Since our re-opening two months ago, I
have been very impressed with our Visitor Welcome staff and the ways they have
pivoted to provide a welcoming and safe point-of-entrance for our visitors,
especially those who are working the lines outside of the front doors. They are
simply providing a wonderful and positive atmosphere for those waiting to enter
the museum. Thank you to Trish Hopkins, Manager of Visitor Welcome, and
everyone on the team for the great job you are all doing.
I have to say, the quality of extraordinary content on
view right now at the AGO is truly amazing. Having Warhol, Wong
and Fragments of Epic Memory installed at the same time is literally an
art feast for our public. I love it! Congratulations to Julian and the
curatorial team. Congratulations also to the Marketing & Comms team – our
messages are resonating with visitors, and attendance is strong.
A bit of good news to share – Moko Jumbie, the
sculpture in Walker Court by Zak Ové commissioned by the AGO, has been acquired
for our collection. This was made possible by lead support from David W. Binet,
an AGO trustee, and generous support from Ray and Georgina Williams. A picture
of the work is at the bottom this email.
At the AGO, we strive to provide a welcoming and safe
environment. We are a public institution, and our work revolves around people.
Right now, we need to help protect one other and our public from COVID. As I
mentioned last week, Leadership Team is developing a vaccine policy to be
announced in the coming days. Again, if you haven’t already been vaccinated, I
encourage you to get your shots. You should anticipate that this will be a
requirement for all staff and volunteers as well as our public.
Labour Day weekend is often filled with much
excitement and a little bit of nerves for the back-to-school folks, both
parents/guardians and children. I wish everyone well.
We were happy to see many of you on last night’s zoom call, celebrating the opening of Fragments of Epic Memory, with Stephan and Curator, Julie Crooks. Below, you’ll find a photo that our friends in Development snapped earlier last year, when the Volunteer Council met to officially “sign off” on the Volunteer Endowment Trust Fund’s support of initial research into the Montgomery Collectionof Caribbean photographs, many of which are included in the exhibition. How wonderful to see something come into fruition in a challenging year!
Previous to this, in 2019, a large group of donors came together to acquire this large collection of historical photographs of the Caribbean for the Gallery. Julie describes the selection process, in this week’s AGOinsider (linked here).
J.W. Cleary, Coconut Palms, Kingston Harbour, ca 1895, 17.53 cm x 23.11 cm. Gelatin Silver print. Montgomery Collection of Caribbean Photographs.
Earlier this week, I visited the Fragments of Epic
Memory installation on the 5th floor. Congratulations to Dr.
Julie Crooks and everyone involved, it is a very special exhibition. The
picture below is of an art work by Sandra Brewster, commissioned by the AGO. It
is indicative of the originality and quality of works in the show.
As I mentioned in my message last week, we will slowly
and carefully be bringing more people back onsite beginning mid-September,
starting with LT, who will be onsite for a minimum of three days a week. All LT
members are fully vaccinated. Again, if you are not fully vaccinated, I
encourage you to get your shots. We are developing a vaccine policy for the AGO
and more information will be shared in the coming weeks.
Take care and stay safe,
Stephan
photo of Sandra Brewster’s new work, (supplied by Stephan)
It is bittersweet to announce that after 10 years, Caitlin Coull is leaving the AGO for an exciting opportunity at ROM Governors as Associate Vice President, Communications and Marketing. While I will miss Caitlin (a lot), I’m thrilled for her as she moves on to this next step in her career.
Over the years, she has contributed to and led several successful initiatives and communications campaigns, including innumerable exhibitions and programs, the launch of the Annual Pass and the development and implementation of the AGOinsider.
Here are just a couple of her favourite moments:
Working with CBC to get a reporter into Ai Weiwei’s compound where he was under house arrest, and unveiling his Zodiac Heads in the reflecting pool at Nathan Phillips Square to an enormous press gathering with the entire marketing and communications team in rubber boots
Mopping the cafeAGO floor with Patti Smith, who just felt like doing it
Working with Lisa and the board leadership to announce Stephan’s appointment with no media leaks. And then celebrating with the CN Tower’s Edgewalk!
Caitlin’s last day at the Gallery is Friday, September 24. Please join me in congratulating her as she embarks on this new adventure!
In 2020, for the first time ever, all volunteers of the AGO had an opportunity to vote on a gallery project to support with funds from the Volunteer Endowment Trust (VET). You chose to support research into the Montgomery Collection of Caribbean Photographs, and it’s resulting exhibition. This September, the first exhibit organized by the AGO’s new Department of Arts of Global Africa and the Diaspora presents: Fragments of Epic Memory and we invite you as exhibition sponsors to join us for an online virtual toast on Thursday September 2nd. Please see the invite below and we hope to see you (virtually) then!
All the best, Maya Kotlarenko (she/her) Volunteer President, AGO
Please join us for a virtual toast – including music, remarks and art – as we celebrate the opening of Fragments of Epic Memory along with fellow exhibition supporters!
Fragments of Epic Memory will invite visitors to experience the multiple ways of encountering the Caribbean and its diaspora, from the period following emancipation through today.
The first exhibition organized by the AGO’s new Department of
Arts of Global Africa and the Diaspora, it will blend historical and
contemporary narratives, presenting more than 200 photographs from the AGO’s
Montgomery Collection of Caribbean Photographs alongside paintings, sculpture, and
video works by modern and contemporary Caribbean artists that show how the
region’s histories are constantly revisited and reimagined through artistic
production over time.
Fragments of Epic Memory is curated by Julie Crooks, Curator of Arts of Global Africa and the Diaspora and will feature a new commission by Sandra Brewster and art works by Ebony Patterson, Frank Bowling, and Manuel Mathieu to name just a few.
