Jfry  Craig is a Calgary-based artist whose photos, paintings, mixed media and new media installations  have been shown across Canada, the United States and Mexico.  He has a Master’s degree in Creative Writing from the University of Calgary, where he curated  49 stories and did theoretical work on script writing for the web.

ART
Jfry’s multi-media installation work, 49 Stories, opened the 2007 Canada Week Celebrations in Monterrey, Mexico as well as the Inaugural StemCell Festival in Edmonton that same year.

Jfry Craig wrote that ‘co-ops have to remember that while funding arty is cool, sometimes art should be popular as well.’ Could it be that one of the most radical outcomes of STEM Cell would be unanticipated exponential growth with vast appeal? –Leslea Kroll

His canvas prints were featured in the MODA exhibit, “Graphic Noise” which was currated by Laura Moody and traveled to US museums and Universities for 2 years. Jfry is an active painter and his paintings have become distinctive because of their large scale and bold narratives. In recent years he started the artist collective, KiCK Gallery, which helps to promote Alberta artists domestically and abroad — the collective has had shows in Calgary, Montreal and Mexico.

DESIGN
Around the millenium, Jfry gained a little notoriety for his early web narrative work, along with some film and music design.  All of this work was housed at this domain, and as a result the nickname “toqueboy” emerged and has stuck.

His first design book, WAR Made Me [do it], was published in 2005 and inspired by Don Cherry’s celebration of the Canadian troops — the book launched with a cross-Canada tour and vernisage. It displays vibrant and highly designed images that explore family and the ironies of pop culture during war times.

“He never strays in his art from exposing the brutal truths and sensitive conflicts that are tied to every war”. – Layla Burke, Verbicide magazine

Jfry was the guest artist at the 2008 AMAAS conference where he presented on the history and future of the internet, for the artist. His theoretical web project “Appul” was featured in 2009 at Persistence of Vision at The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery, in Newfoundland.

Jfry presents workshops and is a frequent guest speaker on the topics of new media script writing, narrative potential and design after the blog. He works as creative director for Simple Simple where he designs large scale interior digital murals and other goodies.

If you are looking to contact Jfry for a speaking engagement, a commissioned piece, gallery inquiry or a media request please email him at: theboy@toqueboy.com  / This site used to be a collection of my web experiments and project notes — it is being re-organized to accomodate a new project. In the meantime, I apologize that it is  just a  jerk-off bio site.