WHAT'S HAPPENING WEDNESDAYS

BY: CAMERON CRAWLEY

Characterised by monochromatic landscapes and unrelenting cold, February is usually a month where there is very little to be excited about. Not so for this particular portion of the month however. In an exciting turn of events, there are three exhibition openings happening throughout the city, each more tantalising than the last.

First we have Jean-Michel Basquiat: Now's the Time opening at the AGO on Saturday, February 7th. Basquiat is famous for confronting and discussing issues of racism and social tension through his paintings. This is also the first major retrospective of Basquiat's work in Canada, after the untimely death of the artist in New York in 1987 at the age of 27.

Do as fever-dream Batman commands you, and go see this show.
http://www.ago.net/assets/images/555/E-01175-660.jpg

The show opens to the public at 6pm; tickets cost $25 for an adult, or $16.50 for a student. Tickets and further information can be found here. If the AGO does not consider you cool enough to let you in on opening night, do not fret about your street cred. The show runs until May 10th, so you will have ample time to post your perfectly composed instagram shots from inside the gallery.

Second, at the Gardiner Museum we have Women, Art, & Social Change: The Newcomb Pottery Enterprise, an exhibition jointly organised by the Smithsonian and Newcomb College at Tulane University.The exhibition showcases the efforts of a group of women in the Southern US who achieved financial independence through making and selling pottery. Set against the backdrop of post-Civil War New Orleans, this exhibition tells a story of entrepreneurship through beautiful objects.

Every entrepreneur needs a hammer. Although why one might need a hammer for ceramics seems counter-intuitive.
http://www.gardinermuseum.on.ca/designedit_inc/photogalleries/1419/l/Womanhammeringbowl.jpg

The show opens to the public on Thursday, February 5th and admission will cost you $15 for an adult or $9 for a student. Alternatively it will cost you NOTHING if you are Musings Administrator and Contributing Editor, Meaghan Dalby (*cough* WEASEL *cough*). Tickets and further information can be found here.

Finally, we have Squared2 opening today, February 4th. Hosted at the Steam Whistle Roundhouse located at 255 Bremner Boulevard, this exhibitions brings together three dozen works from three Toronto area photographers. The exhibit is meant to explore beauty found through happenstance from all over the world.

Photography! Beer! Novelty advertising vehicles!
http://i3.stay.com/images/venue/596/9/6db16ea4/view-from-steam-whistle-brewery.jpg

The opening reception is tonight from 7-11pm, and you will be pleased to know that entry is free. Better still is the fact that this exhibit is hosted at a brewery, so i'm sure there will be plenty of....beverages. Further information can be found here.

It is quite unusual to get a brace of openings like this occurring at the same time, so you should make hay while the sun is shining (proverbially, not literally, it's miserable outside). See you next time!