With the 2024 Toronto Biennial of Art in full swing, the city is swarming with intriguing contemporary art for the next 10 weeks.

It's happening at venues across the city but the 'main hub' is 32 Lisgar St. near the Drake Hotel on West Queen West. Toronto Biennial spokesperson Deanne Moser told me the entire building was abandoned prior to the festival. 

"The space was just perfect for all of the featured artists," says Moser, commenting on the ease of crafting an inviting environment from the dilapidated building. 

The multi-level space hosts only a fraction of the art being showcased this year, with nearly every hallway and room occupying someone's artistic expression. 

One particularly large, high-ceiling room hosts local Toronto artist Maria Hupfield's work titled The Supernatural Powers of Fabulous Panther.

The multi-media piece crafted by the artist pays respect to her earthly surroundings, culture & community through the lens of her Indigenous background. A collection of cotton fabric toys are placed on opposite sides of the space, with one large, sweeping cotton/polyester creation positioned in the middle of the floor. 

Hupfield's work The Supernatural Powers of Fabulous Panther on full display.                      

Moser points to the bright, yellow paint traced throughout the entirety of the room and affirms that it is homemade and non-toxic. 

"You could literally lick the paint, but let’s not do that," she jokes, doubling down on the fact that Hupfield sourced only organic materials for her uniquely beautiful creations. 

Moser directs me over to a room hosting the work of Montreal artist Karen Tam. The room feels like a fever dream involving a Cantonese opera stage, warm orange overhead lights, and paper bamboo shoots hanging down from ceiling rafters.

Through the bamboo shoots and behind the stage, a wall is adorned with photos of a Cantonese singing club based in Montreal from the 1960s all the way to the 2010s. 

Vistors interact with Tam's exhibition dedicated to Cantonese opera.

It's here in this room that I met co-curator of the festival, Miguel A. López. López can’t help but marvel at Tam's work.

"It just feels like you're on this sonic adventure," he comments, which is provided by the live recordings of Cantonese opera performances that can be heard at full volume.

López shared his integral role with Montreal-based curator Dominique Fontaine, which he described as an "organic relationship" between the two creatives. 

As one of the lead curators, López was asked to move to Toronto for two years in order to work on the biennial art festival. 

"I'm from Peru, but I've lived everywhere, like Barcelona, Mexico City, Costa Rica," lists López, noting that moving to a new country was all part of the process. When tasked with the role of 

When asked about the process behind choosing this year's theme Precarious Joys, López shared that it came as a result of the discussions he and Fontaine engaged in with their chosen 36 artists. 

"We created this map of interests with words used in conversation and two of them ended up being 'precarious' and 'joy'," says López. 

Miguel A. López. at 32 Lisgar St.

Being tasked with curating a large scale art exhibition featuring close to 40 artists is no easy task. López and Fontaine sifted through hundreds of invitations and their "artist friends recommendations", traveling all over the world in order to affirm their chosen few.

For López, there was one major thing that could separate an artist's work from the bunch.

"Urgency. The urgency of their work is what really stood out to me," states the curator, establishing the foundational piece of his decision-making process. 

While López connects with all the artists chosen, he did make sure to mention a couple that visitors should not miss.

Cecilia Vicuña is a well-known Chilean artist and poet that López mentions is one to look out for. The respected creative was recently awarded the coveted Premio Nacional de Artes Plasticas for her contributions to art in 2023.

The decorated artist has multiple installations at different locations, one being a large-scale textile piece at 32 Lisgar St titled Quipu Girok. 

Another artist the lead curator strongly recommends is Ahmed Umar. Umar's work, which López has described "as simply beautiful", is characterized by the intersection of his Muslim background and queer identity.

His showcased piece titled Truth Bears No Scandal is a video installation highlighting songs written by queer Sudanese poets about their same-sex partners. 

"It's important to create space like this so artists can fully create."

@blogto What’s better than art you ask? FREE art!😍✨ #toronto #torontoart #torontobiennial #thingstodotoronto #fyp ♬ Ok I Like It - Milky Chance

The 2024 Toronto Biennial of Art is on now and runs until December 1, 2024. The festival's website has a map of the 11 exhibition sites as well as a full list of participating artists.