What do you get when a team of three dynamic women orchestrates, in a single gallery space, 22 artists, a reading, a live performance, a DJ, 3 pop-up shops, make-up and nail art, delectable treats, raffled prizes and giveaways from a dozen sponsors? Introducing the birth of one of the most inclusive and robust local art shows this city has ever seen.

Nuit Blanche is officially a week away (Saturday September 29). The annual all-night celebration of contemporary art will be taking over the streets of downtown Toronto from sunset to sunrise, and we will be right there with it. Pink Mafia will be exploring every corner, and live tweeting about it here. Join us, all night, tweeting about Nuit Blanche with the hashtag #PMBlanche

The all-night autumn-in-Toronto staple might be a bit much for the unprepared or the uninitiated, so we have created a list of gathered wisdom to help you make the most of it. We had so much fun remembering some of our favourite projects from years past, that we compiled them below to share with you.

One of Toronto’s hottest new restaurants has teamed up with one of Toronto’s hottest new bands to bring you the most unique event of the summer!

The inaugural inTO event is the Living Room Jam, taking place Thursday, July 19 at 8 p.m. at the new bar and restaurant Kitch (229 Geary Ave.). Co-hosting the evening is CityNews entertainment anchor Mary Kitchen and Jeffrey Remedios, co-founder of Arts & Crafts Productions. Special guests for the evening will include indie sensation Eight and a Half. Comprised of Justin Peroff of Broken Social Scene and Dave Hamelin and Liam O’Neil of The Stills, Eight and a Half will treat guests to a musical performance and give an insider’s glimpse into the production of their self-titled EP, featuring the single Go Ego.

The Power Plant is celebrating its 25th anniversary on June 14th 2012 with one of the most highly anticipated parties of the year. With over 1,700 people attending and DJ Alex Merrell and Diego Armand (last minute change because Brendan Fallis is stuck on the moon) providing sweet jams, it’s an event that you won’t want to miss. It’s also for a good cause, as the the annual Power Ball is the premier fundraising event for the gallery, which is Canada’s leading contemporary art gallery. Art is important and so is partying, so buy your tickets here to kill two birds with one stone.

Fan Art is one of the most beautiful ways someone can show how much they appreciate someone else’s art, and how you can tell that the artist(s) has such a loyal fan base. Meet Wendy Ding, 27 years old specializing in digital illustration, her love of MGMT made her spend 3 months in between contract work  at home listening to (D U H) MGMT over and over again, making sure everything was perfect right down to the opacity of the triangles, to the print of the paisley shirt. The final product captures the colourful world that the youth of MGMT live in, and completely embodies MGMT’s “kaleidoscopically psychedelic” sound (minus the heroin).

Kicking off this week is Parkdale’s Fireside Culture Week which runs from Monday March 12 to Saturday March 17 all along Queen St. from Dufferin to Roncesvalles. Fireside kicks off @ Goodfellas Gallery with drinks provided by Beau’s All Natural Brewing Co. & Red Bull, and also some tasty snacks provided by Cobs Bakery.

Tumblr ruins lives. You can sit on your dashboard and scroll through endless pictures, videos, and tracks and before you know it you’ve wasted 3 hours doing….niente. Here are some of my favorite tumblrs that I spend most of my time on, contemplating whether to reblog or favorite each post to increase my url altness, even though NONE of it matters :)

This past Thursday marked the launch of the By The Pound – Reweighted exhibit. With 100 artists participating, the launch at Goodfellas Gallery (1266 Queen St. W) was a hit with tons of great pieces and enough glam people to make anyone want to become a patron of the arts.

The premise of the group show is to compare ”art to meat in the sense that if quality and long term happiness is at all important to the consumer… although the initial cost may be a little more, the long term reward is greater than the cost”. With a description like that, you can do no wrong.

Here at Pink Mafia, we love to showcase up and coming talent of all sorts.  Our latest find is Heratics; a video and arts collective based out of Toronto, run by JOEY WHITELAW & SEAN CARTWRIGHT.  Heratics are just getting their feet off the ground, and have already done work for Blackberry, TIFF, Harry Rosen, & PEER PRESSURE just to name a few. A lot of their feels very nostalgic with the soft overtones and clean transitions, the only complaint would be that each video is not long enough to bask in.

It’s always refreshing and I’m always impressed to see young people use their creativity to start their own projects; exactly what Carlos Santollala did and became the Creative Director of RAAT CITY.  Using the connections he’s made  from modelling and being popular on the internet, Carlos is putting his “damn talented friends” forward, and getting them noticed. With a roster of 6 emerging artists and growing, RAAT CITY aims to “align unrecognized talent with the right people”.

 FOLLOW OR BE UNFOLLOWED. THESE KIDS ARE MAKING A #SPLASH ONLINE & IRL. BE #INSPIRED.

Coming Soon At The Gladstone Hotel:

upArt

This self produced Art Fair that is a response to Toronto International Art Fair much like Come Up To My Room is a response to the Interior Design Show.

It happens only over ONE-weekend – Thurs Oct 27 to Sun Oct 30, 2011

This installation based show takes over the rooms on the 2nd floor of the hotel – same caliber as Come Up To My Room, but different content.

To celebrate this new project, two of you lucky readers  are being set up for a night of fun by The Gladstone Hotel: the cool kids over at one of Toronto’s best art/bar/club/resto/hotels are setting you up with a super rad prize pack.

You’ll get free entry into the upArt exhibit, dinner for two in the brand spankin’ new Melody Bar and a bunch of other goodies!!

You have 2 ways to enter:

Option 1

Tweet @pinkmafia4life (using the hashtag #GladstonePM) and tell us  the name of this one- weekend-only exhibit.

or

Option 2

“Like” the PinkMafia facebook page. On the wall, post the name of this one- weekend-only exhibit.

Happy clicking.

Contest ends Wednesday October 26th!!