Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

Metivier Gallery Bands Together with Black Artists "Demoiselles d'Avignon." riff by  Artist Ehiko Odeh It was a night of richness in the art garden last Thursday when the Band Offsite Exhibition opened at the Nicholas Metivier Gallery. Three emerging Black Canadian artists were showcasing their work in a gallery that typically features well-known contemporary artists. And best of all, the exclusive show opening was packed. Khalid Romain says cheese The exhibition, BAND Offsite, features three artists: Ehiko Odeh, Khalid Romain, and Moses Salihou. In previous years, BAND has collaborated with the upscale Nicholas Metivier Gallery. However, this year, with the BAND gallery building in Parkdale undergoing reconstruction, the Metivier Gallery has extended a helping hand to BAND while also providing their client base with a unique opportunity to explore the rich and diverse world of Black Canadian art. With thought-provoking pieces and the exceptional talent of the participati...

Walk or do a Drive By. Absence/Presence: Morant Bay  New Photography Exhibition Opens  By Stephen Weir While all art galleries are closed in the province, there is a new curated photography show on display in downtown Toronto! The Black Artists’ Network in Dialogue (BAND) gallery in concert with the Contact Photography Festival has just launched an exhibition of the work of Jamaican-Canadian photographer Christina Leslie. Although the BAND building on Brock Avenue  remains closed the new exhibition Absence/Presence: Morant Bay is open for viewing on the building’s tall wooden alley fence! The black and white photography show can be seen on foot or from a slow moving car! Christina Leslie takes photographs that delve into and respond to her Jamaican-Canadian heritage and personal family histories. Recently, she returned to her father’s hometown of Morant Bay, the capital of St. Thomas Parish in Jamaica where she found the area in decline. “It was as if...

Opening Saturday at North Toronto’s Meridian Arts Centre Eddie Grant photo of PM Manley Way back in the 70s and 80s a quintet of Caribbean Canadian photojournalists were literarily the Ears, Eyes and Voice of Toronto’s many hard-hitting community newspapers!  Press photographs taken by Jules Elder, Eddie Grant, Diane Liverpool, Al Peabody and Jim Russell are on display beginning Saturday at the Meridian Arts Centre in North Toronto as part of Black History Month celebrations in the city. This free exhibition, presented by TO Live, brings together important historic works by the five “shooters”. Their combined collection of photographs is a rare pictorial record of newspaper stories that covered the evolving history of the community. Ears, Eyes, Voice bring back both good and bad memories from the streets of Toronto. There are pictures of reggae star Peter Tosh at the O’Keefe Centre; Caribana as a giant Blocko on University Avenue, and a large Africa Li...