Halloween comes early at AGO First Thursdays. Inspired by the new exhibition Guillermo del Toro: At Home with Monsters, the October First Thursday celebrates the macabre, the supernatural and the obsessive and is headlined by the avant-pop icon Peaches.

With her punk energy and queer feminist aesthetic, Peaches has been a part of the global music landscape since the release of her iconic album The Teaches of Peaches to her most recent critically acclaimed release Rub. Fiercely rooted in the margins with her bold, sexually progressive image and artistry, she’s affected mainstream pop culture with albums, videos, a rock opera and her legendary live shows. She will take the stage in her own spectacular way at 10 pm, and you won’t want to miss it.

Leading up to Peaches’ performance, an eclectic group of artists will delight and surprise you, turning the Gallery into a pageant of the dark arts. Toronto-based artist Tasman Richardson, whose immersive video installations are equal parts myth and phantasm, will use pattern disruption evoked by the ghost in the machine to camouflage objects and turn shadow to substance. The Sentimentalists, featuring Mysterion the Mindreader, Canada's mental marvels with a PhD in ESP, will display mentalist abilities on stage, preceded by a one of a kind pre-show roaming the Gallery: they’ll find you before you find them! The night will also feature a presence by SkullStore, Canada’s top supplier of ethically-sourced natural history products, including skulls, fossils, minerals and oddities, Haunted Walks Toronto and of course, the world's leading horror in culture and entertainment magazine Rue Morgue!

Plus, pop-up talks with local artists and makers, including exhibition curator Jim Shedden, our monthly Out of the Vaults exhibition, program design by Jamiyla Lowe and additional sounds by Toronto’s own murderposse and Kristie Muller DJ-ing. As always, enjoy delicious food and drinks courtesy of AGO Kitchens in the AGO’s Night Market.

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