Back in March, I announced the appointment of Xiaoyu Weng as the AGO’s Carol and Morton Rapp Curator, Modern & Contemporary Art. After navigating the twists and turns of the pandemic as well as US/Canada border restrictions, I am delighted to say that Xiaoyu has finally arrived in Toronto. She starts in her new role today.
Image courtesy of Xiaoyu Weng
Xiaoyu was born and raised in Shanghai,
and holds an MA from the California College of the Arts in San Francisco and a
BA from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. Her curatorial practice
has focused on the impact of identity, globalization and decolonialization, as
well as the intersection of art and technology. She comes to the AGO from the
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, where she was an integral part of the
curatorial team for more than five years.
During her time at the Guggenheim, Xiaoyu spearheaded The Robert
H. N. Ho Family Foundation Chinese Art Initiative. In 2018-19, she served as
the Curator of the 5th Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art held in
Yekaterinburg, Russia, transforming a former military factory and an abandoned
theater into dynamic contemporary art spaces. She also recently curated the
shows Miriam Cahn and Claudia Martínez Garay: Ten Thousand Things at
Sifang Art Museum, Nanjing, China; Neither Black / Red / Yellow Nor Woman
at Times Art Center Berlin, Germany; Soft Crash at Galleria d’Arte
Moderna e Contemporanea di Bergamo, Italy.
Before joining the Guggenheim, Xiaoyu was
Director of Asia Programs at the Kadist Art Foundation, San Francisco and
Paris, where she organized a number of exhibitions and programs. In addition to
her curatorial work, she is an active writer, editor and educator, writing
extensively on contemporary art for various magazines and periodicals.
In
her new position at the AGO, Xiaoyu will lead the Modern &
Contemporary team in creating exceptional art experiences to welcome and grow
diverse local and global audiences and envision new ways to develop the AGO’s
holdings of Modern & Contemporary Art.
Xiaoyu reports to me and will receive
administrative and planning support from Debbie Johnsen, Curatorial
Coordinator, Modern & Contemporary Art.
I am back from a Saskatoon-to-Vancouver family road
trip with stops in Calgary, Banff and Jasper. Western Canada is stunning and
vast – I think I said “wow” about a million times. Each place was so
strikingly different – I feel like I have a better sense of the complexity of
Canada. I highly recommend you visit the Remai and Wanuskewin in Saskatoon if
the opportunity strikes.
Back at the AGO, I couldn’t be prouder of how the team
is doing. Our attendance and revenue numbers are strong and our content is resonating
with our public. Our communications and marketing strategy is working. In
addition to Warhol, the exquisite exhibition Matthew Wong: Blue View
opened last week and in two weeks we welcome Fragments of Epic Memory,
which will be amazing. I have been impressed by both the art and design of the
exhibition. Congratulations to everyone for your incredible work and commitment
to high quality in everything we do.
With fall upon us and a high percentage of the public being vaccinated, Leadership Team is working on a thoughtful plan to start phasing staff back into the building. Again, our top priority will be everyone’s health and safety and we will follow restrictions very carefully to ensure a safe work environment. We might need to pivot if the Delta strain continues to impact case numbers, and we will flex accordingly, but it is time to start planning for a new work environment that has more staff back onsite. This will mean changes to how we work, where we work, and what our work spaces look like. This will happen over a period of time, not overnight, so I appreciate everyone’s patience as we work through a solid and highly considered plan.
We will share all details with you on a regular basis
so nothing will come as a surprise. More to come on this.
Take care and stay safe,
Stephan
Volunteers, please note: the volunteer program remains on hiatus; volunteer re-entry will commence following staff re-entry, as part of the phased plan that is organized by the AGO’s reopening team, following provincial guidelines
Artists-in-Presidents: Transmissions to Power is a series of 21 audio addresses by artists assuming positions of leadership. AGOinsider spoke to Constance Hockaday, the project’s creator, about imagining futures that speak to all.
Presidential portrait of Ravyn Wngz, 2021. Part of Artists-in-Presidents: Transmissions to Power, a project by Constance Hockaday commissioned by The Blackwood. Photo: Jackie Brown.
Artists-in-Presidents: Transmissions to Poweris an ambitious art project presented by the Blackwood, University of Toronto Mississauga, that asks how we can imagine collective futures. Who should be granted the opportunity to lead the masses, especially in times of crisis? How can artists intervene in the outdated models of elite leadership that we have historically inherited and embodied? How can we acknowledge and respond to the complexities of local and global struggles?
Follow the link to read more about the project, and subscribe to the weekly podcast.
Born in 1961 in Kinngait, Nunavut (formerly known as Cape Dorset), Ashoona has been making art for more than 25 years. Like other self-taught Inuit artists living in Kinngait, she learned through observation and mentorship from more experienced artists and Elders at the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative. She follows in the footsteps of both her parents, Kuiga (Kiugak) and Sorosilutu, as well as her grandmother Pitseolak, one of the most world-renowned and celebrated Inuk illustrators. Ashoona began drawing in 1996 and uses pen and ink, coloured pencils and oil sticks, conjuring meticulously detailed and mythical imagery set in her beloved home community.
Now on view on Level 4 of the Gallery, Shuvinai Ashoona: Beyond the Visible features 25 primarily new drawings by the third-generation Inuk artist. Curated by Wanda Nanibush, AGO Curator, Indigenous Art, the exhibition is driven by Ashoona’s confident sense of colour, sure hand and unique vision. Ashoona was awarded the Gershon Iskowitz Prize in 2018, which recognizes and supports artists in Canada. As part of that prize, the AGO invited her to show her work in a solo exhibition.
Ashoona joined Nanibush virtually from Kinngait Studios in Nunavut earlier this summer to discuss select works from the exhibition.
Watch their conversation in full, here via AGOinsider.
