On the first Thursday of every month, the Art Gallery of Ontario opens its doors after hours for a night of art, music, mingling and good food. I attended November's first Thursday with a few friends and we were treated to an hour long performance by the Canadian born, South African, Zaki Ibrahim. Combining the musical styles of soul and jazz, you can tell as an audience member that she puts a lot of heart in her art form. The crowd was feelin' it too. The accompaniment from her back band provided a solid sound and performance, although the acoustics in Walker Court were not the best. Here's a view of the stage from the second floor:
The AGO had some tasty food stands, although they were strategically placed in safe locations (munchies were not allowed in galleries, much like the Royal Ontario's Friday Night Live series). Our choices were fish and chips, shepherd's pie, bbq or parmesan cheese popcorn, curry on chips, cronuts drizzled with caramel and chocolate sauce and gelato. I tried the fish and chips, which needed more fish and the heavenly gelato (double scoop: banana chocolate and caramel)! My friend had tried the pistachio flavour that was so strong it was the equivalent of eating creamed cashews.
We also had the pleasure of seeing the nominees and winner of the Aimia Photography Prize. Congrats to Erin Shirreff for her time-lapse photography work. I would say my favourite series was by LaToya Ruby Frazier that depicted the post-industrial decline of the US, through images of her family and community. Candid and unpolished, the photographs refrained from idealizing the subjects but framed them as real and vulnerable. Overall, I had a fun night and I'd definitely check out First Thursdays again. Kudos to Carol Tsang for providing the pictures!
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