Well, it’s been a year for us all. And while we are all ready for a new year, we want to take a moment to celebrate what happened at the AGO in 2020.
So without further ado, here’s ten of our favourite AGO Memories of 2020. Thanks for all the support this year, and looking forward to making more memories in 2021.
2020 was an exciting year for acquisitions. We added to the AGO's collection with some important works by Rajni Perera, Luke Parnell and a mystery work called Portrait of a Lady Holding an Orange Blossom. We also commissioned two works by Haegue Yang, including Woven Currents – Confluence of Parallels.
In-gallery time may have been cut short, but we still showed lots of great art, from Hito Steyerl: This is the future to Diane Arbus: Photographs 1956-1971 & Illusions: The Art of Magic, to Haegue Yang: Emergence & Sandra Brewster: Blur.
Earlier this year we hosted in-person events like AGO Live performances with Zadie Xa and Marie Lambin-Gagnon, film screenings and the launch of Desmond Cole's The Skin We're In. We’re looking forward to more of these soon!
We celebrated AGO All Hours and Family Day earlier this year with art, music, performances, snacks and art-making, of course!
Since we could no longer welcome you into Baillie Court or Jackman Hall for in-person programs, in the spring we shifted everything online. We looked closely at artworks in new ways, saw artists in their studios, got hot takes on cultural moments, and made art with you from afar. Never has public programming been more accessible, or more comfortable!
In July we extended an artful thank you to the many front-line workers who kept Ontario’s essential services running during the onset of COVID-19. We were thrilled to offer free Annual Passes to an overwhelming amount of interested folks, and provide them with a year of access to the AGO.
2020 was the year of our first digital commission! Renowned Canadian artist Brendan Fernandes's The Left Space asked critical questions about protesting, gathering and existing in these times. It was a major collaborative effort that fused elements of graphic design, dance and sound for a live performance on Zoom.
This year we also celebrated the establishment of a new department: Arts of Global Africa and the Diaspora. Led by Dr. Julie Crooks, formerly the AGO Associate Curator, Photography, the department will focus on acquiring, exhibiting and building programming around art from Africa and the African diaspora.
We reached over 100,000 students all across the province, country - and even the world, with our Virtual School Programs! With daily workshops and the wonder of the internet, art educators have been having conversations with students about the AGO Collection, and reaching much farther than we could before.
We’re looking forward to sharing more art with all of you in the New Year, when we can safely do so. When we reopen, you'll be able to enjoy more of Haegue Yang, Ragnar Kjartansson, Dawoud Bey, John Edmonds, Wardell Milan, Peter Pitseolak, Lisa Reihana, and, of course, Studio 54: Night Magic.
IMAGE CREDITS1. Haegue Yang, Woven Currents – Confluence of Parallels, 2020. Aluminum venetian blinds, powder-coated aluminum hanging structure, steel wire rope, LED tubes, cable. Dimensions variable. Purchase, with funds from Eleanor and Francis Shen, the David Yuile and Mary Elizabeth Hodgson Fund, Women’s Art Initiative, the Janet and Michael Scott Fund, the Contemporary Circle Fund, the Richard Ivey Foundation Contemporary Art Fund, Sandra and Leo Del Zotto, the Jay Smith and Laura Rapp Fund, and the Molly Gilmour Fund, 2020. 2020/22. Artwork © Haegue Yang, Photo © Art Gallery of Ontario.
2. Sandra Brewster. Blur 18, 2017. Photo-based gel transfer on archival paper, Overall: 101.6 × 88.9 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Georgia Scherman Projects. © Sandra Brewster
3. Desmond Cole, Image courtesy of AGO.
4. Ness Lee, We Have Together, 2020.
5. How to Talk About Anti-Black Racism, Image courtesy of AGO.
6. John Wentworth Russell. A Life of Devotion to Hospital and Red Cross Work, 1918, oil on canvas, 159.5 x 88.9 cm, Art Gallery of Ontario, Gift of the Canadian National Exhibition Association, 1965
7. Brendan Fernandes, The Left Space, 2020.
8. Moridja Kitenge Banza, Christ Pantocrator No 13, 2020 acrylic and gold leaf on wood 40 x 30 cm. Art Gallery of Ontario, Purchase, with assistance from the Christian Claude Fund. Photo courtesy of Galerie Hugues Charbonneau.
10. Miestorm Serpent, I Got the Feeling, February 23, 1978. Courtesy of the artist. © Miestorm Serpent.
