Critical Writing Index

Form Follows Fiction: Art and Artists in Toronto

by Luis Jacob

Toronto: Art Museum, 2020

ISBN 9781912165278

Form Follows Fiction: Art and Artists in Toronto is a three-part project including a research-oriented conference, an exhibition, and a book, curated by Luis Jacob. The book documents the artworks included in the exhibition along with essays tracing patterns between the artworks and offering context. Together the art and essays address the physical, cultural, and social construction and re-constructions of the city of Toronto. They attend to the history of the city, as well as, the histories that have been suppressed in the processes of colonial placemaking. The book takes a close look at artistic production in Toronto in order to create a portrait of the city while simultaneously unsettling colonial relations to this place.

Content:

Director's Preface by Barbara Fischer;

Form Follows Fiction: Art and Artists in Toronto by Luis Jacob;

When Fictions Become Form;

Inhabitants of A Vacant Lot;

Views From the 6ix;

Borderline Cases;

This is Paradise;

List of Exhibited and Illustrated Works;

List of Quotations;

Artist Bios.

ITEM 2020.017 – available for viewing in the Research Centre

Videos, Artworks and Artists Cited

Premises for Self-RuleRobert Houle

Work in ProgressCarole Condé and Karl Beveridge

Miss Canadiana's Heritage and Culture Walking Tour: the hidden Black History of the GrangeCamille Turner

Birthday Suit - with scars and defectsLisa Steele

The Double VoiceMargaret Atwood

ReadingWill Kwan

In Memory of the Toronto Scene, List of Names of Boys I Grew Up WithGreg Curnoe

Casting GlancesAdrian Blackwell

The Mr. Peanut Issue of FILE vol. 1 no.1General Idea

Painters Eleven, Group Portrait on top of Park PlazaTess Boudreau Taconic

MetropolisHarold Town

Dreamscape Street Car Dundas Street, Seize This SpaceJeff Thomas

ThemHo Tam

Figuration of PlacesBonnie Devine

Get Hold of This SpaceGordon Lebredt

Ground OutlinePeter Kolisnyk

UndergrowthArthur Lismer

Car PoolAdrian Blackwell

Reserved ParkingCarlo Cesta

Farewell Oak StreetGrant McLean

Anticipating the Eventual Emergence of Form, Part 1 and 2Renée Van Halm

Demolition Site, King and BathurstPeter MacCallum

The RipRobert Wien

Conditions of Competition: City Hall and SquareUnknown

The Toronto PurchaseUnknown

The 1984 Miss General Idea Pavillion LetterheadGeneral Idea

Plan of the harbour of Toronto with the proposed town and settlementJohn Collins

Plan for the enlargement of YorkSir David William Smith

Jorge Zontal (General Idea) poses as a construction worker on site outside the General Idea studioIsobel Harry

The Upright DotTom Dean

TepermanDavid Anderson

SunriseRita Letendre

Rita Letendre's Sunrise muralDuane Linklater

Bear Portraits: Samuel de Champlain MonumentJeff Thomas

Toronto PurchasePublic Studio

The Page, The man with a hole in his throatMargaret Atwood

Museum of Found Objects: TorontoSameer Farooq and Mirjam Linschooten

Track it AroundDavid Armstrong Six

Melted TinKaren Henderson

Mobile Ink FactoryThe Toronto Ink Company

Microbes Swabbed From a Palette Used by Tom ThomsonJon Sasaki

EG SeriesJaan Poldaas

Audition TapeBenny Nemerofsky Ramsay

We Can't Compete and We Won't CompeteDeirdre Logue and Allyson Mitchell

SwampParaskeva Clark

TorontoArmstrong, Beere and Hime

2004 Toronto SkylineScott Dickson

2016 Future Rendering (proposed 2020 skyline)Scott Dickson and Robert Koopman

Melted TinKaren Henderson

Temples of CommerceRobert Gagen

Broken BuildingShirley Wiitasalo

The Rosedale KissCharles Pachter

ReliefJames Carl

Weather GirlPeter Bowyer

Michael Buckland is a Minor ArtistMichael Buckland

Famous Artstars, Untitled StarMitch Robertson

Jane Jacobs and Northrop FryeArnaud Maggs

SHE/SHEKim Adams

Poster for the 1971 Miss General Idea PagentGeneral Idea

See the SightsJohn Marriott

Canadian PaintingFrederick Hagan

EnemyDenis Villeneuve

Wendy Sage Being ComparedIan Carr-Harris

Walking Woman in Toronto Subway, Authorization, and Beach-HcaebMichael Snow

Interior at NightChristiane Pflug

DopplekopfRoula Partheniou

Light on (Double Mirror)General Idea

A Genuine Simulation of....Suzy Lake

Self-portrait in My Christian Dior Bathing-SuitCarl Beam

The Magic of Sao PauloJoanne Tod

The Emergence of a LegendKent Monkman

2 colossi for YYZGordon Lebredt

Showcard 1-001, 2-001, 3-001, 1-071, 2-072, 2-073, 2-074, 2-025,2-026, 2-030General Idea

Ross Street TapesLisa Steele

Self-portrait, Union StationMichael Lambeth

Self-Portrait with Jorge ZontalRodney Werden

Water Sark, Facing North-Self ImpressionJoyce Wieland

TimeKwan Tse

Women's Committee MembersUnknown

But she taught me moreIan Carr-Harris

The Tangled GardenJEH MacDonald

Summer Night, TorontoYvonne McKague Housser

Untitled, 2012Annie MacDonell

John in the StudioFrederick Varley

The Mirror has Two FacesBridget Moser

This Land is Mime LandShelley Niro

My Summer VacationDavid Buchan

ReflectionsNobuo Kubota

ChromaZone/ChromatiqueOliver Girling

Free Dance LessonsPaige Gratland and Day Milman

Night GatheringEd Pien

Underground Space StationCharlie Murray and Thom Van der Vaag

untitled (Don Blanche)Olia Mishchenko

Wall Installation by Tom Dean, Front Room of the Cameron Tavern, Queen Street WestPeter MacCallum

Children's Video Collective, Little MonkeysSteve Reinke

Bag GirlsColin Campbell

Feral Science, After Harry HarlowWendy Coburn

sum of the parts, what can be namedDeanna Bowen

Masks: Artists and CuratorsArthur Renwick

CreditsDaniel Olson