A new installation of contemporary works explores how landscapes, from coastal shores to skyscrapers, inspire and inform various artistic visions.

A new installation of contemporary works from the AGO Collection (on Level 4, gallery 405) explores the concept of landscape by highlighting the various forms it takes in painting and sculpture. Adelina Vlas, AGO Associate Curator, Contemporary Art,  has displayed the works of artists Silke Otto-Knapp, Paterson Ewen, Luis Jacob and Shirley Wiitasalo in associative conversations with each other, juxtaposing the nuances of natural, man-made and imagined landscapes. 

Los Angeles-based painter Silke Otto-Knapp is best known for her complex, monochrome works done in grey, black and silver watercolour. Taking a non-traditional approach to the medium, she paints on canvas and linen which adds a signature flatness and luminosity to her paintings. Otto-Knapp’s multi-panel Monotones (Seascape) is part of her Monotones series, and depicts a vast, rocky shoreline on Fogo Island, Newfoundland.      

Volunteers may recall Silke Otto-Knapp’s earlier solo exhibition at the Gallery, in  2015 – Silke Otto-Knapp: Land Lies in Water.  Volunteers might also enjoy this article that explores more of the artist’s technique.

You can read more about this installation, and all of the artists assembled, in AGOinsider.

Hello Everyone,

By now, staff will have received the message from Chris Steele that the AGO experienced a cyberattack last week. Outlook is back up and running along with other core services. It will still take a little bit longer for remote access services to be fully resolved as the investigation into what caused the attack remains underway. The main point is that there was no privacy breach and no personal or financial data was impacted.

THANK YOU to the IT team for their incredible efforts during the past several days to restore services. Thank you especially to Chris Steele and Kyle Fraser for equipping our IT infrastructure in advance of the attack, which prevented a more detrimental outcome from occurring. You prepared us well to combat an incident such as this.

Also by now, you will have likely heard the news that provincial capacity restrictions have been lifted in many organizations, including the AGO, where vaccine mandates are in place. What this means for us is that we can return to 100% capacity as opposed to 50%, which has been our operating assumption since we re-opened in July. We will do this gradually and safely to make sure our staff and systems in place can accommodate the increase.

Starting this week, we will increase capacity in Picasso from 50% to 75-80%. Thank you to the Visitor Experience and Protection Services teams for pivoting this week. Again, we will make the change in Picasso slowly and carefully.

Both of our ticketed exhibitions (Picasso and Warhol) were totally sold out this weekend. The AGO is bustling with activity and this will only continue as we head into the busy holiday season. It is time for more employees to be back onsite. Again, we will do this cautiously and gradually, beginning in November.

Enjoy the week,

Stephan

Wednesday October 13 at 1pm, via ZOOM

Join us for a very special keynote address by M. NourbeSe Philip to open Black Portraiture[s]: Toronto, Absente/d Presence, a three-day conference exploring Blackness as absent/ed presence in art, art history,  performance, archives, museums, cultural production and technology. Following the keynote, M. NourbeSe Philip will be in conversation with DJ and curator Mark Campbell.

Black Portraiture[s]: Toronto, Absente/d Presencewill take place virtually in partnership with Agnes Etherington Art Centre at Queen’s University and is presented by Wedge Curatorial Projects. All are welcome, from wherever you are in the world! 

Born in Tobago, M. NourbeSe Philip is an unembedded poet, essayist, novelist, playwright and independent scholar who lives in the space-time of the City of Toronto, where she practised law for seven years before becoming a poet and writer. M. NourbeSe Philip is the 2020 recipient of the PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature. She is also the 2021 recipient of the Canada Council for the Arts’ lifetime achievement award, the Molson Prize,for her “invaluable contributions to literature”.

Mark V. Campbell is the founder of Northside Hip Hop Archive and has spent two decades embedded within the Toronto hip hop scene operating from community engaged praxis as both a DJ and Curator. His forthcoming exhibition, Still Tho: Aesthetic Survival of Hip-Hop’s Visual Art is set to launch at Âjagemô Gallery in Ottawa, January 2022. Mark is Assistant Professor of Music and Culture at the University of Toronto Scarborough.

This is a Free Event, that requires advanced registration via Zoom, linked HERE.

Hello Everyone,

This was an extraordinary week at the AGO. After years of research, conservation, scholarship, loan negotiations and meticulous planning, we opened Picasso: Painting the Blue Period. Congratulations to Kenneth Brummel, Sandra Webster-Cook and EVERYONE involved with installing, securing and promoting the exhibition. Since Wednesday, we have seen line-ups of Members waiting patiently to explore the show, and I am excited for it to be open to the public this weekend.

