Alt-Arts 2

Ginette Lapalme and Toutoune Gallery & Shop

The second in a series of profiles by Ashley Culver, highlighting alternative art spaces in Toronto and the people who make them. 

Ginette’s organized chaotic workspace complete with a bold yellow pass-through window.

As I walk up Bathurst Street, leaving behind me the busyness of Bloor, I spot Ginette Lapalme chatting with a pal in an oversized jean jacket. We exchange hellos as leaves rustle along the sidewalk outside Toutoune, Lapalme’s gallery and shop. 

The pale purple storefront is notably distinctive. Last year, Lapalme was contemplating changing the exterior look of the building and talked with artist Diana Lynn VanderMeulen about the lavender color choice. Lapalme and VanderMeulen initially crossed paths in the early 2000s at Magic Pony on Queen Street, and today Lapalme includes her friend’s artwork on the walls of Toutoune. “[VanderMeulen] is like me and sees the potential of stuff. So she actually picked up this paint from a film set,” said Lapalme. With this serendipitous find, VanderMeulen transformed Toutoune into, as she calls it in an Instagram comment, “Grape crush palace.” 

Round, hand-painted letters spell out “Toutoune” in an arc across the large shop window. According to Lapalme, Toutoune “is a French-Canadian term of endearment. It was my grandmother’s nickname.” Lapalme grew up speaking French outside Sudbury, Ontario. Although she admits to thinking in English these days, she sings in her first language with her band Spirale Parfait, alongside guitarist Ted Gudlat and drummer Dan Lee. Outside Toutoune, I note the smiley faces with unibrows in both Os of the sign. Lapalme explains that Toutoune “loosely means chubby woman. It’s kind of a flirty, joyful term often used to refer to a baby or a pet or something cute.” 

Ginette's point of view of Toutoune from behind the beaded curtain.

Since pedestrians often mistake Toutoune for a children’s toy store, Lapalme currently has a T-shirt by eric kostiuk williams hanging in the window to signal otherwise. It has an image of Homer Simpson with a five-o’clock shadow posing in a leather S&M outfit captioned “homersexual.” “Kids are welcome,” she says, “but there’s more going on here.” 

It is complex and daunting to explain exactly what Toutoune is; yet, it’s clear Lapalme has gathered artists and makers who understand. “Eccentric showroom,” says artist Christian Applegate. “Active portal,” says artist Chaddy-Ann Newton, whose portraits of individuals painted as ducks hang at the back of the rectangular room. He says, “I appreciate Toutoune as a real-world outpost for things that are usually only available online or fleetingly at zine fairs.” 

“There is an aesthetic that differs from a white cube gallery, the art is more inviting, playful, outsider, and underground culture with zines, shirts, etc.,” says SloToons, an artist couple living outside Winnipeg. They connected with Lapalme when she purchased several of their paintings on wood of nostalgic objects: a bag of Hostess Hickory Sticks, Wilma Flintstone with mouths in place of her eyes, and an asthma inhaler as a puppy. “We like that [Toutoune] offers affordable art to a wide audience.” 

With her experience of tabling at comic and zine fairs, Lapalme knew that people appreciate the option of different price points. She recognizes that even fanzines can become expensive if, for instance, the seller needs to offset high printing costs, so, “having stickers for a few bucks or buttons for a dollar” came naturally. “I love items like that and so many artists dabble in all those little things.” 

View of the gallery’s right wall with colorful shelves full of artwork from various artists.

The day before my visit, Lapalme had rearranged everything to group all the stickers on the largest table. Shiny sheets are stacked and lined in rows. Mini-stickers, neon stickers, extra-large stickers — some by VanderMeulen and some by Lapalme’s partner, the artist Patrick Kyle — fill four clear plexiglass display cases sitting on the tabletop. 

Stickers, along with erasers, were some of Lapalme’s own childhood collectibles. However, her impulse to collect started with rocks. She would return home from school with pockets full — only to have her mom later throw these back outside. Although Lapalme continues to collect rocks, her collecting has expanded. “Finding objects,” she says, “has always been a treat for me.” Lapalme dreams of, as she says, “expanding my hoard”: filling furniture drawers with accumulated treasure. 

