CURATORIAL TEAM

Julian Cox joined the AGO as Deputy Director & Chief Curator in 2018. He leads the curatorial team in designing meaningful art experiences that embrace multiple—and often challenging—points of view. He focuses on exhibition planning in addition to developing the AGO’s significant collections, positioning Toronto and Ontario’s rich artistic landscape in the widest context possible to ensure the Gallery is inclusive and welcoming, and  reflects the diversity of the communities we serve.

Before joining the AGO, Julian was Chief Curator of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), working across two museums, the de Young and the Legion of Honor. In this role, he led curatorial activities in art of the Americas, Oceania and Africa, Ancient art, European Paintings and European Decorative Arts and Sculpture, Prints and Drawings, American art, contemporary art and international textiles and costume. He also managed FAMSF’s conservation, library and publications staff.

Prior to that, he served as Curator of Photography at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia and held several positions in the Department of Photography at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

Julian holds a Master of Philosophy degree in the history of photography from the University College of Wales, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in art history from the University of Manchester.

Selected AGO exhibitions:
Impressionism in the Age of Industry: Monet, Pissarro and more (2018)

Background: Prior to joining the AGO in 2017, Caroline Shields held various curatorial roles at the National Gallery of Art, Washington; the Musée d’Orsay, Paris; and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She holds a Doctorate in art history from the University of Maryland with a dissertation on Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) and the history of memory. Shields’s area of specialty is nineteenth-century French art.

Background: Prior to becoming Assistant Curator of European Art in 2020, Adam Harris Levine held various curatorial roles at the AGO and conducted extensive work with the Thomson Collection of European Art. He is currently finalizing his doctoral dissertation at Columbia University, where he has also taught extensively. Levine’s area of specialty is medieval and renaissance sculpture and decorative arts.

Selected AGO exhibitions:
Karoo Ashevak (2019)
Rebecca Belmore Facing the Monumental (2018)
JS McLean Centre for Indigenous & Canadian Art (2018)
Rita Letendre: Fire & Light (2017)
Toronto: Tributes + Tributaries, 1971-1989 (2016)

Background: Prior to joining the AGO in 2016, Wanda Nanibush held various curatorial and academic roles across Canada since 2001. In addition to independent curation, Nanibush held the post of Aboriginal Arts Officer at the Ontario Arts Council, Executive Director of ANDPVA and strategic planning for CCA. She holds a Master’s Degree in visual studies from the University of Toronto, where she has also taught graduate courses. Nanibush has published widely in magazines, books and journals. As co-lead of the AGO’s department of Indigenous and Canadian art, Nanibush’s area of specialty is Indigenous Art and collection diversification.

Selected AGO exhibitions:
Florine Stettheimer (2017)
Georgia O’Keeffe (2017)
Introducing Suzy Lake (2014)
The Passion of Kathleen Munn (2011)
Betty Goodwin: Work Notes (2010)

Background: Prior to joining the AGO in 2002, Georgiana Uhlyarik held curatorial various roles at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, The Power Plant and the Gershon Iskowitz Foundation. She earned an Honours Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Toronto and a Master’s Degree in art history from York University. She is currently an adjunct faculty member at York University and University of Toronto, and research associate, Modern Literature & Culture, Ryerson University. As co-lead of the AGO’s department of Indigenous and Canadian art, Uhlyarik’s area of specialty is the work of 20th-century women artists.

Selected AGO exhibitions:
Betty Goodwin: Moving Towards Fire (2019)
Kim Ondaatje: The House on Piccadilly Street (2021)
Denyse Thomasos: just beyond (2022)

Background: Prior to joining the AGO in 2018, Renée van der Avoird held positions as Associate Curator/Registrar at the MacLaren Art Centre, Barrie; Assistant Director of Susan Hobbs Gallery, Toronto; and Curatorial Mentor at the Art Museum at the University of Toronto. She holds an Honours Bachelor’s of Arts Degree in Fine Arts and French Language & Literature from Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, and a Master’s Degree in Museum Studies from the University of Toronto. Van der Avoird’s area of specialty is modern and contemporary Canadian women artists.

Background: Prior to joining the AGO in 2021, Renata Azevedo Moreira was a lecturer at the Department of Communication, University of Montréal, where she concluded her Ph.D. research focused on the intersections between curatorial and artistic practice in media art exhibitions. She holds an MA from the University of Paris 8, France, and a BA from the University of Brasilia, Brazil. Her past projects include curating the exhibition Femynynytees at gallery Arts Visuels Émergents, co-founding the curatorial collective Curation as Research-Creation at Concordia University, and working as an Assistant Programming Coordinator at Ada X. Moreira’s area of specialty is process-based and experimental art.

Prior to joining the AGO in 2021, Xiaoyu Weng held positions as The Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation Associate Curator at The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York and Director of Asia Programs at the Kadist Art Foundation, San Francisco and Paris, and in 2018-19, she served as the Curator of the 5th Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Her curatorial practice focuses on the impact of identity, globalization and decolonization, as well as the intersection of art, science and technology. As head of the modern and contemporary department, Xiaoyu leads the team and collaborates closely with local and international art communities to present rich and complex art and programming, and envisions new ways to grow the AGO Collection, its profile and impact. She holds a Master’s Degree from the California College of the Arts in San Francisco and a Bachelor’s Degree from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing.

Photo by Alexei Ponomarchuk