Punk in Toronto: A Panel Discussion

Inspired by Tracey Snelling’s counter-culture aesthetics in INTERGALACTIC PLANETARY, Koffler Arts welcomes prominent figures of the Canadian punk and grunge movements, to examine the origin of these subcultures in Toronto, and the strong legacy they left to the underground scene.

Moderated by curator, writer, and artist David Liss, this lively panel discussion will feature panelists from a variety of disciplines:

• Liz Worth – novelist, poet and author of Treat Me Like Dirt: An Oral History of Punk in Toronto and Beyond
• Gary Topp – legendary music promoter (who brought bands like the Ramones, the Police and the B-52's to Toronto), and author of He Hijacked My Brain
• Ian MacKay – visual artist and co-founder of the punk rock band The Diodes and the musical performance space The Crash n' Burn

The panel will include questions from the audience.

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Ian Mackay is a Canadian artist living in Toronto where he maintains his studio. He completed his AOCA at Ontario College of Art in 1980 with studies in Photo-Electric Arts. At OCA, Ian co-founded the punk rock band The Diodes and the musical performance space the Crash ‘n’ Burn at the Centre for Experimental Art and Communications. Upon graduation, Ian balanced career and vocation, including positions at Delrina Corporation, Symantec Corporation and IBM Platform Computing where he focussed on software architecture and user-centred design. In 2009 he completed a BFA at OCAD in Curatorial Studies and Integrated Media. Since 2009 Ian has concentrated on his painting practice and sound production.

Fiercely eclectic and independent, Gary Topp took Toronto by storm. He brought an underground cinema experience to thrill-hungry audiences via Toronto’s first repertory cinema “the Original 99 Cent Roxy.” Through decades, he and his partner became the city’s most daring and visionary concert promoters (The Garys) offering Canada its first glimpse of ground-breaking artists like the Divine, Ramones, The Police and the Dixie Chicks. The acclaimed book, He Hijacked My Brain; Gary Topp’s Toronto (UXB, 2024; 2025 Heritage Toronto Book Award Winner), celebrates his revolutionary events that countered Toronto’s culture, painting an insider’s look at a pivotal period that shaped Toronto as a cultural hotbed.

Liz Worth is a poet, novelist, and nonfiction writer based in Hamilton. Her first book, Treat Me Like Dirt: An Oral History Of Punk In Toronto And Beyond 1977-1981 (ECW Press, 2009), was the first of its kind to provide an in-depth history of Southern Ontario’s first wave punk movement. She is a two-time nominee for the ReLit Award for Poetry for her books No Work Finished Here: Rewriting Andy Warhol (Book*hug Press, 2015) and The Truth is Told Better This Way (Book*hug Press, 2017).

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