Art With Heart is back

Art and charity have an important relationship. For a perfect example of this, look no further than Art With Heart: the annual fundraising auction and reception for Casey House – a hospital for people living with HIV/AIDS.

Taking place on October 8 at the AGO, art-lovers and supporters of Casey House are invited to take home amazing artworks by some of Canada’s foremost contemporary artists.

Stephan Jost, the AGO’s Michael and Sonja Koerner Director, and CEO, is a longtime ambassador and advocate for the improvement in care and treatment for those living with HIV/AIDS; he returns this year as honorary chair.
Here are just a few of the incredible works available for auction.

Rajni Perera – Traveler

This mixed media painting (pictured above) from Rajni Perera’s solo exhibition Traveler speaks directly to issues of sovereignty, belonging, identity and personhood. Perera’s use of futurism creates a vivid hybrid of the ancestral and the contemporary, which makes for a poignant commentary on our society.

Kent Monkman – Study for not the end of a trail (Miss Chief)

Featuring his famous alter ego, Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, Study for not the end of a trial is a pencil drawing by Kent Monkman. In it, a nude Miss Chief sits atop a horse, donning stilettos and a traditional First Nation’s headdress. This type of playful, subversive imagery is central to the work of Monkman, who’s known for cleverly recasting classic European paintings as a means of evoking a politically charged message. Works by Monkman can be seen on Level 2 of the AGO in the J.S. McLean Centre for Indigenous & Canadian Art.

Kent Monkman. Study for Not the End of the Trail (Miss Chief), 2004.Graphite on acid free paper. 43.18 x 36.83 cm. Courtesy of Patel Gallery © Kent Monkman

Esmaa Mohamoud – One of the Boys (the AGO Grange Library)

This large inkjet-printed edition of Esmaa Mohamoud’s One of the Boys (the AGO Grange Library) depicts a model in a repurposed basketball jersey with a luxurious gown bottom – a piece that was featured in the AGO 2017 exhibition Every. Now. Then: Reframing Nationhood. Mohamoud‘s work focuses on cultural constructs of Blackness, specifically Black masculinity. Her work, A Seat Above the Table (Warren Moon) is currently on view at the AGO on Level 2 in the J.S. McLean Centre for Indigenous & Canadian Art.

Esmaa Mohamoud. One of the Boys (the AGO Grange Library), 2017-18. Inkjet print edition of 10, 76.2 x 50.8 cm. Courtesy of Georgia Scherman Projects © Esmaa Mohomoud

Kara Hamilton – Prototypes for Stolen Artifacts

Toronto-based artist Kara Hamilton’s work is mysterious, graceful and ambitious. Her works are often created by transforming found objects into stunning pieces of art. For Art With Heart, Hamilton created Prototypes for Stolen Artifacts, a captivating glass and brass abstract sculpture that “examines the inherent paradox of decoration.” On your next visit to the AGO, visit Kara Hamilton’s exhibition Water in Two Colours – on view on Level 4 in the Vivian & David Campbell Centre for Contemporary Art (Gallery 409) until December 1.

Kara Hamilton. Prototypes for Stolen Artifacts (Glass), 2015-16. Brass and glass. 24.77 x 15.88. Courtesy of Cooper Cole © Kara Hamilton

Kotama Bouabane – I like landscapes too, so get off my back

A chromatic print of a photograph set on a winter shoreline, I like landscapes too, so get off my back depicts a young man from the back, peering out into the water, wearing a shirt with an illustration of an identical setting and pose. Kotama Bouabane’s ethnographic practice uses photography and images to examine people, places and cultural constructs.

Kotama Bouabane. I like landscapes too, so get off my back,  2019. Chromogenic print edition of 3. 71.12 x 106.68 cm. © Kotama Bouabane

Admission to the AGO Collection and all special exhibitions is always free for AGO Members, AGO Annual Pass holders and visitors 25 and under. For more information, please visit the website.