Founded over twenty years ago on Niagara Street to process motion-picture film for artists, Niagara Custom Lab is a hub of Toronto’s famed experimental film scene. It has handled work for nearly every local film-based artist, hosted screenings and fundraising raves, traded supplies for volunteer hours, and moved twice to dodge rising downtown rents. In the wake of the mainstreams transition to digital it is also one of the last labs in the world serving artists perpetually fascinated by the peculiarities of film: its luminosity, its plasticity, the beauty of the projected image. Bright Lights Dark City: Niagara Custom Lab and Toronto Experimental Film explores the anarchic spaces of the lab and the remarkable local culture it encourages, embodies, and sustains. Participating artists, both emerging and established, are united by the integrity of the lab to their diverse projects and practices.

With work by Michael Barker, Carl E. Brown, Sylvain Chausse, Kelly Egan, R. Bruce Elder, Elisa Julia Gilmour, John Porter, John Price, and Izabella Pruska-Oldenhof. Lead Sponsor: Toronto Friends of the Visual Arts Generously supported by Sara and Michael Angel, Bradley and Joanne Brodkin of HighVail Systems Inc., Bulmash Accounting, Martha Butterfield, and McLean Clinic.