AGO Extends Patti Smith: Camera Solo to July 14 due to Popular Demand

Punk icon’s exhibition of personal polaroids, objects and film extended for eight weeks

Toronto — The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) is thrilled to announce that it will extend Patti Smith: Camera Solo, the first exhibition of legendary musician and artist Patti Smith’s visual art in Canada, to July 14, 2013, due to an overwhelming response from visitors.

Lauded as “contagious” by Toronto Life and “enticing” by the Toronto Star, the exhibition — which opened at the AGO on Feb. 9, 2013 — includes more than 70 intimate black and white photographs, many from Patti Smith’s own personal collection. Installed in the Philip B. Lind Gallery, the exhibition was curated by Susan L. Talbott, director and CEO of the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut. Sophie Hackett, AGO assistant curator of photography, oversaw the exhibition’s installation in Toronto.

Smith, who performed at the AGO as part of 1st Thursdays programming on March 7, 2013, told the Canadian Press that the Gallery’s presentation of her work was “extremely beautiful.”

Listening posts featuring a playlist of Smith’s greatest hits welcome visitors at the entrance to the exhibition. An audio tour, narrated by Smith, highlights the connections between her photography and her passion for literature and poetry. Visitors can access the audio tour by cellphone or download it in advance to any media player at ago.net. The audio tour is free with admission and a written transcript of the tour is also available on site.

The exhibition also features Equation Daumal, a short film directed by Patti Smith and shot by Jem Cohen on 16mm and super 8 film.

An accompanying catalogue, co-published by the Wadsworth Atheneum and Yale University, is available at shopAGO.

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

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

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 Ken 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.

----
The AGO 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.