Your summer museum guide
Toronto is lucky to have a wide range of museums. Be a tourist in your own city and check out some of these summer exhibitions.
The AGO counts itself lucky to be part of a cultural scene that includes a wide range of museums. Toronto has something for everyone – you can ogle footwear through the ages at the Bata Shoe Museum or have your mind blown at the Ontario Science Centre; see some amazing contemporary art at Mercer Union and be entranced by photography at the Ryerson Image Centre. There are so many things to pick from that we can’t list them all, but here’s a sample of some hot summer shows to check out. Don’t just wait for visiting friends and family – be a tourist in your own town!
The Royal Ontario Museum is hosting an epic exhibition of 70 paintings from the Dutch Golden Age by artists Rembrandt, Frans Hals, Jan Steen and Jacob van Ruisdael. In the Age of Rembrandt captures life in the Dutch Republic and runs to September 15.
The Gardiner Museum presents Glenn Lewis: The Poetic Process, on now until August 18. This is a conceptual work that opens a conversation between two media: ceramics and photography. The juxtaposition of five pots made during a residency at the Leach Pottery in St. Ives, England, and twenty large-scale photographs of roses taken in German and English gardens, reflects on the long history and symbolism of the rose and vessel form.
From roses to trees: the Museum of Contemporary Art is showing a massive, fully grown, deceased tree (along with its inhabitants) at MOCA for the museum’s first summer exhibition in its new home. The Life of a Dead Tree by Mark Dion allows visitors to observe and participate in a kind-of autopsy of the tree that will unfold over the exhibition. It runs to July 28.
Now from trees to the moon: the Aga Khan Museum’s major exhibition The Moon: A Voyage Through Time celebrates the 50th anniversary of the first human steps on the moon by discovering the wonder, knowledge and beauty the moon has inspired through the ages. It runs to August 18.
Have a hankering for some cutting-edge contemporary art? The Power Plant has several summer shows all running to September 2, including Ordinary Men by Thomas J Price, three video installations by Mario Pfeifer, and On Scams by Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige.
We would be remiss not to toot our own horn! The AGO has a ton of stuff to discover this summer, including Brian Jungen Friendship Centre, our marquee summer hit that features a full-sized basketball court and sculptures made of Air Jordans.
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.
Happy summer museum-going!