This was the scene last night as the summer season’s final Art Spin got underway in Toronto’s Trinity Bellwoods Park. More than 300 cyclists — a 50 per cent increase over the previous record attendance — saddled up to tour West Queen West galleries and take part in an impromptu tribute to the late Jack Layton, a cycling advocate and long-time City Councillor before he went on to pursue federal politics.
Clay & Paper Theatre put on a bicycle-themed puppet show before the massive group set off on their bikes.
Organizers were flummoxed by the huge turnout, too big a group to fit into any individual gallery. Traffic was paralyzed each time the crowd left a venue to make its way to another stop on the tour. But even the crush couldn’t tarnish what felt like a magically spontaneous event. United by a collective dedication to art and bicycles, there was a palpable feeling of jubilation as the audience followed procession leader Michael L. Johnson, who serenaded us through the winding streets on his trumpet.
The Theatre Centre was the first stop on the tour for a performance of Evalyn Parry’s Spin about suffragette cycling pioneer Annie Londonderry (nee Kopchovsky), the first woman to cycle around the world. Parry and her sidekick Brad Hart seemed genuinely surprised by the packed house and the huge ovation that greeted their excellent performance.
Next, it was on to the Gladstone Hotel for a cattle-call tour through Being Scene, a juried show staged by Workman Arts.
A back injury sent me home at that point but many attendees continued on, finally winding up at 99 Gallery for the opening of Art Spin’s second annual exhibition featuring live video projections by Jerrem Lynch, performance pieces by Basil AIZeri and Maryam Taghavi, and a wheat paste installation by Faux Reel. On show until September 24 are works by Keith Bentley, Vuk Dragojevic, Scott Eunson, James Gauvreu, Markus Heckmann, Gillian Iles, Gareth Lichty, Sarah McCaw, Vanessa Maltese, Wrik Mead, Tom Ngo and TH&B.
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