Art Metropole

Yam Lau was born in Hong Kong and is currently based in Toronto, Canada. He received his Master of Fine Arts in painting from the University of Alberta. His creative work explores new expressions and qualities of space, time and image. His most recent works combine video and computer-generated animation to re-create familiar spaces and activities in varied dimensionalities and perspectives. Also, Lau publishes regularly on art and design and is active in the local art community. Certain aspects of his art practice, such as using his car as an on-going mobile project space, are designed to solicit community participation.

Lau has exhibited widely across Canada, United States and Europe. He is a recipient of numerous awards from the arts councils in Canada. Currently Lau is a Professor of painting at York University, Toronto. In addition to his teaching and research, Lau also serves on the board and advisory committee on two public galleries. His work is represented by Leo Kamen Gallery in Toronto and Yuanfen New Media Art Space in Beijing.

Fern Bayer served as the Chief Curator of the Government of Ontario Art Collection between 1977 and 1995, during which time she was responsible for the research and promotion of the collection, its exhibition, and the acquisition of new artworks. In this position she also served as International Cultural Promotion Consultant (1987-1995), responsible for the international promotion of Ontario artists, primarily in Japan. More recently, Bayer has worked as an independent curator and consultant, completing a number of curatorial and research projects, including the processing of the General Idea fonds. Bayer has also been a guest lecturer at Project (Dublin), the National College of Art & Design (Dublin), the Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art (Dublin), and the Centre d’art contemporain de Basse-Normandie (Caen). Prior to her appointment with the Government of Ontario, Bayer completed a Masters of Arts at the Department of History of Art of the University of Toronto, Toronto (1975); a Diploma of Museum Science and Restoration of Works of Art at the Università Internationale dell’ Arte, Florence (1972); and a Bachelor of Arts, in Anthropology and Art History, at McGill University, Montreal (1971). Bayer has received numerous awards, including the Independent Critics and Curators Grant from the Canada Council for the Arts (2004 and 2006) for the publication of General Idea Editions, 1967-1995; the 2004 Melva J. Dwyer Award for Excellence in Canadian Art Publishing from the Art Libraries Society of North America (2004); the National Gallery of Canada Research Fellowship (2003-2004); the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal for the publication of The Ontario Collection (2002); and the 1998 Best Historical Research & Writing Award from the Ontario Association of Art Galleries for texts in The Search for the Spirit: General Idea 1968-1975 (1998). Bayer currently sits on the Board of Directors of Art Metropole, a not-for profit artist-run centre in Toronto, which publishes and distributes artists’ book works, audio and video works, and multiples. She is authoring a catalogue raisonné of the works of General Idea.