Art Toronto Boosts Canadian Art Market Amid Economic Headwinds

(MENAFN- USA Art News) Art Toronto, Canada's largest art fair, is currently on view at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre through November 1, emphasizing the country's domestic art ecosystem. The 27th iteration of the fair occupies 20,000 sq. ft. and features an installation by the late Lynn Donoghue, Untitled (Watching) (1996), from her Caribou Tarp series, displayed on a pile of dirt at the entrance. The work, inspired by Donoghue's mid-1990s experience in Alberta, reflects the fair's broader theme of returning to natural roots and fostering a unified Canadian art landscape.

Amid macroeconomic challenges like inflation, increased fuel costs, and a trade dispute with the US, Art Toronto is“only down in capacity by 5%,” according to new director Emily Jean Alexander, speaking to The Art Newspaper. Alexander noted a significant reduction in US galleries this year, with 80% of the 105 exhibitors being Canadian. This includes a first-time participant from New Brunswick, alongside numerous galleries from British Columbia, Québec, and Ontario, signaling a collective commitment to strengthening Canada's art market.

Other notable installations include Rich Loen's Databells (2025), a McLuhanesque work presented with Art Toronto's sister fair, Artist Project, which connects bells to various statistics. Upon ascending to the main fair floor, visitors can see Kathy Slade's monumental tapestry Sinking in the West (2023) at Mónica Reyes Gallery. The McMichael Canadian Art Collection, which is undergoing expansion and renovation in Kleinburg, Ontario, is showcasing a recent acquisition, My First Medicine Teacher, a large-scale painting by Métis artist Christi Belcourt.

Nicholas Metivier Gallery of Toronto has two stands: one featuring works by its gallery artists, and another dedicated to four decades of Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky's oeuvre. This solo presentation includes two new photographs from his upcoming project, Mining: For the Future. Burtynsky told The Art Newspaper that these textural images, captured during his return to Western Australia last year, explore the extraction of materials like lithium, copper, and cobalt needed for sustainable technologies.

Montreal's Galerie Nicolas Robert presents Sameer Farooq's Ascension (for Bakers), an extension of his Flatbread Library, which connects collected bakeware forms with the Buddhist stupa reliquary. Nearby, Vancouver's Wil Aballe gallery features Karin Jones's The Bond (dress) (2023), a mixed-media reinterpretation of Queen Victoria's wedding gown using blonde hair extensions. Additional installations include Douglas Scholes's (This is) What happens when a thing is maintained (?) (2024) at Galerie Robertson Arès and Karine Giboulo's Joy is a Resistant Bacteria (The Living Room) (2026) at Art Mûr.

The booth of the Nia Centre for the Arts, Canada's first professional Black arts center based in Toronto, exhibits Heritier Bilaka's painting Califia, which honors Queen Nzinga. Simultaneously, Nia is hosting A Black Art Fair at its headquarters. Vancouver's Ceremonial Art is showcasing works by five artists, including a woodblock print titled Embraced in Interdependence by Marika Swan. The fair also features Portfolio, a Vancouver-based nonprofit supporting emerging artists through scholarships, which is displaying new paintings by Angela Grossman and works from the Predator series by Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, who will have a solo exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario in February 2027. Equinox Gallery, also from Vancouver, presents early paintings by the late Gathie Falk, mid-century prints from the Fred Herzog archive, and works by Sonny Assu that re-contextualize Emily Carr's colonial landscapes with Kwakwaka'wakw formline designs.

During the fair's gala preview on Thursday, October 29, benefiting the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, it was announced that both the federal and provincial governments would contribute C$50 million ($35.7 million) each to fund a new wing designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects. Canada's first lady, Diana Fox Carney, stated in a video marking the occasion:“The world needs more Canada.”

We previously reported:

The fourth Toronto Biennial of Art,“Things Fall Apart,” features over 30 artists and collectives across Toronto and beyond, running through December 20.

Source: The Art Newspaper

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