As a young person coming into his own, Picasso had a broad view of the world and was deeply aware of the poverty and hardship experienced by many at the beginning of the 20th century. He depicted this with compassion, including in La Soupe from our collection (picture below), which speaks to a global understanding of charity. Something we can all relate to. I am thinking of this work, in particular, as many of us celebrate Thanksgiving this long weekend. Indeed, we all have much to be thankful for.

Take care and stay safe,

Stephan

A Q&A with Dominica-born, Toronto-based artist Gomo George, whose work is currently on view in Fragments of Epic Memory.

Gomo George is a multidisciplinary artist working in painting and sculpture, whose artmaking centres African and Caribbean traditions. Since the early 1980s, he has been a strong advocate for Black artists working in Canada, curating exhibitions and founding the city’s first Black artist run gallery, ColoLux Studios. Inspired by a photograph taken by K.A. Richards in 1958, his striking watercolour Women’s Carnival Band (2002) is currently on view on Level 5 as part of Fragments of Epic Memory.  We caught up with George to hear more about his work and teaching philosophy.

AGOinsider: What do you miss most about Dominica?

George:  I miss family and childhood friends.  I miss the sea and rivers of which we have 365, enough to bathe in one every day of the year. The greenery of the island.

AGOinsider:  ColoLux Studios, the gallery you founded in 1984, was a groundbreaking achievement. Can you tell us why it was important?

George: Founding Cololux was important because I was the only one showing in the mainstream galleries.  My colleagues were not getting similar opportunities.  We needed a place where we could establish a presence visually, as well as a place to discuss our work.  A place we could share knowledge about the Canadian and diasporic art scene. It was a place to foster much needed professional development.

AGOinsider: Was there a particular artist or artwork that was profoundly influential for you when you began artmaking?

George: My childhood friend Eddy John was a friend and mentor; he was influential and he encouraged me to take my talent seriously.  Ras David from Jamaica was another early influence.  As well as all of Carnival preparation activities.

AGOinsider: Teaching art is a combination of instinct and technique. What was the best lesson you ever received? 

George: The best lesson I got was that a mistake can become the focal point or binding aspect in creating an artwork.

Fragments of Epic Memory is on now, until February 21, 2022.

Hello Everyone,

Today is the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. It is a chance to reflect on what has happened and is happening. 

When someone visits the AGO it is my hope that they will encounter works of art by Indigenous people. The power of these works impress me – I think of the two sculptures by the Anishinaabe artist Michael Belmore that are currently on view. One work, Édifice, is a set of stones hat has been carved to look stone that has been shaped by a glacier. It is a work of art that shows a sense of time. The work has a vein of copper that runs through the stone – most beautiful. It is a sculpture that it about many things but to me it has a sense of place. This place. Perhaps today is a day to think about our history. To think about this history not just in terms of the last year or decade but in terms of generations. Indigenous people have been here for a long, long time – there is an opportunity to listen and learn. Today is an opportunity to look for truth and to seek reconciliation.

Stephan  

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Dear Everyone,

The Art Gallery of Ontario operates on land that is Michi Saagig Nishnawbe (Mississauga, Anishinaabe) territory and the territory of the Wendat and Haudenosaunee. Today marks Canada’s first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a day of remembrance, reflection, action and learning about the history of residential schools, survivors, their families and communities, and the ongoing intergenerational effects of the residential school system.

If you are on-site today, you will see signage inviting visitors to be in reflection and spend time exploring contemporary Indigenous artists and artwork from across Turtle Island in J.S. McLean Centre for Indigenous & Canadian Art (on level 2),  Robert Houle’s installation Seven Grandfathers (2014) in Walker Court, the solo exhibitions of Michael Belmore (also on Level 2), Shuvinai Ashoona (on Level 4), and the work of Norval Morrisseau and Kent Monkman (on Level 1).

In recognition of the importance of this day, we invite staff and volunteers to take time today to engage in learning, reflection and acknowledgement of the history of this country and the lived experiences of First Nation, Inuit and Métis peoples within the borders of Canada. The following are some resources and AGO content to support you.

Resources

• AGO content:
  • AGO Insider story: A day to remember and reflect
  • A Continued Conversation on Residential Schools – June 2021

• Read about the deep history and 94 recommendations from the TRC report:
• The Survivors Speak – A Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada 
• Canada’s Residential Schools: The History, Part 1 Origins of 1939
• Canada’s Residential Schools: The History, Part 2 1939 to 2000
• Canada’s Residential Schools: The Inuit and Northern Experience
• Looking Forward, Looking Back: Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples
• Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action

• Read the commentary article Truth and Reconciliation in the Arts and Culture Sector by the Arts Insights monthly publication

• Participate in virtual events for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation:
  • www.honourtheday.ca
  • National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation -Truth and Reconciliation Week (live and recorded sessions)

