The work Oscar Wolfman does reflects his position within two minorities groups in North America: gay and Jewish. He reflects upon Jewish biblical narratives with a gay eye, putting in gay content where it didn't exist, or where it was extracted, or where it provides a deeper reading of the texts. On a few occasions, he focuses on Jewish jobs through the eras but, mostly, he concentrates on Jewish biblical themes.
Oscar had early training as an artist, mostly to be a painter, but gave that up to be a dancer/choreographer. After that, he never thought about the plastic arts again until about 7 years ago. He started working as a model for some photographers and started seeing how each photographer made him look like them. Oscar started to wonder if he would do the same thing, so he got a camera and started taking photos. He doesn't see it, but suppose the photos he takes of people tend to look like him; they don't look like photos other people have taken of them. Most of Oscar’s friends are either photographers or people who like to model, so his interaction with the arts community tends to be informal--except for the galleries in which he shows his work.
Some of the city's queer papers write about Oscar and his shows, as does the Canadian Globe and Mail, a national publication. He is very involved in the queer community in Toronto, but being queer in Canada- especially in Canada's largest city- is not a big issue he claims, so some of the situations of the United States does not apply there. He goes to queer pride events, have worked for the AIDS committee of Toronto, done AIDS walks, and most of his friends are queer too! Oscar’s work serves the gay community in that the gay community likes seeing images of men together or women together. However, his work is bought by all kinds of people, and sexual orientation is not an issue.
To get some of Oscar and his work in person, check out his show from October to mid-November at the Queen Gallery (382 Queen Street East). In the meantime, visit his website www.wolfmanstudio.ca.
Favorite Bar/Club: “I don't go to bars. I live in a neighborhood that was gentrified by gays, so I don't need to go into the village to be with gay people. As I've mentioned above, Toronto has many queer areas so the village isn't needed except for queer tourists, a few gay men who still live in the area, and the men looking to meet queer tourists. There are plenty of places to meet queers all over the city, particularly in the downtown neighborhoods."
Favorite Thing To Do: “My favorite thing to do in my city is to go out to eat with my friends. Toronto has some great dining places, several in the area in which I live so I don't even need to go far."
Insider’s Tip: “Avoid what tourist books say to do; most of the time you'll just land up with other tourists. Get a "grid" magazine (not "now" unless you are university-aged) and see what and where grown-ups downtown are doing that week.”