BEING THERE: Portraits from the Toronto Art Community, Dimitri Levanoff
Koffler Arts is thrilled to open its new gallery, Koffler301 (180 Shaw St. #301), a space largely dedicated to the work of Toronto artists, with an exhibition by photographer Dimitri Levanoff, BEING THERE: Portraits from the Toronto Art Community (October 30 - December 14, 2025), curated by David Liss.
This exhibition features a selection of 20 portraits of some of the many artists and collaborators with whom Dimitri has worked. This series began in 2015 and was partially inspired by a famous photograph of British painter Francis Bacon in his studio. Dimtri developed his approach through a series of portraits he shot during the pandemic of local small business owners in their shops.
“Koffler301 is a brand new, multi-use art space in the city of Toronto, situated on the top floor of the Youngplace creative hub, two floors up from Koffler Arts’ main gallery,” says Matthew Jocelyn, General Director of Koffler Arts. “With its cinematic views across the treetops of Trinity Bellwoods Park to the crenelated cityscape beyond, this new public venue will be largely committed to the artistic creation generated in this city. To celebrate the opening of this new space nothing could be more appropriate than sharing a selection of Dimitri Levanoff’s photographs of Toronto artists, the lifeblood of the poetic heartbeat of our city.”
Levanoff explains, “My personal work is largely informed by a consistent, multi-decade drive towards discovering techniques and frameworks that I hope result in objects of numinous quality. The images in this collection therefore can be understood as an exploration into the methodology of creating an icon by using photographic tools. Towards this end, I chose to photograph people from the art world: artists, gallerists, curators, and so on. They are a mix of friends, collaborators, and clients. The context of having a personal, tangible connection with my subjects is the key here, along with the forced ‘mundanity’ of the backgrounds.”
“Most of the subjects are figures publicly known for their accomplishments in the Toronto cultural world but they are not depicted as un-relatable, larger-than-life figures, or ‘brands,’” says curator, David Liss. “The images project an authenticity that transforms them into icons of the everyday. They are real people; there with us; part of our community.”
About Dimitri Levanoff
Born to the family of a navy officer in what was at the time the Soviet Union, Dimitri spent his formative years traveling extensively. The bewildering variety of places, peoples, and cultures left an impression. He started to photograph at a young age, at first guided by his grandfather who was an amateur large-format photographer, and later by a succession of instructors. Graduating from art school (painting and drawing) in the mid-1980s helped him to fine tune his style and direction, and coming to Canada in the early 90’s further facilitated this process. Dimitri worked as a photographer, editor, and printmaker for a number of prominent Canadian artists. Phil Bergerson, Geoffrey James, Arnaud Maggs, Greg Staats were the teachers who influenced his practice the most, though this list includes many more contemporary Canadian photographers. Today, Dimitri runs Imagefoundry, the boutique printmaking studio he founded in 1998. He helps Canadian artists, from emerging to famous, bring their ideas to life, while also pursuing personal projects like BEING THERE: Portraits from the Toronto Art Community.
For media inquiries please contact Melissa Than mthan@kofflerarts.org.