Songs That Saved Me

I recently braved the bone(r) chilling Toronto weather to stop by the opening of Songs that Saved Me, the latest art show put on by the Hunt Club, a studio / art-gallery on College Street. I arrived half-frozen and ready to murder studio director Darlene Huynh for making me do anything in January that didn’t involve sitting at home being depressed. Turns out, the whole point of the show is to get you off of your couch and out of your cold-weather routine of sulking until the ice starts to melt sometime in June.

Songs That Saved Me is a typography / poster show featuring work by 12 Toronto artists who were asked to showcase lyrics from songs that carried them through a difficult time in their lives.  Huynh hopes that the pieces will help lift Torontonians out of the funk caused by Old Man Winter.  Some of the works include hand-painted windows, vinyl lettering on photographs, and resin-coated blown-up VHS covers.

Two of the show’s artists, Geoff Watson and Justin Broadbent, chose songs that helped them get through the shitty aftermath of a broken heart. Watson chose the song New Noise by Refused, saying it’s the most inspired a song has ever made him feel. Broadbent feels the same way when he hears Oxygen by Willy Mason. He used a gold marker to write the lyrics “I know the future looks dark, but it’s there that the kids of today must carry the light” on a kitschy lenticular still-life he found at Honest Ed’s.

Artists Danny Appleby, Kathryn MacNaughton and Rose Broadbent used lyrics from songs that lifted them out of periods of loss or uncertainty. Appleby chose the line “Everything dies baby that’s a fact, but maybe everything that dies someday comes back” from Bruce Springsteen’s Atlantic City. MacNaughton’s track, Emotional Rescue by the Rolling Stones, is a screen printed poster featuring a pair of enviable boobies at the top, tears dripping down the page, and the lyrics “I’ll come to your emotional rescue.”  Broadbent decided on Just Like Water by Lauryn Hill, whose honesty and struggle spoke to her. Her piece features very small typography, which is her interpretation of the lyrics as a whisper or a prayer.

Unicorn and glitter enthusiast Danielle Hession chose Destiny’s Child “Bug a Boo” since it still makes her giggle (and dance) like a schoolgirl. Hession used the distinguished and ancient technique of ‘sticker bombing’ to make her piece, which she likens to “teenage barf.” Illustrator Lauren Pirie also reminisced on her teenage years, choosing Undone (The Sweater Song) by Weezer.  For her poster, Pirie used exactly one bazillion micron pen ink strokes to create an unravelling sweater.

Songs That Saved Me runs until Feb 8, 2013.  Free admission. Framed originals range from $50 to $450; prints are $20 – $40. Leave your wintery fortress of solitude and go check it out this week!

Photos by Tara Bartolini