Legendary Artist Patti Smith to Perform at the AGO in March 2013

Gallery offers special programs to complement Smith’s upcoming photo exhibition

TORONTO—In conjunction with its upcoming photography exhibition Patti Smith: Camera Solo, the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) is delighted to present two live performances by legendary artist Patti Smith on March 7, 2013. An Evening of Words and Song with Patti Smith will be part of the March lineup for the AGO’s popular 1st Thursdays program, with two separate performances at 7:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m.

Advance tickets for An Evening of Words and Song with Patti Smith, which include 1st Thursday general admission, are $13 for AGO members and $15 for the public and go on sale on Feb. 8, 2013 at 10 a.m. at ago.net and in person at the Gallery. General admission tickets to 1st Thursday, which do not include admission to Smith’s performances, go on sale at the same time and are $8 for AGO members and $10 for the public.

Smith will be joined on stage by musicians Jesse Paris Smith and Tony Shanahan. Capacity for An Evening of Words and Song with Patti Smith is limited, and tickets are expected to sell out quickly. Both performances take place in Walker Court and are standing room only. Both general admission and performance ticket holders may access the AGO’s 1st Thursdays programming throughout the Gallery that evening, which will be inspired by Patti Smith: Camera Solo.

“We’re delighted that Patti will be spending some time with our members and visitors,” said Matthew Teitelbaum, director and CEO of the AGO. “Camera Solo is a uniquely intimate collection of works, and Patti is a true original. This exhibition exemplifies the AGO’s commitment to bringing Torontonians the very best in contemporary art.”

Opening at the AGO on Feb. 9, 2013, Patti Smith: Camera Solo marks the first showing of artist, musician and poet Patti Smith’s visual art in Canada. The exhibition, which features more than 75 works of photography, objects and film, will run to May 19, 2013. Programming highlights for Patti Smith: Camera Solo include an audio guide, special listening posts in the exhibition, a book signing and a film screening. AGO members enjoy advance viewing of the exhibition on Feb. 6 and 7, 2013.

Listening posts featuring a playlist of Patti’s greatest hits as selected by a public vote will welcome visitors at the entrance to the exhibition. An audio tour, narrated by Smith, will highlight the connections between her photography and her passion for literature and poetry. The audio tour is free with admission and can be accessed by cellular phone or downloaded in advance to any media player at ago.net. A written transcript of the tour will also be available on site.

A 95-page catalogue, co-published by the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art and Yale University Press, accompanies the exhibition. Edited by Susan L. Talbott, director of the Wadsworth Atheneum, Patti Smith: Camera Solo includes more than 70 reproductions from the exhibition and will be available for purchase at shopAGO for $25.

AGO members enjoy free admission to Patti Smith: Camera Solo and are invited to attend a special members’ preview of the exhibition on Feb. 6, 2013 from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. and Feb. 7, 2013 from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Find more information on the benefits of AGO membership at www.ago.net/general-membership.
Programming Highlights for Patti Smith: Camera Solo

Members’ Previews for Patti Smith: Camera Solo
Feb. 6, 2013: 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Feb. 7, 2013: 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Free for AGO Members

AGO members are invited to beat the rush and see Patti Smith: Camera Solo in advance of the public opening. Admission for members is free and no advance tickets are required.

Book Signing with Patti Smith
March 7, 2013: 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.
shopAGO
Free

A 2010 National Book award winner for her memoir, Just Kids, Patti Smith will be signing copies of her book in shopAGO on Thursday, March 7, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. Copies of Just Kids and the catalogue for Patti Smith: Camera Solo will be available for sale in shopAGO along with other selections.


Patti Smith: An Evening of Words and Song
March 7, 2013: 7:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m.
Walker Court, AGO
Advance 1st Thursday tickets: $13 member/ $15 public
Limit of two tickets per person, per order

Join Patti Smith for an interactive performance of music and poetry live in the AGO’s Walker Court. Tickets for two separate performances at 7:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. go on sale at ago.net on Friday, Feb. 8 at 10 a.m. Both performances are standing room only and will be held in conjunction with the AGO’s March edition of 1st Thursday.

