I just visited The Drey Gallery on Woodbine in East York, just north of Danforth.
I was drawn by seeing Patrick DeCoste’s mention of the show on Facebook, plus the convenience of the location. I have friends and family living a couple of blocks away. I’ve told them and now am blogging about my first look. I’ll be back to get a closer look and to chat a bit more with the Gallery curator / owner Drew. The shows by the two artists open today, and will be up until August 5th.
At first I wondered if that was his real name. An artist who drew? Perfect considering that Drew really drew, at least once upon a time, It’s funny Drew is the second person I met today who was telling me about their past at OCAD, now OCADU, formerly OCA (when Erika went there back in the 1970s). We met the first (who lives across the street from us) earlier today as we went for a walk.
Here’s a bit about the Gallery from their website:
After a long illness and extensive rehabilitation, The Drey was founded by artist Drew Simpson in 2019. The first gallery was a small ground floor space in an historic 200 year old mill tucked away in Canada’s last registered hamlet, Glen Williams. From the outset, the Gallery was committed to reimagining the traditional art business model while celebrating and exhibiting the work of under-represented, often marginalized mid-career artists.
There are two artists in the show, and other works on display at the gallery on Woodbine. It’s a really charming space that felt especially welcoming on a hot day, nice and cool inside even before I talked to Drew, who was preparing food & drink for the expected visitors.
And his dog welcomed me. The photo doesn’t show how sociable Louie was, a very friendly doggie.
Evan Jones & Patrick DeCoste are two artists whose styles are complementary even though contrasting.
Evan paints portraits of persons famous (like Hulk Hogan) and not so famous, or perhaps infamous when we mention his pictures of 9-1-1. There are two, and looking at his titles I’m not sure what title goes with the one I took (shown immediately below)
Evan Jones: (not sure of the title), acrylic on canvas
Patrick DeCoste is a Metis artist who (excuse the pun) drew me to the show. I wrote a bit about his work a decade ago, and I’ve followed his work through Facebook ever since. And you can see more of his work here. Patrick’s last pictures are in a fascinating post-modern style, alongside works that are very polished and seemingly from another century.
His new ones are also polished but contain a few ironic anachronisms tipping us off that no we can’t be looking at something old.
The show had just opened when I got there, deliberately early to avoid any sort of crowd, as I continue to be a caregiver who must avoid communicating any virus to family members. I made a quick visit, had a brief chat with Drew and stroked the lovely doggie who is apparently 14 years old. While he’s old I’m the one who had the senior moment, forgetting his name, which I’ll find out asap and insert into this writeup sometime soon. (==> Louie!)
I will follow up with Drew and Drey (click for website).
