Exhibit: Master Storytelling & Cocktails at MOCCA!

MOCCA's Vera Frenkel: Ways of Telling Exhibition Review

Last week I enjoyed a self-playing piano and a scotch at Toronto's newest and coolest pop-up bar at The Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art. The bar, called ...from the Transit Bar, is part of MOCCA's newest exhibit Vera Frenkel: Ways of Telling.

Self-playing piano from ....from the Transit Bar, 1992, reconstructed 2014

Vera Frenkel: Ways of Telling features work of multidisciplinary Toronto-based artist Vera Frenkel. Her work includes video, performance, sculpture, installation, which all tell stories that seemed personal to Frenkel, and felt personal to me as well.

...from the Transit Bar, 1992, reconstructed 2014

...from the Transit Bar, 1992, reconstructed 2014

Many of Frenkel's art covers themes of exile, immigration, censorship, discrimination, and bureaucratization of life and art. The exhibit features both rarely seen and recent pieces, including ...from the Transit Bar, a fully functional piano bar where a scotch or vodka costs $5. Commissioned for the ninth installment of documenta in 1992, ...from the Transit Bar was a cool experience to just sit back and really become a part of one Frenkel's art installations, one of her stories she was telling.

Once Near Water: Notes from the Scaffolding Archive, 2008

The Storyteller's Device, 1977, reconstructed 2014

The Blue Train, 2012

I thoroughly enjoyed Vera Frenkel: Ways of Telling. It was very emotional experience for me. I let myself get engrossed in each piece and really try to understand the stories and ideas she was expressing. I sometimes felt like she was just talking to me through her art. I will be returning again before the exhibit ends December 28, 2015. Please visit for MOCCA for special extended hours or for more information.

P.s!: The In Transit pianist plays Thursday - Saturday evenings and piano plays on it's own other times. There are also juice and water options for those who don't drink. And as always MOCCA is 'pay-what-you-can'!

P.s,

Melanie!