Metro Toronto Convention Centre, October 2-6, 2008
Booth located in the southeast corner

Opening Night TIAF Performance
Thursday, October 2, 6-9:00 PM

Stacey Sproule and Randy Gagne
"Happy Celebration Fun Party"

Artist's Statement
As the two hosts of a classic sugar-laden birthday party, Randy Gagne and Stacey Sproule will entice gala attendees to take a colourful and playful respite from the high seriousness of the contemporary art market. Guests will be invited to enjoy some cake, play a few games, and celebrate! Each participant receives a special surprise bag! By implicating the unsuspecting attendees in the performance, Randy and Stacey subvert the commodity centered concerns of the fair into an ephemeral, and whimsical public action. FUN! PRIZES! SURPRISES!!!

Both graduates of the Ontario College of Art and Design, Stacey Sproule and Randy Gagne have been collaborating in performance since 2006. They have shown together at Xpace and Labspace Studios, and will be featured in this year's 7a*11d International Festival of Performance Art. 

Books signings at the Fair following Tea at Three
Saturday October 3, 4:00 PM

The Winnipeg Alphabestiary
with artists Sarah Ann Johnson, Janet Werner and editor Meeka Walsh

Border Crossings commissioned twenty-six enchanting works from some of Winnipeg’s most accomplished artists to create a collection celebrating the magazine’s 25th anniversary. The creatures featured in the alphabestiary collection demonstrate a range of honesty and imagination in their rendering. They include Andrew Valko’s Lecherous Leopard, Janet Werner’s painfully lovely Goat Girl, who also graces the cover, Kim Ouellette’s superbly stitched Fruit Flies, Simon Hughes’ elegant Ice Swan and Eleanor Bond’s devoted Pet, among a myriad of others.

Sunday October 4, 4:00 PM

The $12 Million Stuffed Shark
with author Don Thompson

The $12 Million Stuffed Shark delves into the economics and psychology of the contemporary art world–artists, dealers, auction houses, and wealthy collectors. If it’s true–as so often said–that 85 percent of new contemporary art is bad, why were record prices achieved at auction for works by 131 contemporary artists in 2006 alone, with astonishing new heights reached in 2007? The $12 Million Stuffed Shark explores money, lust, and the self-aggrandizement of possession in an attempt to determine what makes a particular work of art valuable while others are ignored.

DAVID MIRVISH BOOKS ON ART
596 Markham Street  Toronto  M6G 2L8
(416) 531-9975     www.dmbooks.com
Located one block west of Bathurst - south of Bloor