A Tom Thomson exhibition at the Art Gallery of Hamilton takes an unusual approach – it's looking at the authenticity of certain works. Tom Thomson? The Art of Authentication includes two oil sketches – both found in Ontario antique stores – that viewers can study to decide if they think they are by Thomson. They are asked to consider things like the signature, style, subject matter, materials and provenance. The show also includes some well-known fakes. It closes Jan. 2 and then moves to the Agnes Etherington Art Centre at Queen's University in Kingston, opening Feb. 26. For more information, go to Marsha Lederman's story in the Globe and Mail.
A Newfoundland and Labrador museum is changing its use of the name of a Beothuk woman to reflect her Indigenous culture. CBC News reports that the Mary March Provincial Museum in Grand Falls-Windsor, which tells the story of Demasduit, will be renamed by April. That's the word from Kate Wolforth, director of museums for the Rooms, which operates the museum. Two names are under consideration: the Demasduit Regional Museum and the Demasduit Regional Interpretation Centre.
The Toronto Biennial of Art has confirmed its roster of artists for its second edition from March 26 to June 5. “We are beyond excited to launch the second edition of the Toronto Biennial of Art in 2022,” Patrizia Libralato, the biennial's founder and executive director, said in a release before the holidays and the sharp rise in COVID-19 cases due to the fast-moving Omicron variant. "Having postponed our event by six months, we are eager to invite our local audiences and communities back, and excited to once again welcome the world to Toronto this spring to experience ambitious contemporary art by among the most compelling artists working today." The biennial will bring together 37 local and international artists from more than 18 countries, as well as Indigenous communities in Canada, Colombia, Aotearoa | New Zealand, Norway and the United States.
The Canada Council for the Arts has called for proposals to curate an exhibition in its Âjagemô exhibition space in Ottawa. The exhibition, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Canada Council Art Bank, will open in June. The deadline for proposals is Jan. 6. For more information, go here.
Indian-born, Canadian photographer Sunil Gupta will be featured in a retrospective at the Ryerson Image Centre in Toronto from Jan. 26 to April 2. Gupta’s autobiographical narratives capture his experiences as a gay man of colour living with HIV. Mark Sealy, guest curator of the exhibition and director of Autograph in London, says, “I see Gupta as saying yes to being a photographer as a radical act, yes to being an artist, and yes to being a person who recognizes that he needs to love to survive.”
Inuk artist Shuvinai Ashoona is having her first American show at the Institute of Contemporary Art Miami. The drawings featured in the exhibition reference horror films, the Bible, traditional Inuit motifs, satellites and various machines. The show runs until May 1.
