Matthew Schofield’s paintings, part of the Decade exhibition at the Koffler Centre of the Arts, have an uncanny resemblance to his photographs from which the images are taken.Candice Linkie
With works spanning virtually every medium in important solo shows and celebratory group exhibitions, Toronto-area galleries offer something for everyone this spring.
Celebrating 10 years since a school in the Queen Street West area transformed into the Youngplace artist studios, Decade, curated by David Liss at Koffler Centre of the Arts (until May 12) showcases works by eight artists currently or recently working in the building: Ruth Adler, Barbara Astman, Shabnam K. Ghazi, Gillian Iles, Vid Ingelevics, Carolyn Murphy, Midi Onodera and Matthew Schofield. Ghazi’s carefully processed textiles – some are made from handmade paper printed with her writings, then cut into fine ribbons and rewoven into wall-hangings and rugs – are rooted in her Persian culture. Schofield’s incredibly photographic-like, hyper-realist paintings capture scenes of everyday life to explore relationships between painting and photography and the dynamics at play image and viewer.
Self-Portrait, c. 1630, by Judith Leyster. Oil on canvas. On display at the AGO exhibition Making Her Mark: A History of Women Artists in Europe, 1400-1800.Courtesy, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C
Making Her Mark: A History of Women Artists in Europe, 1400-1800, opening at the Art Gallery of Ontario (Mar. 27-July 1), gathers 230 objects, from royal portraits to ceramics, textiles, even cabinetry, to demonstrate multifaceted – and often overlooked – ways that women contributed to the visual arts of Europe. Named a “must-see” exhibition by Vogue and a “sure-to-be-historic show,” by the New York Times, this co-production with the Baltimore Museum of Art is among the first exhibitions to display objects made by women from various centuries and levels of society in conversation with each other. Artists include Sofonisba Anguissola, Luisa Roldán and Elisabeth Vigée-LeBrun alongside female artisanal collectives and many unfamiliar talents.
El Machete, 1926, by Tina Modotti. Gelatin silver print. From Recuerdo: Latin American Photography, at the Art Gallery of Ontario.Courtesy, Art Gallery of Ontario
And opening May 3 is Recuerdo: Latin American Photography at the AGO. “Recuerdo” – Spanish for memory – aptly describes this exhibition’s display of personal stories, by such photographers as Manuel Alvarez Bravo and Tina Modotti. Highlighting new acquisitions from the AGO’s photography collection, the show explores what it means to consider art of and from Latin America.
In the small but powerful ceramics and film exhibition, Genealogies of Sustenance, at the Gardiner Museum until May 12, three artists explore the inexorable ways land and identity are linked. Mallory Lowe Mpoka’s earthy sculptures explore place-based knowledge among African diasporas, untangling histories related to colonialism. They are joined by similarly organic-inspired sculptures by Chiedza Pasipanodya and Zainab Aliyu.
Rhizomatic Placemaking, 2023, by Cameroonian Belgian artist Mallory Lowe Mpoka. Red clay, iron oxide pigments, and glaze. On show at the Gardiner Museum’s ceramics and film exhibition, Genealogies of Sustenance.Toni Hafkenscheid
Also at the Gardiner, until April 21, is the popular Magdalene Odundo: A Dialogue with Objects, which focuses on the distinguished British artist’s voluptuous and shimmering ceramic objects.
Toronto-based artist June Clark says materials are the grammar of her visual language. Once she knows what she wants to convey, she then finds the materials that are best suited to her visual statement. Working with photographs, prints, scrap materials and more gives structure to her ideas.
The Power Plant’s June Clark: Witness (May 3-Aug.11) brings together her iconic installations Family Secrets (1992) and Harlem Quilt (1997), her photography series 42 Thursdays in Paris (2004), and a collection of sculptural assemblages called Homage. Exhibiting in tandem with AGO’s solo show, June Clark: Unrequited Love (until Aug. 20), the works at the Power Plant explore issues of identity through reflections on her Harlem childhood and subsequent migration to Canada as a young adult.
Finally, on March 22, the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto launches Greater Toronto Art 2024, the second edition of the museum’s triennial exhibition. Presenting 25 artists, duos, and collectives, and works in a variety of mediums, including video, sculpture, painting, photography, sound, and performance, GTA24 is Toronto’s only recurring institutional exhibition dedicated to artists with a connection to the city. This year’s exhibition includes 15 newly commissioned works, by such artists as Catherine Telford Keogh, Jes Fan, Lotus L. Kang and Timothy Yanick Hunter, alongside existing artworks made between the 1960s and the present.
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