Pop!

How is everyone doing? Things are opening up here in Toronto. This morning, Buddy and I went to the Andy Warhol exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

We saw many of Andy's iconic pieces. Buddy counted the number of Campbell soup cans in this piece. There's 100! Andy painted this by hand, but used stencils to help him with repetition.

There were lots of portraits of celebrities, including Marilyn Monroe. Buddy liked how colour this set was. While there are eight portraits here, the full set includes ten portraits.

Buddy asked me if I can make him a wig like Andy's. This self portrait is from the 1980s.

The exhibit is on until October 24. If you check it out, let us know!

Tim the Art Enthusiast

Our second day in DC was rainy as all get out. We had plans to explore the city via bicycle, but opted for the Botanical Gardens and National Art Gallery instead.

There are several fountains in the National Art Gallery. This one is the Mercury Fountain in the Rotunda.

This was one of Tim's favourite paintings, by Van Gogh.

Tim liked Degas' sculptures, including these horses (mostly because they were Tim's size).

The gallery's modern and contemporary art are housed in a separate building.

This painting by Jackson Pollock is called Number 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist).

And this one is by Piet Mondrian, a Dutch artist.

Kandinsky and Klimt. Tim liked the colours.

Art that goes pop!

There's a lovely exhibit until July 8th on portraits by Cezanne. Like the other museums on our trip to date, this one was fantastic, and free (even though not a Smithsonian)!

Face Time

After Tim's power nap, we walked up the street to the National Portrait Gallery. Tim met a friendly dinosaur named Conrad. Conrad documents his travels via photos, like us!

Can you guess who is the man above? He has a popular musical named after him...

Tim with the first president, George Washington...

...and with Barack Obama!

Oh, and Michelle too!

The museum is massive! We spent a solid three hours there. And like other Smithsonians in the city, the museum is free - woohoo!

Tim in DC

Earlier this month, Tim repped his friends on a trip to Washington, DC. Tim had his own seat on the plane, and spent the whole flight looking out the window.

Tim also had his own queen-sized bed at the Kimpton Palomar. We don't have cable at home, so watching TV in the hotel room was a real treat.

Tim visited several museums. The first one was the Renwick Gallery. It featured some cool art from Burning Man. One room was dedicated to a wooden temple where people could leave inscriptions on small wooden plaques. A temple is built at the festival each year.

To the left of Tim are the ten principles of Burning Man: radical inclusion, gifting, decommodification, radical self-reliance, communal effort, civic responsibility, leaving no trace, participation, and immediacy. The bus in the background has been converted into a mini movie theatre.

On our way to lunch, we made a quick pit stop at the White House for a photo op. No Trump in sight...

We had a great pulled pork sandwich at Hill Country. Tim had a few bites, and then took a power nap.

Colin Reunion

Colin reunited with New Colin in Vancouver two weekends ago. The two caught up over sightseeing, good conversation, and tasty food. They had a great time at the Vancouver Art Gallery. The Monet exhibit was a real treat.

They also enjoyed walking along the waterfront. From the photo above, can you tell which Colin is which?

Sunday @ The AGH

Buddy had a really great afternoon at the Art Gallery of Hamilton on Sunday! He wrote a letter using a typewriter at "The Living Room" exhibit...

...learned about Ken Danby...

...saw a bunch of paintings from Canadian artists...

...including some colourful contemporary art...

...and loved checking out this futuristic diaroma!

AGH exceeded our expectations. If you're in the area, we would recommend you check it out!

ROM Ink

Colin's been playing way too many video games lately so I thought a museum outing with be good for him.

I wanted to check out one exhibit in particular. Before heading to the exhibit, we said hello to the futalognkosaurus dukei (dinosaur) in the atrium.

The exhibit is all about tattoos. It features a visual history of body art, markings, and ancient tools. This is from the United States...

...this is from Japan...

...and these are from Algeria.

One of the cool things we learned was that it some cultures, only women could be tattoo artists!

Tattoos: Ritual. Identity. Obsession. Art. is on until September.

Turner

J.M.W. Turner: Paintings Set Free is the current exhibit at the AGO. It features rare works on loan from the Tate. Norham Castle, Sunrise was the Mins' favourite painting.

The Mins enjoyed learning about "one of the most radical and influential artists of the 19th century". The Mins also enjoyed having a staring contest with the silhouette of Turner.

You have until January 1, 2016 to check out the exhibit. Enjoy!

This Is Not A Toy

The Design Exchange has great exhibits, and this one was no exception. The Mins joined BC and I to see "This Is Not A Toy", co-curated by Pharrell Williams.

This sculpture is called The Simple Things. It's hard to see, but the items are encrusted with thousands of diamonds and other precious stones.

The Mins liked these smiley guys. They are from a series called Wish Come True.

I have friends in Hong Kong that collect To-Fus. They take the To-Fus on their travels, like I do with the Quatchis.

Can you guess who designed this Be@rbrick? Mr. Lagerfield, of course! The Chanel doll was donated by Jeanne Beker.

This KAWS piece was one of the largest at the exhibition...

...and these guys were some of the smallest. There were rows upon rows upon rows of them! We felt like kids in a toy shop!

More Art! More Art!

The Quatchis can't get enough of the art in Toronto! The Mins was eager to check out the newest exhibit at the AGO, David Bowie Is. He proudly wore his member badge the whole time we were there.

We were not supposed to take photos, but we snuck in two. The Mins really liked this crazy bodysuit designed by Kansai Yamamoto.

He also loved this photo from Aladdin Sane. The gift shop had temporary tattoos of the lightning bolt. If they only had them in sasquatch size, we would have bought two!

Art Gallery Adventure

After a busy Sunday morning of running errands, Q and I headed over to the Toronto Dominion Gallery of Inuit Art. We learned about the gallery in the latest issue of Toronto Life. It has the most complete collection of Inuit art in existence to date.

Q liked the animal sculptures the most. There were many on display in all shapes and sizes.

This dude was my fave. He's made of stone, bone, and wood.

Check out the gallery if you're in the neighbourhood! It's free and open seven days a week.