Each exhibition tells a story. Collectively, our exhibitions now also tell us a lot about the AGO itself — who we are, how we want to connect with our public. Two big trends: we are moving to more projects (45 a year, up from 25), and we are approaching them in a different way.

The Basquiat show is a good example.

 

The trend didn’t start with Basquiat. It is rooted in one short, deceptively simple statement — which is also a guiding concept in the AGO’s Strategic Plan:

Art matters.

“We are building on that statement,” says Judy Koke, Chief, Public Programming and Learning. She quotes the positioning given the statement by AGO Director and CEO, Matthew Teitelbaum: “We believe art is rooted in the world in which we live.”

This means, Judy adds, that the institution is now asking itself some important questions. “Why does this art — this work, or body of art — matter to Toronto? Why does it matter to us today?”

The answers guide the way we now build our exhibitions. They are being shaped to underscore the power of art to provoke, illuminate and challenge. They engage us, embrace multiple perspectives, cross-reference to our own world, provoke thought and discussion.

Judy highlights a few past-present-future examples:

* Ai Weiwei: According to What? (2013) – “Powerful art, but also very political”
* Michelangelo: Quest for Genius – “Not just aesthetics and artistic merit, also issues of patronage, politics, sources of creativity — things we deal with today”
* Alain de Boton’s Art as Therapy — “Specific works linked to timeless themes, with questions for us to explore in our own daily lives”
* From the Forest to the Sea: Emily Carr in British Columbia (opens April 14) – “The show will note the cultural framework of the day, bring in other points of view to help us explore what her art means for today’s culture”
* Picturing the Americas (opens June 20, timed for the Pan Am Games) – “Beautiful landscapes, but from multiple perspectives, to reveal what other stories they tell”

Judy’s favourite example of the AGO’s evolving approach is our current big show, Jean-Michel Basquiat: Now’s the Time. “It’s art, with a very political and cultural dimension. The title quotes a Martin Luther King speech; the works engage us with street art; they raise issues of racism, privilege, fame…”

She adds, “The way we developed the show is also part of our new approach. We consulted with all our communities here in Toronto, we’ve partnered with a Michaëlle Jean Foundation art project for youth in the GTA, and we have built visitor interactivity into the show itself.”

Art matters. Judy smiles. “We’re learning what that means.”

Interested in more on this topic? Read “The Ongoing Transformation of the Museum” by clicking here, a link shared with us by Judy.