**Sold Out**
Film Screening of Patti Smith: Dream of Life
Q&A with Steven Sebring and Patti Smith
March 8, 2013: 7 p.m.
Jackman Hall, AGO

Filmmaker Steven Sebring and Patti Smith collaborated for 11 years on this intimate portrait of Smith’s life as an iconic poet, artist and musician. The 109-minute film won a 2008 Sundance Award. Sebring and Smith will take the stage immediately following the film for a conversation with the audience. **This event is now sold out. **


Patti Smith: Camera Solo was organized by the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut.

The Art Gallery of Ontario is pleased to acknowledge the Joe Fresh® brand as the Lead Sponsor of Patti Smith: Camera Solo and Sponsor of 1st Thursday at the AGO.

Special support from Robert Harding

With generous support from:
Shon & Cindy Barnett, Barry Campbell & Debra Grobstein Campbell, Jack & Beverly Creed, Maxine Granovsky Gluskin & Ira Gluskin, Rosamond Ivey & John Macfarlane, Audrey & David Mirvish, Robert & Donna Poile and Geoff Smith & Megan Hagarty Smith

Contemporary programming at the AGO is generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.

The Art Gallery of Ontario is funded in part by the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport. Additional operating support is received from the City of Toronto, the Canada Council for the Arts and generous contributions from AGO members, donors and private-sector partners.

ABOUT PATTI SMITH
Patti Smith (b. 1946) began as a visual artist and has been making drawings and taking photographs since the late 1960s. In recent years her practice has expanded to include installation. The artist has been represented by Robert Miller Gallery since 1978. In 2008, Smith was the subject of Patti Smith Land 250 at the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporaine, Paris, and Written Portrait - Patti Smith at Artium Centro-Museo Vasco de Arte Contemporáneo, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. Strange Messenger: The Work of Patti Smith, a three hundred-work retrospective, was organized by The Andy Warhol Museum in 2002 and traveled to numerous venues including the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, and the Museum Boijsman Van Beuningen, Rotterdam. Her work has also been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Museum Eki, Kyoto; Haus der Kunst, Munich; Triennale di Milano, Milan; Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels and the Pompidou Center in Paris. Just Kids, a memoir of her remarkable relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe during the epochal days of New York City and the Chelsea Hotel in the late sixties and seventies, won her the 2010 National Book Award in the nonfiction category. Her 1975 album Horses, established Smith as one of most original and important musical artists of her generation and was followed by 10 releases, including Radio Ethiopia; Easter; Dream of Life; Gone Again; Trampin’ and her latest, Banga. She continues to perform throughout the world and in 2007 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In July of 2005 she was presented with the prestigious insignia of Commander of the Order of the Arts and Letters, an esteemed French cultural honor. In May 2011, Smith won the Polar Music Prize, Sweden’s most prestigious music award.


ABOUT THE AGO
With a collection of more than 80,000 works of art, the Art Gallery of Ontario is among the most distinguished art museums in North America. From the vast body of Group of Seven and signature Canadian works to the African art gallery, from the cutting-edge contemporary art to Peter Paul Rubens’ masterpiece The Massacre of The Innocents, the AGO offers an incredible art experience with each visit. In 2002 Kenneth Thomson’s generous gift of 2,000 remarkable works of Canadian and European art inspired Transformation AGO, an innovative architectural expansion by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry that in 2008 resulted in one of the most critically acclaimed architectural achievements in North America. Highlights include Galleria Italia, a gleaming showcase of wood and glass running the length of an entire city block, and the often-photographed spiral staircase, beckoning visitors to explore. The AGO has an active membership program offering great value, and the AGO’s Weston Family Learning Centre offers engaging art and creative programs for children, families, youth and adults. Visit ago.net to find out more about upcoming special exhibitions, to learn about eating and shopping at the AGO, to register for programs and to buy tickets or memberships.

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