The Art Gallery of Ontario's Massive Party fund-raiser on Thursday—which we covered here—was more than a party. A sold-out crowd of 1,600 guests had the opportunity to view works by eight contemporary artists in installations set up in the entrance hall, Walker Court, Baillie Court, and in the Zacks Pavilion. Here's a look at some of the work.
Eric Mathew's mural "The Future Is Now" applied a matrix of post-crash, post-consumer exhortations across a 48-foot wall in the Zacks Pavilion.
Photo: Nikki Leigh McKean for BizBash
Texas artist Franco Mondini-Ruiz liquidated his entire inventory—small sculptures of items such as a half-eaten taco stuffed inside a Louis Vuitton purse and cigarettes stuck in chocolate doughnuts—during a five-hour sales performance entitled "Morsels for the Masses: Populist Art at Popular Prices!"
Photo: Nikki Leigh McKean for BizBash
A tiered chocolate cake surrounded by foam sponges on paper plates was part of an interactive installation by Franco Mondini-Ruiz.
Photo: Nikki Leigh McKean for BizBash
Franco Mondini-Ruiz's installation included spoons that appeared to be sitting in pools of melted ice cream.
Photo: Nikki Leigh McKean for BizBash
Red lighting filled Baillie Court, where actors dressed as John Lennon and Yoko Ono lay on a bed placed atop a riser in the centre of the room.
Photo: Nikki Leigh McKean for BizBash
Montreal artist David Armstrong Six exhibited two elements from his 2007 "No Refunds" project, including "We Admitted We Were Powerless," which features signs bearing the phrases No Rest, No Time, and No Hope.
Photo: Nikki Leigh McKean for BizBash
Jay Isaac created an illuminated ice sculpture entitled "Sword of Damocles."
Photo: Nikki Leigh McKean for BizBash
Artist Jay Issac encased a sword—balancing on a sculpture of a human head—in ice.
Photo: Nikki Leigh McKean for BizBash
Sarah Maple, a rising British art star, displayed three photographic works—"You," "She Has a Very Hot Arse," and "Can I Taste Your Maple Syrup?"
Photo: Nikki Leigh McKean for BizBash
Event organizers chained a stack of books to the handrail in the elevator and covered a wall inside the lift with a poster listing titles of censored books like Of Mice and Men, and The Colour Purple.
Photo: Nikki Leigh McKean for BizBash
