Hello everybody!
“September tries its best to have us forget summer” – Bernard Williams
September, the month of new beginning’s and fresh starts. Do you still feel that push to create new rituals? I imagine with that feeling of getting back into a routine, some of you will be missing your volunteer shifts at the gallery. We still have no news about a time frame for a possible return. As many of you know, most of the AGO’s staff is currently working from home. The staff that are currently in the building are here for essential operations of the gallery. We want you to know that we miss you all and most of all our visitors are missing you and the expertise that you share with them on their visits! We will continue to share updates as they come up!
Finally, with summer still in our clasp, I (Nicole) will be going on a much anticipated camping trip to Bon Echo Provincial Park. There I hope to roast many a marshmallow, catch some stars and meander about in a canoe! As always, Trish, Christine and Jonathan will be around to answer any questions that may come up that week at [email protected]. I also wanted to re-share a little taste of summer with this super quirky and charming video of AGO’s Andrea Seaborn’s Westfalia camper van. Enjoy!
Please read on!
Closing Soon: Sandra Brewster: Blur. Opening Soon: Haegue Yang: Emergence
Closing Soon
Sandra Brewster: Blur is closing September 13th in gallery 238
Margaret Priest: The Construction Series and Concrete Matters is closing September 13th in gallery 201 and 247
Lisa Reihana: In Pursuit of Venus [infected] is closing October 4th in gallery 232 and 233
Arte Povera is closing October 4th in gallery 224S
Opening Soon
Mary Wrinch: Painted Life is opening September 26 to March 28, 2020 in gallery 201 and 247
Michael Belmore (brother of Rebecca!) is opening September 26 to March 28, 2020 in gallery 238
Haegue Yang: Emergence is opening October 1st on the 5th floor
The Open Door: Mary Hiester Reid and Michael Helen McNicholl is opening October 10th in gallery 126
Special Exhibition in Focus: Illusions!
This week we re-focus on Illusions: The Art of Magic, which has been extended until November 8th! Now is the time to visit this collection of posters from the golden age of magic. With the greatly reduced capacities for both special exhibits, now is the time to check these out to avoid disappointment! I have shared an engaging talk and magic performance below with Julian Cox and David Ben, here. Take a deeper dive into Harry Houdini’s life, by reading this illuminating article in The New Yorker.
A Closer Look: NEON
We are continuing to highlight some of the many interesting talks the AGO has been hosting online. This week, we recommend you check out Close Looking: NEON with Renée van der Avoird, Assistant Curator of Canadian Art and Nadia Abraham, Assistant Interpretive Planner as they discuss two artworks from our collection that use neon as a sculptural and graphic material. Namely, Robert Markle’s Angel (from Markleangelo’s) which is pictured above and Lauren Woodcook’s “Untitled”. This is a short but super interesting talk that I hope you enjoy.
Robert Markle is a Mohawk Artist who was born in Hamilton. His career was eclectic he was an artist, writer and musician. He frequented burlesque establishments on Yonge Street in Toronto as inspiration for his life drawing. His piece Angel was originally commissioned in 1979 for a restaurant called Markleangelo’s which was located in the St. Lawrence market. This piece is located in gallery 237.
Laura Woodcook was a Toronto based Artist that worked in video, photography, sculpture and installation. Working with quotes this work is called “Untitled” which was gifted to us by the Artist in 2016 shortly before her death.These neon quotation marks are hung at the south entrance near the library.
There are several interesting talks coming up next week, namely on Tuesday, September 8th at 4pm, join Toronto artist Margaret Priest for an illustrated talk about her drawings, sculptures, paintings and prints to coincide with the exhibition of The Monument to Construction Workers, and a selection of related drawings and sculptures from the late 1980s to mid-2000s. You can sign up for the Zoom talk here.
Be well and stay healthy.
Jonathan, Christine, Trish and Nicole
[email protected]
416-979-6660 ext 397