Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to share the news that Kenneth Brummel, Associate Curator, Modern Art, has been appointed to the position of Curator of 20^th Century Art at the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska. It is an exciting opportunity and truly reflects Kenneth’s curatorial and professional excellence.

Kenneth joined the AGO in 2014 as Assistant Curator, Modern Art, and was promoted to Associate Curator, Modern Art in 2019. He has left an indelible mark on the Modern and Contemporary Art Department, and the AGO during his 7-year tenure. His scholarship, commitment, and determination have led to the implementation of many successful projects.

Most recently, Kenneth curated the acclaimed exhibition Picasso: Painting the Blue Period, which is now on view at our partner institution, The Phillips Collection, in Washington, D.C. The exhibition is enthusiastically reviewed by The Wall Street Journal as a curatorially innovative, “not to miss” show. Also in 2021, Kenneth curated the AGO presentation of the Andy Warhol, organized byTate Modern. His other major projects over the years include Mitchell/ Riopelle: Nothing in Moderation (2018; organized in partnership with Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec), Anthony Caro: Sculpture Laid Bare (2016/17), SuperReal: Pop Art from the AGO Collection (2016/17), Painting Tranquility: Masterworks by Vilhelm Hammershøi, (2016; organized by SMK – The National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen), and A New Look: 1960s and ‘70s Abstract Painting at the AGO (2015/16). Kenneth curated numerous collection installations in various spaces at the AGO. Kenneth’s art historical research included the technical studies that he helped coordinate on the AGO’s two Blue Period paintings by Picasso have been included in The New York Times, National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, The Guardian, the BBC and other international media outlets.  

He fostered deep relationships with modern art collectors and patrons in Toronto and beyond. One of the most notable gifts he stewarded was a major painting by Helen Frankenthaler.  

The opportunity at the Joslyn Art Museum will allow Kenneth to continue deepening the scholarship, collection-building, and exhibition-making in the field of Modern Art. I have no doubt that his work will have a lasting impact. Kenneth’s last day at the AGO is March 18, and he begins work at Joslyn Art Museum in early May. 

Please join me in congratulating Kenneth’s on his accomplishments at the AGO, and on this exciting appointment. We wish him the very best in his future endeavors.

Sincerely,

Xiaoyu  

We’re excited to report that the Gallery’s Development and Philanthropy team has been working hard behind-the-scenes to offer three projects to choose from for this year’s Volunteer Endowment Trust support: 2 upcoming exhibitions, and a public programming and learning initiative. You’ll hear more in the coming weeks, with an opportunity to make your selection via online vote.

In 2021/2022, the volunteers voted to support the Gallery’s Access Initiative and in 2020 volunteer support funded research into The Montgomery Collection, and the resulting exhibition Fragments o Epic Memory. We look forward to this year’s vote!

Hello Everyone,

It is really wonderful to see so many more of you onsite this week. Combined with good attendance and several new installations, the galleries are feeling alive, fresh and full of energy.

We are deeply fortunate to live and work in this city. I know you join me in thinking about artists and cultural workers in other parts of the world who are suffering. We salute the art and strength of those in Ukraine, as we all hope for peace. Their contributions bring much beauty to our world. The AGO is home to works by Ukrainian and Ukrainian-Canadian artists. The images posted today on AGO’s social channels (below) – all artworks by Ukrainian Canadian artist William Kurelek from the Thomson Collection of Canadian Art – were selected by Roman Baran, a Ukrainian Canadian and longtime AGO colleague.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AGOToronto/posts/10159732106689144

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CasE3Gfun7f/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/agotoronto/status/1499784466105094156?s=20&t=XzPVdwLk2MaZSVIDpIok7A

I am thinking of Roman and others who have loved ones impacted by war. It is indeed most stressful. I encourage you to talk to one another and reach out to one another for solace.

Take care and stay safe,

Stephan 

For over 50 years, Anishnabe Saulteaux contemporary artist Robert Houle has been trailblazing. Since the Canadian Museum of History’s 1970 acquisition of his painting Red Is Beautiful, Houle’s influential work as an artist, curator, writer and educator has profoundly impacted the world of contemporary First Nations art in Canada – and globally. 

On view now, the AGO exhibition Robert Houle: Red is Beautiful surveys five decades of the artist’s monumental career and includes more than 90 large installations, paintings and drawings. Friday, December 3, 2021 – live from the AGO’s Baillie Court (and online) – was the kickoff of aabaakwad 2021, the third annual international gathering of Indigenous artists, curators and thinkers. This year, aabaakwad welcomed Robert Houle to deliver an opening keynote address, followed by a panel discussion with artists Faye HeavyShield and Barry Ace. 

We love this conversation between Curator Shirley Madill (currently of the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery), and Robert Houle, “Rebels and Iconoclasts” for more perspective on Houle’s career and approach.

Hello Everyone,

This week, I’m thinking more about AGO Global Contemporary (our six-storey, 55000-square-foot addition containing galleries for contemporary art). I believe that creating more space for global modern and contemporary art is key to achieving our vision:

The AGO will lead global conversations from Toronto through extraordinary collections, exhibitions and programs, and by reflecting the people who live here.

You each have a role to play in helping the AGO reach success. What does global leadership look like in your area? What are the kinds of conversations you are having that resonate around the world? How is the AGO engaging diverse communities? We should all be thinking about these questions and how we can move the museum forward, together.

