On a crisp autumn day in 1997, when Toronto’s Yorkville was still a destination for the Art Set the vision of a man with European accent was unpacking crates inside an old brick Church.

Inside those crates: the bounty of years of passionate worldwide curation, the kind of contemporary art you’d expect to find in a Paris, London, New York galleries not on the cobblestones of an established Canadian cultural district.

That man Fabrice Marcolini founder of Artcore / would spend the next 15 years changing how Toronto saw and participated in the global art conversation.

A Gallery That Refused to Think Small

From day one, Artcore wasn’t interested in the tranquil write off routines of the affluent few. Marcolini curated with the same boldness as the art capitals and refused to bow down to the establishment and corporative clicks that administered culture. Starting by the highly controversial series by Andres Serrano juxtaposing “History of Sex “ to the “North American Indians” . For the first 2 years harbouring absolutely no sales he persists with Dennis Oppenheim , Pat Steir, Enzo Cucchi , Gilberto Zorio onto volumes and sounds installation. Bringing art in from Shangai to Seoul while exporting the likes of Marcel Dzama , Evan Penny and “The Royal Art Lodge” to Basel Cologne Miami and Hong Kong.

The message was clear: Toronto’s Artcore wasn’t just on the map, but it was a full participant on the international art circuit and Marcolini was intent on proving it.

The Distillery as a Cultural Stage

In 2003 the scope outgrew the Yorkville Space and seemed and Fabrice founded the largest private commercial art gallery in Canada. Inside the new 10,000 Sq.Ft. Artcore’s high-ceilinged, light filled space, Exhibitions of Joseph Beuys “ In Nature’s defence “ and Sculpture Supernova, Ulf Puder , Ryan McGuinness and Marco Brambilla the air was a mix of art anticipations and theoretical conversations. Collectors, curators, and artists from across the globe found themselves side by side with curious locals, all drawn in by shows that challenged, provoked, offended and delighted.

And Marcolini himself? He was in the thick of an articulate host with an encyclopedic knowledge of the artists he represented and a knack for making newcomers feel like insiders. His reach extended far beyond north America borders. He took Artcore to Art Basel, FIAC, and other elite fairs, ensuring that the work he championed—and the Canadian and international artists behind it were seen by the world.

Preserving the Moment, Amplifying the Voice

Marcolini also understood something many gallerists overlook: exhibitions vanish quickly, but publications last. His gallery produced catalogues like 2002 Orlan “Pre Columbine Self Hybridations”, the 2003 Joseph Beuys “Difesa della Natura” onto 2007 monograph on Nicholas & Sheila Pye that became archival anchors, extending the life of each show and confirming the gallery’s place in art discourse.

A Global Role in Cultural Stewardship

Years after Artcore closed in 2009, Marcolini’s name reemerged in headlines in the last decade not for a new gallery, but for a cultural rescue mission. Since 2014, after moving to New York he played a key role in the worldwide repatriation of Jean-Paul Riopelle’s legacy, helping to bring home to Canada the work of one of Canada’s greatest painters.

It was never a simple transaction. It was an exercise in diplomacy, provenance research, and cultural responsibility, one that ensured Riopelle’s works would be returned and preserved, celebrated, and kept within Canadian public and private collections reach. It was, in many ways, an extension of the same ethos that had guided Marcolini return to Toronto: where art belongs and is the right place to proof a fresh format in front of the right people at un undisclosed location to open in this fall.

So Stay tuned as for those who stepped inside his gallery, it wasn’t just about looking at art it was about feeling, for a moment, like Toronto was at the center of something much larger. And for those who watched him bring Riopelle’s legacy home there will be an exhibition unveiling soon.