For the first 2012 edition of the Uniform Project, Sarah Blais tiptoes inside the art galleries of Toronto to photograph assistants and curators in their naturally lit habitats.
Danielle Forest, 27, works at the AGO’s Rental + Sales Gallery. Danielle says it’s important to stay comfortable at work. Part of her job is consultations with clients, talking about artwork, but another part is climbing ladders and physically installing work. For her, a uniform comprises balance between comfort, functionality, and style. She’s wearing a vintage dress from Penny Arcade, a Jeremy Laing t-shirt from Holt Renfrew, and a few staple pieces from Topshop and Zara. She shops online occasionally, but tends to save her shopping capital for times when she’s visiting other cities. Her three essentials are sweaters, a good blazer, and her Cole Haan Beatle boots. They’re waterproof and have hidden Nike air shocks in them, making it easier to stand all day.
All her life Danielle has wanted to work at a public institution; recently, she’s become interested in being an interpretive planner. This means working with a curator to gage how the public will respond to the works. Danielle has a masters in Art History from the University of Toronto and has been with the AGO for a year. Her current favourite piece of art is Joyce Wielands’ “Oh Canada” piece, made by pressing the artist’s lips to a canvas, revealing each syllable of Oh Canada, in red lipstick. As for Danielle’s own red lipstick, it’s Dior Rouge in “Blazing Red.”
Sophie Hackett is the assistant curator of photographer at the AGO and is recognizable instantly for her salt-and-pepper crop and laddish style. Her essentials are straight-cut, well-fittting pants, a good jacket, and solid, interesting shoes. She tends to purchase menswear for tailored jackets and shirts with less whimsical silhouettes: a traditional look, with quirks. Sophie shops at Club Monaco, Zara, Banana Republic, and for higher fashion, likes European brands that add a twist in the classics (unusual fabrics, a crazy colour, a contrasting lining). She likes to mix up textures when sticking with more neutral palettes (her grandmother, she says, was queen of this) but also throws in bright items now and then, like the tangerine orange pants her tailor, Marron Durrant, just made her. Her beloved tailor? He also made pants and shirt in her photographed outfit, while the jacket and scarf are from a mens shop in Paris, Emile Lafourie. The shoes, Fluevog.
Rui Amaral, 23, is the right-hand man at Daniel Faria’s beautiful, new-ish Bloor and Lansdowne gallery. Rui went to school for theatre and dance at Randolf Academy, moving to London, England thereafter, where he was immersed deeper into the fashion and art world. For his work attire, Rui is currently loving the one-tone outfit, with structure and style. His three essentials for work are a well-designed boot, a tailored pant, and the colour navy. He notes it’s important not to dress in a way that clashes or competes with the art.
Rui shops at Chasse Gardee, Zara, Nomad, and sometimes American Apparel – wherever he can find something with a nice design and good fit. He also likes to shop in New York when he can. Right now, he’s currently looking forward to Daniel Faria’s next big exhibit, wtih Douglas Coupland, later this month.
Rachel Wallace and Colleen O’Reilly were taking some preventative measures against the cold when I walked into Diaz Contemporary: stopping the draft from the windows with some interesting techniques. Rachel, 24, has been with Diaz for one and a half years after studying studio art at U of T. She’s wearing a second-hand tuxedo shirt, a sweater from H&M, Joe Fresh pants, and boots from a shop in Vancouver. Her watch is Casio and her bracelet was found in her mom’s room. Rachel alters her own clothing as a hobby in her spare time. There isn’t a specific dress code for work, other then looking presentable and being comfortable, but she says pants are usually a good idea, and wears them casually with a classic white button-up shirt and a sweater for warmth.
Rachel says she can relate more to Duchamp then to anything before the 1900s. Her favorite Toronto artist is Shary Boyle, who creates traditional looking porcelain figures of women, but then fucks with them.
Colleen is also into contemporary art (obviously), but is more interested in the history of photography. She is now 26, and has been working at Diaz since her internship in the fall of 2009. Her shirt is from Urban Outfitters, but majority of her clothes are second hand. The boots she’s wearing are from one of her favorite second-hand shops around Queen and Roncesvalles. She loves clothing swaps, and sharing with her sisters when they get bored of the clothes they’ve been wearing.
Colleen moved to Toronto from West Virginia (where she grew up), to get her undergrad and masters at U of T in art history. Eventually Colleen sees herself in a curating position, writing at a museum, but is open to the possibilities of the future.
See all last year’s Uniform Projects; vote for your favourite; make suggestions!