It’s time for all of us to be reacquainted with one another, in person, and to experience being back onsite. Leadership Team members are onsite a minimum of 3 days a week. We are asking all Managers to be back onsite for at least 3 days a week beginning April 1^st, and then all other staff (*) within the next three months. Of course, we will continue to follow provincial health protocols and adjust to fluid circumstances.

I very much look forward to seeing more of you back at the AGO.

Take care and stay safe,

Stephan

(*Note: volunteers will also begin a staggered re-entry, according to departmental needs. A small team of information guides is retuning on site beginning March 5)

P.S. It has been a difficult week for those with family or loved ones in Ukraine. Hold tight.

In 2017, Toronto-based photographer Jorian Charlton received a collection of 35mm slides from her father for safe-keeping: his photographs from Jamaica, New York and Toronto from the late 1970s to the late ‘80s. The images reveal Charlton’s family lineage, and they inspired this exhibition. Charlton’s own portraits are paired with her father’s slides, creating a visual dialogue across generations.

Charlton explores the fluidity of the immigration story in her work, considers new ways of thinking about Jamaican-Canadian culture, and reimagines the family album through a contemporary lens. In concert with her father’s photographic narrative, these works constitute a tangible archive of what was, what is, and what will become––one, out of many.

Jorian Charlton: Out of Many is curated by Emilie Croning and presented in collaboration with Wedge Curatorial Projects and Gallery TPW. Until April 18, 2022.

The 29^th annual Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival (April 28 – May 8, 2022) is fast approaching and the Hot Docs team is excited to announce that they have opened their festival volunteer applications!

Potential Hot Docs volunteers can learn more about the benefits of joining the growing Festival team at: www.hotdocs.ca/volunteer

The application deadline for new Festival volunteers is March 7, 2022.

Hello Everyone,

On this Family Day weekend, I am taking time off with my husband and daughter and visiting friends in San Francisco. I can’t emphasize how important it is that you use your allotted vacation time. We’ve all been through a lot these past two years and need time off to refresh and keep our energy levels up. So if you have vacation time available, don’t put it off too long.

Things onsite are going very well. Earlier this week we heard the news that more health restrictions will be lifted beginning on March 1st, including all capacity restrictions and the requirement to show proof of vaccination. Leadership Team is considering any additional impacts on our operations and will be in touch with more details. It is good news. It means that cases are once again on the decline and the worst of the current Omicron wave is behind us. We will continue to focus on keeping ourselves and our public safe.

I hope everyone enjoys the long weekend and time with family and friends. Thank you to those who will be onsite welcoming our public. A reminder that Fragments of Epic Memory closes on February 21st. If you haven’t seen it yet, now’s your chance! Spread the word….

Take care and stay safe,

Stephan

Artists Natalie Wood and Charles Campbell reflect on their multidisciplinary artistic practices with Professor Honor Ford Smith.

From the perspectives of Jamaican-born artist Charles Campbell and Trinidadian-born artist Natalie Wood, looking at memory and its reconstruction in the present plays an important role in the works they create. Both artists are based in Canada (Charles Campbell in Victoria, BC, and Natalie Wood in Toronto, ON). This past December, they joined Professor Honor Ford Smith for a virtual conversation about their practice and the experience of exhibiting their work in Fragments of Epic Memory. 

Natalie Wood’s Mazalee (2012) is a portrait of an individual wrapped in an abundance of crosses made from carving into a piece of cardboard. The inspiration behind the work comes from a 17th-century Maroon colony in Trinidad with the same name. According to Wood, the crosses in the portrait represent “the crossroads and someone at the crossroads or at the junction of past and present” and of gender and spirituality. For Wood, the cross holds a multitude of meanings: “You’ve got the history of this violence, but at the same time, you’ve got a syncretization of this religion, where African peoples have managed to find, and to kind of integrate, some of the freedom and liberation beliefs.” This portrait is part of the series Are You Cut Out for My Revolution? 

To learn more about both Wood and Charles Campbell’s artistic practices, the inspiration behind their exhibiting works and other projects they are working on, watch the virtual conversation here.

As Fragments of Epic Memory comes to a close on February 21, this video walkthrough (linked here) by Artist Roya DelSol was recently commissioned by the AGO to celebrate the exhibition.

In a continuing spirit of celebration, the Gallery’s Communication team gathered together a list of stories that were published through the exhibition’s nearly six-month run:

Uncovering Caribbean History (linked here)

How did the AGO acquire the Montgomery Collection of Caribbean Photographs? Thirty  donors predominantly from Toronto’s Black and Caribbean communities helped make it happen. Plus, Dr. Julie Crooks, the exhibition’s curator, told us how she chose nearly 200 images from the collection of over 3,500 prints, postcards, daguerreotypes and more to feature in Fragments. 

Freedom and Folklore (linked here)

You can’t miss the 10-foot-tall mythical figure currently standing tall in Walker Court, the latest mixed-media sculpture in British-Trinidadian artist Zak Ové’s Moko Jumbie series. A contemporary spin on Afro-Caribbean mythologies, we learned about the cultural history within this commissioned work.

Food Memory Magic (linked here)

Ackee and saltfish. Griot. Curry goat. Ponche de crème. Celebrity chef, restaurateur and recording artist Roger Mooking chatted about the interconnectedness between food, memory and Caribbean culture in this Q&A. Mooking was also featured with Dr. Julie Crooks in Foodways, a new conversation series hosted by AGO Executive Chef Renée Bellefeuille. 

For all the stories linked to the exhibition, see this larger feature in AGOinsider.