Art Metropole is an artist run centre that publishes, promotes, exhibits, archives and distributes artists' publications and other materials. Art Metropole was founded in 1974 by the Canadian artist collective

General Idea General Idea was a collective of three Canadian artists, Felix Partz, Jorge Zontal and AA Bronson, who were active from 1967 to 1994. As pioneers of early conceptual and media-based art, their collaboration became a model for artist-initiated ac ...

as a division of Art-Official, Inc.(1972), a

not-for-profit corporation A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

incorporated under the laws of the province of Ontario. Art Metropole specializes in contemporary art in multiple format: artists books, multiples, video, audio, electronic media, and offers these artists' products for sale on the premises and through their web site. It is currently located at 163 Sterling Road in Toronto, Canada.

History

Art Metropole was founded in 1974 by the artist collective

. Since 1972, the collective had been publishing their periodical FILE Megazine, which saw enormous interest internationally. As a means for other artists to access their distribution system, the group founded Art Metropole, which soon became a focused archive of artists' materials, especially artists books, periodicals, video, audio, and ephemera. In 1974, they opened their doors to the public in an abandoned space over a Greek restaurant in downtown Toronto. The building had originally been built in 1911 for one of Toronto's earliest art galleries – Art Metropole (which closed in the forties) – from which they took the name. In 1975

Peggy Gale Peggy Gale (born 1944) is an independent Canadian curator, writer, and editor. Gale studied Art History and received her Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History from the University of Toronto in 1967. Gale has published extensively on time ...

joined Art Metropole to initiate Art Metropole's video distribution service, one of the first in the world. This service was discontinued in 1987 when Art Metropole began publishing artists' video in low-cost VHS format for general distribution instead. Art Metropole began publishing books in the late 70s. "Performance by Artists" in 1977 was the first of a series of resource books on new artists' media. The same year Art Metropole published "3 death stories" by Tom Sherman, the first of a long series of artists books.complete list of Art Metropole publications
Although Art Metropole hosted video screenings and book launches, it did not undertake an exhibition until 1982, when it toured the seminal exhibition "Museums by Artists". In 1984 it presented the first exhibition on their own premises, a tenth anniversary overview of the Art Metropole Collection. In the late 80s, it established a small exhibition/display space and began its regular exhibition program. In the meantime, Art Metropole continued to produce a series of innovative distribution-based projects such as "Ads by Artists" (1987) and "Billboards by Artists" (1997). In both cases, it commissioned artists to produce art works for conventional advertising space; in one case in the advertising section of international art magazines, in the other, on billboards in downtown Toronto. In 1997 Art Metropole transferred their permanent collection of over 13,000 items to the

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the ...

as the Art Metropole Collection.

References

Art Metropole::About

External links

Art Metropole website

Art Metropole Collection at the National Gallery of Canada
and collection at the

, Ottawa, Ontario
The CCCA Canadian Art Database (Concordia University)

History of Art Metropole's Video Distribution

Artforum article on Art Metropole's 40th Anniversary
{{Canadian art Artist-run centres