• Listen to testimonials from survivors of Residential Schools:
  • Legacy of Hope – Where are the Children
  • Legacy of Hope – Escaping Residential Schools Virtual Exhibition
  • Residential Schools Podcast Series

• Watch a documentary:
  • Phyllis Webstad – On Orange Shirt Day (2021, 7 mins)
  • Every Child Matters: Truth – Act One (2020, 46 mins), National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
  • Mashkawi-ManidooBimaadiziwin Spirit to Soar (English Version, 44 mins), Tanya Talaga
  • Holy Angels (2017, 13 mins), Jay Cardinal Villeneuve
  • We Were Children (2012, 1 h 23 mins), Tim Wolochatiuk
  • We Can’t Make the Same Mistake Twice (2016, 2h 43 mins), Alanis Obomsawin
  • Sisters & Brothers (2015, 3 mins), Kent Monkman
  • Second Stories – It Had to be Done (2008, 22 mins), Tessa Desnomie

• Consider taking a course:
  • Reconciliation Through Indigenous Education (Starts September 30 for 6 weeks) – a free course by the University of British Columbia exploring how Indigenous histories, perspectives, worldviews, and approaches to learning can be made part of the work we do in organizations, communities, and our everyday experiences in ways that are thoughtful and respectful. In this course, reconciliation emphasizes changing institutional structures, practices, and policies, as well as personal and professional ideologies to create environments that are committed to strengthening our relationships with Indigenous peoples.

• Read a book:
  • The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
  • This Place: 150 Years Retold by Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm, Sonny Assu, Brandon Mitchell
  • Sugar Falls – A Residential School Story by David Alexander Robertson
  • Fatty Legs by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton
  • Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death and Hard Truths in a Northern City by Tanya Talaga

•  If you have the financial means consider donating by contributing to:
  • Legacy of Hope Foundation 
  • Indian Residential School Survivors Society 
  • Save the Evidence – Woodland Cultural Centre

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at [email protected]

Cian B. Knights (pronouns: she/her)

Manager, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Note: To participate in something more structured, Ruth Hartman, Volunteer, shares these additional links, noting the TRC reading challenge:

https://www.passemuraille.ca/trcreading/  and the main site  http://trcreadingchallenge.com/  (thank you, Ruth!)

On Tuesday October 5, artists Soumya Netrabile and Peter Shear join AGO Deputy Director & Chief Curator Julian Cox for a conversation about the extraordinary life and practice of Matthew Wong

On view now, Matthew Wong; Blue View is introducing visitors to the late Chinese-Canadian painter’s unique exploration of the many moods of blue. Comprising more than 40 artworks from Wong’s Blue Series – ranging from intimate gouache on paper compositions to large scale oil paintings – the exhibition marks the first major museum show of Wong’s work to date.   It’s been a really popular, poignant show, among visitors and volunteers, alike.

On Tuesday, October 5 at 7 pm, artists Soumya Netrabile and Peter Shear will join AGO Deputy Director & Chief Curator Julian Cox for a conversation about the extraordinary life and practice of Matthew Wong (register, HERE).

Ahead of their talk, AGOinsider connected with Shear and Netrabile – both friends of Wong – to find out how they first encountered the artist and why his work is so special to them. Read the interview, HERE.

In keeping with the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (September 30, 2021), it’s a good time to revisit A Continued Conversation on Residential Schools, a virtual discussion the AGO hosted in June 2020, about thoughtfully sharing the history and intergenerational effects of residential schools with children and youth.

Robert Durocher, Vice-Principal at Kâpapâmahchakwêw – Wandering Spirit School (TDSB), award-winning author, educator and artist Dr. Jenny Kay Dupuis, and hip-hop artist and activist Lindsay “Eekwol” Knight were joined in conversation with the AGO’s Dr. Audrey Hudson; linked HERE.

Also this past year, as part of the Shape of the Museum series, Paul Chaat Smith, Curator, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, and Wanda Nanibush, AGO Curator, Indigenous Art spoke at length virtually about the roles museums and cultural institutions have in shaping complex conversations when exhibiting work made by Indigenous artists, linked HERE.

As part of our Diversity & Inclusion Learning, volunteers are invited to watch this Fireside Chat with Michelle Emson, about her personal experience of transitioning in her workplace, and the practices put in place to support her journey.

Watch the recording here (when prompted, enter Access Passcode: AGOS3pt!3)

As an additional resource, Michelle also recently led a learning session, “Workplace Inclusion for Gender and Sexual Diversity” for staff, that we are happy to share. You can watch the recording here (when prompted, please enter Access Passcode: AGOJun!0).

In this session, Michelle shares how staff and volunteers can be more conscious of how they interact with the public in gallery spaces, and how this can make a real impact.