Featured Events in Toronto in 2025 (July Updated)

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.

This exhibition brings together two of the 20th century's greatest painters—Rita Letendre (1928–2021) and Norval Morrisseau (1932–2007). Demonstrating the expressive potential of bold colour and line, these two artists pushed the boundaries of painting. During a career that spanned over sixty-five years, Letendre used brush, airbrush, palette knife, and her hands to make her work. Vibrating with physical and emotional energy, her paintings, —five of which are on view here, —embody her ongoing quest for connection and understanding. Morrisseau's six-panel masterpiece, Man Changing into Thunderbird (1977), illustrates the theme of transformation, an idea central to Anishinaabe philosophy. This painting records the artist's personal evolution into Miskwaabik Animiiki, or “Copper Thunderbird”, a name he received in a healing ceremony. The name carries connotations of protection, healing, mystery, and power, and Morrisseau used it as his signature. Merging personal narrative with intense colour and elaborate design, Morrisseau called this work, “the ultimate picture for me,” - it is featured here alongside two other works by him from the 1970s.

Tracing Blackness through its many migrations and manifestations, the interdisciplinary artist Oluseye blends the ancestral with the contemporary and the physical with the spiritual. Inspired by merindinlogun, a Yoruba divination ritual, Oluseye presents a new installation that illustrates the spiritual, mythological, and biographical elements that have shaped his worldview and art practice. In Yoruba culture, cowrie shells symbolize wealth and prosperity and are used by diviners to communicate with ancestors and receive guidance. Paying homage to that cultural practice and his own narratives, Oluseye presents 16 large-scale bronze cowrie shells, resting atop a hand-carved divination tray.

The "Crawford Lake: Layers of Time" exhibition features Indigenous and settler artifacts, native and introduced plant specimens, historical documents, relevant artwork, rock core samples, and more, providing a captivating record of human life on Earth. The exhibition shows how everything from early agriculture to modern nuclear weapons testing has left its mark on this humble Canadian lake—and on the planet as a whole—and encourages us to consider the record our activities and decisions today will leave for future generations.

What makes for a delightful picnic? Food and drink? Poetry? Music? A new installation offers a window into the pleasures, pastimes, and artistic heritage of Iran during the Safavid dynasty (1501-1736). A royal picnic, depicted on a large, treasured tile arch from the collections, is complemented by exceptional objects from the period. Gracing the Osler Gate on Level 1, a colourful tiled archway made over 350 years ago in Isfahan, Iran takes centre stage, showing picnic-goers out for an afternoon of leisure and luxury. Individual tiles reveal immaculately dressed figures relaxing, enjoying delicious food and drink, and being entertained with music, poetry, and feats of archery. Lively and cheerful, the scenes on the arch offer a wonderful glimpse into the cultural vibrancy of Iran when it was ruled by the Safavids, a Shi'a Muslim dynasty, who were great patrons of the arts and architecture, and who fostered international trade and diplomacy from Isfahan, their newly built capital city. The tile arch provides a magnificent focal point for the installation, which also showcases several stunning objects from the same period. A gorgeous lute with exquisite inlays and detail, an ornately decorated bow and arrow, a delicate swan-neck bottle, and beautifully crafted dishes - one of which carries words by medieval scholar Omar Khayyam (1048-1131) beginning with the lines: "This dish, which the intellect applauds, and on whose forehead it places a hundred kisses!" - bring the action on the tile arch to life. This beautiful collection of objects not only complements the arch scenes, but showcases the stunning artistry and intricacies of artisanal work iconic to the Safavid dynastic period. One has only to take in the physical objects to be transported to the scenes in the arch, enjoying music, poetry, food, and entertainment.

MARVEL AT THE POWER OF COLOUR IN THE NATURAL WORLD. Anywhere you look in nature, colour holds meaning. From the fiery reds of warning to the soothing blues of calm waters, Nature in Brilliant Colour will take you on a kaleidoscopic journey through the vibrant hues of our planet. Awaken your senses, and have your perception forever altered, as you make your way through a series of spaces, each dedicated to a colour of the rainbow. Through over 200 specimens, photo-worthy projections, and shifting soundscapes, this exhibition promises to be a transformative experience that will deepen appreciation for the complex artistry of our world and celebrate its vivid and untamed beauty. This exhibition was created by the Field Museum.

Exploring the many ways that the French artist James Tissot represented modern women and envisioned their relationship to time during the last decades of the nineteenth century, this exhibition presents two of the AGO's most beloved Tissot paintings alongside a selection of more than 30 works on paper donated by Allan and Sondra Gotlieb. The contradictions of the period come alive in these works, as the quickness of modernity, exemplified by the newfound speed of travel, fashion and commodity culture, is juxtaposed against the constrained pace of women's everyday lives, characterized by the wait to find a husband, caregiving, tending to customers or recovering from illness. Curated by Mary Hunter, Associate Professor, McGill University and by Alexa Greist, AGO Curator and R. Fraser Elliott Chair, Prints & Drawings, and Caroline Shields, AGO Curator of European Art, this exhibition illustrates the many ways that time, and a gendered understanding of it, shaped women's identities.

Annually, photographers spanning ages and abilities submit tens of thousands of images to the international Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest. This winter, ROM is thrilled to once again host the renowned exhibition. Organized by London's prestigious Natural History Museum, UK, this fan-favourite showcases the very best in nature photography from around the globe. Experience our world in vivid detail, beholding extraordinary species through unimagined perspectives. Each photograph, exquisitely backlit, unveils unparalleled quality and depth. Through the lens, viewers become privy to animals' lives and the challenges they face. Emotive, surprising glimpses of life on our planet are showcased via exceptional talent, technical mastery, and perfectly captured moments. Mark your calendars and get ready to embark on a visual journey that will leave you inspired and enlightened by the incredible beauty that surrounds us.

Inspired by traditional Chinese artwork, Cloudscape is a mesmerizing installation that blends traditional artistry with contemporary themes. Artist Xiaojing Yan masterfully crafts intricate cloud forms using paper and natural reed, evoking the essence of traditional Chinese landscape painting. This awe-inspiring work presents a complex interplay of water and cloud motifs that challenge our perception of the natural world.Immerse yourself in Yan's floating masterpiece, where each sculpted cloud tells a story of cultural heritage and environmental consciousness, and invites us to reflect on our relationship with nature.

Recipient of the prestigious Golden Lion prize for Best National Participation at the 2022 Venice Biennale, acclaimed British artist Sonia Boyce DBE RA brings Feeling Her Way to the AGO for its second North American presentation. This captivating installation combines video, collage, music and sculpture. Feeling Her Way centers the vocal performances of four female musicians: Jacqui Dankworth, Poppy Ajudha, Sofia Jernberg, and Tanita Tikaram in a playful and thought-provoking visual and auditory experience. Brought together by Boyce at Abbey Road Studios in London and Atlantis Studios in Stockholm, the vocalists were guided by composer Errollyn Wallen through improvisation, imagination, and exploration. Spanning across two adjacent galleries, the audience will encounter colour-tinted videos that take centre stage among immersive and tessellating wallpapers created by Boyce, as well as gold 3D geometric sculptures, and a rich display of music memorabilia from the artist's ongoing collection documenting the transnational contributions made by Black British female musicians. This site-specific installation is presented at the AGO in partnership with the Toronto Biennial of Art 2024. The Canadian presentation of Sonia Boyce: Feeling Her Way is initiated and organized by the PHI Foundation for Contemporary Art. The work was originally commissioned by the British Council for the 59th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, 2022.