Two shows at 401 Richmond

This weekend, 401 Richmond was finally open to the public.  The Spacing Store was allowing people in, though at very, very low levels (I believe 4 in the store at any one time).  I thought a few more galleries would have reopened, but as far as I can tell, only Yumart and Abbozzo are open.  (Bau-Xi has been open a bit longer, but they are between shows and will reopen on the 10th.  I probably should check out if any of the galleries in the Distillery are open now.)  Weather-permitting, I'll be back at 401 Richmond on the 10th and see if  Red Head or some other galleries have reopened.  Little by little, I guess, and it shouldn't be too much longer before the AGO and The Power Plant are back up and running.

Anyway, I enjoyed the Tim Deverell show at Yumart.  Most his pieces are very busy; they look completely abstract from a distance, but closer in you can see glyphs and small images.  This recent piece, Grant Street, also had a few echoes of Jim Flora.

Tim Deverell, Grant Street, 2016

Abbozzo was featuring woodcut prints by Naoko Matsubara.  Many of these reminded me a lot of Ben Shahn's work, though the resemblance was not so strong in my favourite piece in the show, Magician.

Naoko Matsubara, Magician, 1974

I also liked this piece just called Circus (on the website but not on view in the show), though not quite enough actually enquire about the price...

Naoko Matsubara, Circus, 1977

Anyway, it's so nice that anything even remotely cultural is coming back this summer.  The Matsubara will only run through July11th, while the Deverell show runs through the 24th, so there's a bit more time to get over to see it.