Alex Cameron, Imaginary Shore
As We See It, a collection of works from AGO Art Rental & Sales, has opened in the Members Lounge. The show connects with the AGO’s summer exhibitions, From the Forest to the Sea: Emily Carr in British Columbia and Picturing the Americas: Landscape Painting from Tierra del Fuego to the Arctic. Each artist’s work explores a unique view of Canada’s diverse landscape.
The show features contemporary Canadian artists, including painters Lynne Schumacher, Cori Creed, Alex Cameron, duo Alexa Hatanaka and Patrick Thompson (aka PA System), Andrew Cheddie Sookrah, and photojournalist Dominic Nahr, as well as Inuit artists Shuvinai Ashoona and Tim Pitsiulak.
The exhibition was curated for the first time solely by AR&S volunteers: Lauraine DuBreuil, Moyra Haney, Lynda Kelly, Nancy Murray, and Janna Walters. They helped develop the themes of the show, which include exploration (several of the artists have travelled to Canada’s North) and a profound sense of the land. Staff Coordinater Elizabeth Petrova has been very pleased not only with the stunning result, but also the process. She enthused that the AR&S volunteers are quite talented and really took the time to research and create a beautiful exhibition with a solid theme. Going forward, new sets of volunteers from AR&S will curate the Grange shows every 4 months. They will do everything from choosing the works and developing a curatorial statement for the hand held catalogue, to helping the AGO design team edit text and supervising the artwork installation.
Volunteers will be interested to note that the spirit of exploration also pervades The Grange, the venue for the exhibition. At its entrance hangs a portrait of the Robinson sisters, the nieces of Sarah and D’Arcy Boulton – original owners of The Grange. Emily Robinson was married to Captain Sir John Henry Lefroy, a soldier, scientist, explorer and colonial administrator. In May 1843, he left Toronto on a 5,000-mile, 18-month trek to locate magnetic north. His portrait, showing him in his northern garb, hangs in the Thomson Canadian Wing.
The show continues until fall 2015. Be sure to drop by and see it!