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Exhibition Overview
A sweeping tribute to David Blackwood’s extraordinary printmaking legacy, where ice, sea, and story capture Newfoundland and Atlantic Canada with quiet power and unforgettable beauty.
One of Canada's best-known printmakers, David Blackwood (1941–2022) put onto paper an enduring vision of Newfoundland. Born and raised on Bonavista Bay, his hauntingly beautiful images—suffused with struggle and myth—are drawn from childhood memories, dreams, superstitions, legends, and oral traditions.
Tracing Blackwood’s career from his first days as an art student at the Ontario College of Art to his final drawing, this expansive retrospective brings together more than 80 drawings and prints, alongside proofs, copperplates, and archival materials. Thanks to the generosity of the artist and his family, the AGO is home to Blackwood’s archives, and the largest collection of his work in the world. Curated by Alexa Greist, Curator & R. Fraser Elliott Chair, Prints and Drawings at the AGO, this exhibition aims to reveal the creative evolution of a beloved Canadian artist.
Organized by the Art Gallery of Ontario.
Supporting Sponsor
Supporting Sponsor
Contributing Sponsor
Contributing Sponsor
Lead Support
Lead Support
Volunteers of the AGO
Generous Support
Generous Support
Maxine Granovsky Gluskin & Ira Gluskin
In Memory of Martine Vilas and Gerald Conway of Cleveland, Ohio
Contemporary programming at the AGO is supported by
Contemporary programming at the AGO is supported by
SHOP
THE EXHIBITION
Take the exhibition home
Celebrate legendary Canadian printmaker David Blackwood with this curated selection of textiles, gifts, prints, posters, and more.
Artworks
Multisensory Moments
Scent Stations
In collaboration with Dr. Melanie McBride, we have designed two unique scent stations to accompany concepts and themes in the exhibition.
As you move through the space, look out for this symbol:
McBride describes her creation of the scents for this exhibition
David Blackwood: Myth & Legend features two original mixed-media compositions of natural essences and synthetic aroma molecules inspired by Blackwood’s artistic practice and themes in his prints. Given the volume of natural materials in the compositions, these scents will change and evolve over time, offering a different experience to visitors over the duration of the exhibition. The scents strike a symbolic contrast between culture and nature, hot and cold, life and death, and bridging myth and realism. The purpose of these scents is to offer a sensory experience of the artworks that invites visitors to participate in meaning-making and deciphering both familiar and unfamiliar smells. Visitors are encouraged to reflect on their own subjective associations, lived experiences, and emotional responses to the scents.
About Melanie McBride
Dr. Melanie McBride is a Toronto-based artist-practitioner, researcher, and founder of the Aroma Inquiry Lab at Metropolitan University’s Responsive Ecologies Lab. She is trained in perfumery and has conducted international fieldwork research on the use of scent for cultural heritage mediation. She has led master classes on aroma learning and developed original mixed-media compositions and aromatic learning objects for educational and cultural heritage projects.
Contemporary Artist Commission
Still.Drift.Return (2025) by Jerry Ropson
For this exhibition, Newfoundland-born artist Jerry Ropson created an immersive video work as a contemporary response to David Blackwood’s visual world and geographic heritage. Ropson shared: “I belong to a generation shaped by Blackwood’s imagery ... My response draws from that inherited visual lexicon, filtered through distance, change, and critical affection.... While he archived, I often unsettle. Yet, we both work from a deep respect for what fades and vanishes.” Additionally, the artist created an original soundscape for this work, which includes sounds ranging from wind and water to sputtering boat motors and rhythmic ink rolling on an etching plate.
About the artist
Jerry Ropson is a conceptual artist with an interest in the politics of rural life and its demise, mythology, ritual, the occult, and folklore. He was raised in Ktaqumuk (Newfoundland) in the resettled outport community of Pollards Point and currently resides in Siknikt-Mi’kma’ki (Sackville, New Brunswick).
Jerry Ropson, Still.Drift.Return (still), 2025. Courtesy of the artist.
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