AGO
The AGO is Toronto’s most significant visual arts institution, boasting a collection of over 80 000 works including the world’s largest collection of Canadian art. Though it is one of the city’s major tourist destinations, it’s also well known for gathering the local community through events like the monthly party, First Thursdays. It’s also a prime first or second date spot – start with contemporary works on the top floor and make your way down through the building’s expansive architecture, down all the way to the gallery’s spiffy restaurant, FRANK.
Birch Contemporary
Birch Contemporary is my favourite of the galleries located on Tecumseth Street in Toronto’s Queen West neighbourhood. This is perhaps because of its accessibility – works from artists like Micah Lexier, Luis Jacob, Mitch Robertson and Janet Werner hold just enough ambiguity to be bemusing, but not so much as to be confusing or distressful. Mitch Robertson’s new show, Astronomy Degree, will be showing at the gallery until October 24th.
Olga Korper Gallery
Some of the city’s most subtly provocative work is shown at the Olga Korper Gallery. From Kristina Burda and Greg Murdock’s playful geometries to the poetry of Lois Andison’s kinetic machines, each of the shows on Korper’s slate of exhibitions is worthy of first hand experience. The current exhibition on display, a solo showing from the aforementioned Lois Andison, is perhaps the best that Toronto has had to offer this summer. In it, video, text, kinetics and sculpture are elegantly combined to produce open-ended, yet deeply personal narratives of love, division and change.
Aga Khan Museum
There’s a sense of wonder when one approaches the Aga Khan Museum. It has both the scale and the architecture of a building that should stand for a millennia; seeing these alone warrants a visit to this, Toronto’s newest art institution. But the collection housed inside doesn’t disappoint. With an incredible range of Islamic art objects and historical artifacts, and new work from contemporary Muslim artists, a day spent making the pilgrimage uptown to visit Aga Khan is undoubtedly time well spent.
Younger than Beyoncé
This nomadic gallery is currently housed in a beautiful suite at 563 Dundas Street East. Its August show, Flawless, a group exhibition of seven young feminist artists, was one of this summer’s highlights. In particular, a series of pointed works from recent University of Toronto graduate, Daniéle Dennis, sought to tease apart ideas of race and gender with stunningly provocative results. Catch their new shows, In the dust of this world and Show Room, before September 19th.
401 Richmond
401 Richmond is a dense network of galleries, shops and offices. Work from nearly the entire range of contemporary practices can be found here: video programming at Trinity Square Video, photography at Gallery 44, sculpture, drawing and much more at YYZ. The building is a bit of a maze, but there is always something noteworthy on exhibit.
Inter/Access
Works dedicated to the intersectionality of art, science and technology are the focus of Ossington’s Inter/Access gallery. Aside from the shows it puts on, the organization provides workshops on everything from electronics to drones, to video games and mind-controlled art. There most recent show, There Should be Gardens, features strong work from Kara Stone, Alize Zorlutuna, Anna Eyler, Adrienne Crossman and Alana Bartol.
Other Notables Galleries
- Mercer Union
- 8/11
- xpace
- MKG127
- Clint Roenisch
- Daniel Faria
