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The Parke Gallery
Category: Arts & Entertainment Art Galleries Shopping Art Galleries Art Galleries [Edit]
707 Pape AvenueToronto, ON M4K 3S6
Neighbourhoods: The Danforth, Greektown, Riverdale
(416) 346-6826
One review for The Parke Gallery
1 review in English
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Review from Jimi S.
ON
12/18/2008 6 photos
so i was about to give this place a three star (whatever that means) but added a fourth simply because of its website. the website is no great shakes; when you enter the url, it takes you a black page which has on its upper half, in white, its name, The Parke Gallery. theres a beat, then in unison with a clang of a cyber triangle, appears a statement. the statement is: beauty is in the eye of the beholder. underneath this are two hyperlinks/buttons. one says "i agree" and the other says "i disagree". without much hesitation i pressed the "i agree" and was lead to another page with a picture of the gallery and all its contact information and that was the extent of it. then i went back to yelp to start writing my review when it occurred to me to wonder what would have happened had i pressed the "i disagree" button.
when you press that button you are immediately catapulted to the google page for the word "beauty", the first entry of which you see is a link to wikipedias definition of the word. highlarious.
the gallery, as its photo from the website suggests is exposed to the street by a floor-to-ceiling set of open windows. i suppose most places, perhaps most galleries would have this feature, but its the framing of these windows, which seems vintage with its thin black frames separating panes that gives you a sense of calm and wisdom perhaps.
inside is a wide open space with little to take attention away from the artwork hanging on the walls save for a few plants and flowerpots on the floor posing in the corners. at the back is a sofa and chair set up for a little gab with the owner, your shopping mate and the perchance the artist if shes there. the floors are hardwood and freshly polished, the walls white and the painting plentiful.
this time around featured one artist with a good thirty small paintings and drawings, made in oil, oil pastel and pastel. i was talking with the director david duclos about pricing the work. he was saying that he feels strongly about not pricing the work he features at more than 1000 dollars a piece. (most pieces in this show were on average 500). we talked about how things like the way an artist feels personally about his work both in its place in his development as an artist and in terms of how much time was spent on it helps to determine how much he might sell it for. it doesnt necessarily depend on size.
i think pricing artwork or being prepared to pay for artwork at a certain price always has its challenges, as who is to say...but it was nice that he was very open to have that dialogue and not only took no offense to me inquiring, but had obviously given the concept a lot of thought and was eager to share it.
each show lasts for about 3 to 4 weeks and like any other gallery there is an opening to introduce it. its a large space and distinct choice to feature one artist at a time, and i look forward to being kept abreast of future engagements.
