Daniel Solomon, now a painter and professor in Drawing and Painting at OCAD University, met David Mirvish, now a prominent theatre producer, art collector and art dealer, in 1968 back when they were both beginning their careers. The two became lifelong friends. On Tuesday, November 12, in a rare opportunity, the OCAD U community becomes privy to one of their wide-ranging conversations about art. Their talk is presented by the Drawing and Painting Thesis and Advanced Painting classes.

Solomon was an architecture student at the University of Oregon in the early 1960s and relocated to Toronto in 1967. From 1968 to 1970 he worked full time at the David Mirvish Gallery and later went on to exhibit there, as well as at major galleries both in Canada and around the world. He divides his time evenly between his painting career and his teaching at OCAD U. Solomon’s paintings, watercolours, sculptures and stage sets are characterized by intense, vibrant colour and complex pictoral space.

During the 1960s and 1970s the David Mirvish Gallery was regarded as one of the most important venues for contemporary art in Toronto. It was located on Markham Street, around the corner from Mirvish’s father’s landmark discount store, Honest Ed’s in a neighbourhood. As his career evolved and diversified into other areas of the arts community, including theatre production and bookselling, his passion for contemporary art never wavered. Mirvish is one of Canada’s foremost art dealers and collectors and a longstanding donor and supporter of OCAD U. His Mirvish+Gehrydevelopment project proposed for King Street in Toronto’s Entertainment District includes plans for the Princess of Wales Centre for Visual Arts at OCAD University, a 25,000 square foot arts education facility. A significant part of the development plan is also the creation of a new Mirvish Collection museum.

VIA OCAD UNIVERSITY