Lapalme found her community and most of the artists who fill Toutoune through her work at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, The Beguiling Books and Art, and Page and Panel: the now-closed comic book store in the Toronto Public Reference Library. Currently, she has sixty-three artists’ work on consignment; however, this does not include zines procured wholesale from indie publishers such as Colorama (Berlin), Colour Code (Toronto), TXTbooks (Brooklyn), Nieves (Switzerland), and Goodbye Press (Chicago) or artists based overseas whom she purchases directly from. More small press material and artwork are on their way. Alongside the art, Lapalme also includes an assortment of various objects and dead stock inventory, which she sources from stores closing in the Chinatown neighborhood where she has lived for a decade. She strives to save these from landfills, finding pleasure in equal parts in the hunt and the objects themselves. 

“Whenever I go to Toutoune I discover something special,” says artist Alicia Nauta, “like a dead stock bootleg Mickey Mouse compact, a handmade felted creature by Marisa Fulper Estrada, or a receipt scroll zine by Son Ni.” 

View of Toutoune from the visitor’s entry point.

Prior to becoming Toutoune, the establishment on Bathurst Street was Weird Things: a kind of “clubhouse,” in Lapame’s words, which owner Johnny Peterson crowded wall to wall with antiques and art. Weird Things epitomized Lapalme’s ideal browsing experience, one that evolves into digging and discovering, and she was both a regular fixture and exhibited there. She says, “I love the act of being in a store and discovering stuff.” She also found this at Uncle Fun, a novelty item and prank toy shop run by Ted Frankel. Prior to its closure, Lapalme made the pilgrimage to Chicago to visit numerous times. Both Weird Things and Uncle Fun remain special in her memory and a source of inspiration as she shapes Toutoune. 

Peterson messaged Lapalme in the spring of 2021 about taking over the lease as he prepared to move to Victoria, British Columbia. While Lapalme was afraid to take it on, she also admits, “this is a dream come true for me.” 

In September 2021, Lapalme picked up the keys for 998 Bathurst Street in Toronto. A Koyama Provides grant of three thousand dollars bought Lapalme time to prepare for opening in October. Previously, Lapalme had published two books with Koyama Press as part of the Wowee Zonk collective, which consisted of Lapalme, Kyle, and their friend Chris Kuzma, as well as a solo book titled Confetti in 2015. In an Instagram post announcing the grant, Annie Koyama — founder of Koyama Press and primary grant maker — wrote, “It feels like a natural progression that she now has a dedicated space in which to showcase her work and the work of others. I really look forward to welcoming a new community space.” When I ask Koyama to describe Toutoune, she responds, “a place of wonder.” 

Ginette poses in front of a sticker covered mirror near a cradle of crocheted garments & a jewelry case.

When Toutoune is open, Wednesday through Sunday from noon(ish) to 6pm, Lapalme can be found behind the yellow moulded window that frames her office. Peek into the window and you’ll find her carving small sculptures or completing administrative tasks. The space functions as both her office and studio. Her art practice and Toutoune have become intertwined. An original urge for Lapalme, in taking over the lease, was to share her artwork, and she curated a solo exhibition of her own work in Toutoune’s first month in operation: Works on Wood Panel, held from October 8 to November 7, 2021. 

Many artists have exhibited since then, including Peterson, who returned from the West Coast this past June for his exhibition Small Paintings. As an artist herself, Lapalme understands the demand of a solo exhibition. After taking a necessary two week break to recover from burnout this August, Lapalme returned wondering if the monthly exhibition cycle was worthwhile. Moving forward, the gallery function of Toutoune will be integrated into the shop to make it more feasible. For instance, Exclusive Pain, whose miniature demon candles are available in the capsule machine, will also do an installation in the window in the beginning of 2024. Lapalme tells me she’s already reached out to a few more artists to do window installations. 

As I collect my things, I pick up a free newspaper of drawings by thirty-two artists produced in October 2022 and inspired by Free Drawings, created by Colour Code’s Jesjit Gill. With my souvenir in hand and our conversation concluding, I ask Lapalme what adjectives she would choose to describe Toutoune. Lapalme says, “Humorous, light-hearted, hopeful.” 

Toutoune’s bright blue table housing trays of 2d works such as small canvases, stickers, prints and more.

by Ashley Culver

Ashley Culver (b. 1986) is an artist and writer based in Tkaronto/Toronto.