Restaurant features Toronto-based artist Colin Stark  

By Abigail Harris

Insomnia Restaurant (563 Bloor St. W.) hosted an opening party for Toronto-based artist Colin Stark, on Monday May 5, the fourth artist to be featured in their Artist Series. 

The Artist Series’ exhibits rotate every seven weeks, with artwork displayed throughout the front, side, and back walls of the restaurant. Guests can meet the artists during opening and closing parties and learn more about their creative processes. 

“It’s really exciting to get to offer the space for emerging artists,” said Insomnia’s creative coordinator, Sophia Alexandra.  “It’s pretty relaxed, not like a gallery setting. It’s more like, come and relax and enjoy a drink. Have something to eat and admire what’s on display and take it home if you feel called enough to do so.”

The series began this past winter and has displayed local artists John Courtney, Jasmine Virginia, and Michael Bedford. 

“To see that they want to platform artists and give them a space to share is really exciting and pretty cool,” Alexandra said. “Especially in a time when I feel like as artists we’re losing spaces in a lot of ways.”

Stark uses a variety of media including acrylic and latex paints, charcoal, and resin. His work is influenced by his travels abroad as well as his upbringing in the Rouge Valley. Many of his pieces feature abstract landscapes, while others are more realistic.

Stark’s work also reflects his relationship with his late mentor Gordan Rayner, a renowned Canadian painter who passed in 2010. 

The two met in 2005 and quickly struck up a friendship. Stark helped Rayner out in his studio and house, and they went out for lunches together. 

“We had a parallel approach to art and a lot of similarities, so that’s why we hit it off as contemporaries,” Stark said. “We exchanged stories about our worldly travels and ideas, and [we] do critiques.”

Stark’s experience hitchhiking in the Grand Cayon at age 19 is depicted in one of his favourite artworks on display titled Canyon Road. 

Stark told the Gleaner that the inspiration for the piece came when he was looking through a book of drawings he had kept from his travels 25 years ago. 

“It’s not a hugely abstracted piece because it’s being drawn from a drawing,” Stark said. “But it definitely sort of simplifies and idealizes some of the shapes and forms. It harkens back to that personal time in my travelling experience.”

Stark’s closing party was on Sunday, June 8.

To learn more about Colin Stark’s work, to apply to exhibit, or to make a reservation for one of the artist events, please visit www.insomniarestaurant.com.  

READ MORE:

• CHATTER: Insomnia Restaurant launches Artist Series (Jan. 2025)