Videofag

Videofag is a storefront cinema and performance lab in Toronto, Ontario's Kensington Market, dedicated to the creation and exhibition of video, film, new media, and live art.^[1] A flexible multimedia space, Videofag is designed to serve as a cinema, an art gallery, a nightclub or a theatre space depending on the needs of any individual show.^[2]

The space is run by Jordan Tannahill and William Christopher Ellis, who converted it from an old barbershop in October 2012.^[1][3] Videofag's inaugural exhibition was a retrospective of local queer music collective Kids on TV.^[1]

In 2012, Videofag presented performances by Jeremy Bailey, Casey Mecija, Nina Arsenault and video work by Mike Hoolboom, John Greyson, Keith Cole, and The Hidden Cameras, among others. Curator Jon Davies hosted Sissy Boy YouTube Night, a program of videos curated from the Internet of childhood queer expression which Davies later wrote about for C Magazine and presented at the Art Gallery of Ontario.^[4] Salvatore Antonio and Adamo Ruggiero also presented an early workshop version of Truth/Dare: A Satire (With Dance), a Madonna tribute show which they later remounted at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre in June 2013.^[5]

Performances presented in 2013 included Henri Fabergé's rock opera Feint of Hart,^[6] Aurora Stewart de Peña's The Lee Press On Nail Play,^[7] Jane Montgomery Griffiths' Sappho...In 9 Fragments,^[8] Daniel Karasik's The Biographer,^[2] Sheila Heti's All Our Happy Days Are Stupid, a concert by Rae Spoon, and a trilogy of dance pieces by D.A. Hoskins. Videofag also hosted exhibitions by Vivek Shraya, Jesi the Elder, Peter Kingstone, and group shows featuring work by Bridget Moser, Life of a Craphead, FASTWÜRMS, Kalup Linzy, Will Munro, and R.M. Vaughan, among others.^[9] One notable exhibition saw Videofag transformed into a satirical Wal-Mart pop-up store.^[10] In 2013 Videofag also presented screenings and new media projects by artists such as Jennifer Chan, Daniel Cockburn, Jon Moritsugu, Francesco Gagliardi, and the Radical Faeries.

2014 saw Videofag presenting work by performance artist Narcissister, choreographer Andrew Tay, visual artist Humboldt Magnussen, writer/artist Jacob Wren, an exhibition of Erik Kostiuk William’s ‘Hungry Bottom Comics’, and The Queer Songbook, in which a 12-piece chamber ensemble re-interpreted songs that have shaped the LGBTQ community.^[11] Videofag also played host to the Regional Support Network, a monthly screening series featuring film and video from specific communities, curated by filmmakers from those communities. Photographer Samra Habib’s exhibition ‘Just Me & Allah: Photographs of Queer Muslims’ garnered international media attention.^[12][13] ‘Homer’s Odyssey’, an exhibition exploring the cultural impact of The Simpsons on a generation of visual artists, also drew record crowds and significant press attention.^[14][15] Videofag’s 2014 artists in residence included performance artist Michael Dudeck, visual artist Sojourner Truth-Parsons, and theatre creator Stewart Legere.

Videofag has presented a number of political cabarets on subjects including Canadian Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Jason Kenney, the Sochi 2014 Olympics and Yoko Ono.^[16] Every month Videofag also hosts The Spoke, a storytelling event presented by Toronto theatre company Outside the March, whose notable storytellers have included Tony Nappo, Gavin Crawford, and Aaron Poole.^[17]

Videofag has collaborated with a number of larger festivals and organizations to co-present events, including Fado Performance Inc., Pleasure Dome, Inside Out Film and Video Festival, Buddies in Bad Times, and Theatre Passe Muraille.^[18]

Videofag was listed as one of Toronto's Best New Art Galleries of 2012^[19] and nominated as a Toronto Hero as part of the Torontoist's 2013 Heroes and Villains poll.^[20]

In August 2015, Tannahill and Ellis announced that Videofag's fourth season of programming, including work by Karen Hines, Ken Moffatt, Heather Bain, Lido Pimienta, Chad Dembski, Rob Kempson, Jesse LaVercombe and Dana Michel, will be its last in the current theatre space.^[21] They plan to pursue other artistic projects as Videofag.^[21]

References

External links

• Videofag