program in 2010, attributes his success as an artist to his professors, instructors, and collaborators.
“My time at York was invaluable,” he adds.
Other crowd favourites included the revamped 3D Toronto sign, city hall’s newest addition that has been left over from the Pan Am Games. For one night, the sign along with the city hall’s grounds, were covered by a collage of Torontonian faces.
Carlos Amorales’ Beaufort 12: Black Cloud featured an installation of 30,000 manufactured black moths and amassed a large line-up outside The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery at Harbourfront Centre.
In comparison to the last three years, 2015 was a disappointment to many. There were some installations that peaked some interest, including Sean Martindale’s and JP King’s There is No Away, which turned a part of city hall into a landfill and reminded us that everything must go somewhere.
Despite the few exceptions of thought-provoking projects, the event as a whole was rather too spread-out over Toronto, non-cohesive, and lacklustre. Nuit Blanche has showcased some breathtaking works including last year’s Global Rainbow and 2013’s Forever Bicycles by Ai Weiwei. But unfortunately, I cannot say that 2015 held anything as grand or quite at that level.
Despite the overheard dissatisfaction of Nuit Blanche 2015, Torontonians and out-of-towners alike will still take to the streets in the search of art for years to come. As a staple of Toronto and worldwide modern art scene, we will continue to forgive and forget the previous years flops and every fall continue to ask, “Who else is going to Nuit Blanche?”
Raazia Rafeek, Contributor
Featured image courtesy of Raazia Rafeek.
