Join artist Tim Whiten in a conversation with independent curator and writer, Carolyn Bell Farrell, moderated by exhibition curator and the AGO’s Deputy Director and Chief Curator, Julian Cox, in conjunction with the AGO exhibition, Tim Whiten: A Little Bit of Light. 

The conversation marks the publication of Carolyn Bell Farrell’s Tim Whiten: Life & Work. Developed through extensive research and dialogues with the artist, his colleagues and former students, contemporary curators, and others in his circle, Bell Farrell tells the remarkable story of how Whiten’s expansive practice has altered the landscape of contemporary visual art in Canada. 

Tim Whiten (Canadian, born August 13, 1941) is an American-born, Toronto-based artist working in sculpture, drawing, performance, and multi-media installations, using a variety of materials.  A Professor Emeritus at York University since 2007, Whiten has exhibited nationally and internationally since the 1970s. His work has been presented in solo exhibitions at the Art Gallery of York University, Toronto (1972); Koffler Centre of the Arts (1997); Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts, Montreal (1998); Art Gallery of Hamilton (2010); Tom Thomson Art Gallery, Owen Sound (2018); and University of Colorado Art Museum, Boulder (2021).   

Whiten's work is held in numerous collections including the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; MacKenzie Art Gallery, Saskatoon; de Young Museum, San Francisco; Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; and Winnipeg Art Gallery, a testament to the on-going institutional and curatorial support of the artist’s prolific career. 

Carolyn Bell Farrell is an independent curator and writer living in London, Ontario. Since 1990, she has curated over sixty exhibitions of contemporary Canadian art, working with artists Isaac Applebaum, Rafael Goldchain, Lyn Carter, Ed Pien, Sarindar Dhaliwal, June Clark, Tim Whiten, Rebecca Baird, FASTWÜRMS, Blue Republic, Norman White, Lois Andison, and Cathy Daley, among others. Over the last four decades, she has worked as an educator, curator, and director in both public art galleries and artist-run centres, including Mercer Union, Koffler Gallery and, most recently, the MacLaren Art Centre in Barrie, where she was the Executive Director from 2007 to 2020.