Leonardo's Notebook at AGO in 2007
Renaissance & Indian Art Special Exhibits at Art Gallery of Ontario
Exhibitions of devotional Renaissance art and provocative contemporary works in new AGO, redesigned by architect Frank Gehry
On the heels of the unveiling of the Royal Ontario Museum’s Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, Toronto’s Art Gallery of Ontario currently undergoing its own ambitious remodel under the direction of architect Frank Gehry.
While the permanent collection remains mostly under wraps, the AGO continues to welcome visitors through the doors by presenting a number of special exhibits.
Until October 7, 2007, visitors can view Renaissance art from the Victoria and Albert Museum alongside sculpture by Bernini from the AGO collection. Among other exhibits, they can also catch a glimpse of provocative contemporary art from India in Hungry God.
Undoubtedly the most fascinating object currently on display at the AGO is Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex Forster – a tiny sketchbook featuring Leonardo’s famous mirror handwriting and geometric diagrams demonstrating the artist’s gift for and fascination with geometry, perspective and mathematics.
While visitors flock from all over the globe to get a glimpse of Mona Lisa at the Louvre, the little Codex provides an intimate glimpse into this incomparable artist’s creative and intellectual process. As such, it is even more compelling than the exquisite works from the Victoria and Albert Museum, AGO and National Gallery of Canada that make up the rest of the Renaissance exhibit.
Hungry God features contemporary mixed media art from India. Drawing inspiration from tradition and modernity, these artists confront issues including spirituality, globalization, prosperity and poverty. Bharti Kher’s monumental compositions feature colourful, commercially produced bindhis (worn on the forehead and representing the spiritual “third eye” among Hindu women) applied to mirrors. Through the dizzyingly complex abstract patterns formed by the collection of tiny bindhis, the viewer glimpses her own fragmented image reflected in the artwork’s surface.
Meanwhile, Jitish Kallat’s sculpture and text-based installation entitled Death of Distance deals with the relative value of a single rupee. The piece provides a stark contrast between India’s rapidly expanding telecommunications industry and the profound poverty that is still widespread in that country.
In addition, visitors can see Treasures of the Tsimshian from the Dundas Collection, which includes a number of ceremonial and utilitarian objects from Northwest Coast. The collection is comprehensive, representing artistic forms such as relief carving, carving in the round and “formline” painting. From masks to ladles to combs, this is a great opportunity for those familiar with Haida totem poles to get acquainted with the diversity of traditional artwork by another of the Pacific Coast’s first peoples.
Finally, the AGO’s perennial favorite, the Henry Moore sculpture collection is still available for viewing by visitors. Get there before October 7, 2007, when these collections wrap up and the museum closes in preparation for the Gehry reveal in 2008...
