Toronto's Art Toronto closes 27th edition with fewer US galleries and a Canadian focus

Art Toronto, Canada's biggest art fair, closed its 27th edition on Sunday, November 1, after a four-day run at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in downtown Toronto. This year's fair had far fewer galleries from the United States than in past years, but overall capacity was down only 5%, and Canadian galleries made up 80% of exhibitors.

This year's fair

New director Emily Jean Alexander told The Art Newspaper that there are far fewer galleries from the United States than in past years, while the fair is only down 5% in capacity. The fair has 105 exhibitors, 80% of them Canadian. Galleries from the United States and Mexico are still among them, along with galleries from Chile, Colombia, Peru, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Europe.

The fair fills about 20,000 square feet (1,860 square metres). The first thing many visitors see on arrival is a large installation, Untitled (Watching) (1996), by the late artist Lynn Donoghue. According to the fair's August press release, the edition includes 55 Main Galleries and 16 Verge Galleries, and a commercial gallery from New Brunswick is taking part for the first time.

Opening night and background

Opening night on Thursday, October 29, raised money for the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, a gallery in Kleinburg, north of Toronto. Art Toronto has been supporting art in Canada since 2000. Whether the smaller US presence becomes a lasting change or a one-year shift will only become clear when the next edition's exhibitor list appears.