Exhibition Title: Identity through Latin American Photography at the AGO
The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) and the Image Centre Museum, both based in Toronto, are showcasing regional identity through art by foregrounding distinct cultural narratives and historical contexts in their collections and displays.
At the AGO, the photography collection spans from the 1840s to today with over 50,000 works, including important historical and contemporary acquisitions that reflect diverse regional perspectives. The AGO’s commitment since 1978 to collecting photography in depth has enabled it to develop exhibitions that explore identity through photographic memory and history.
One such exhibition is the retrospective titled Scotiabank Photography Award: Clara Gutsche, which was awarded to the Montreal-based artist in 2024. The exhibition, curated by conservator Gaëlle Morel, is divided into three themes: childhood, commercial or industrial architecture, and specific groups such as schools or religious ones. It includes nine photographic series spanning five decades of Gutsche's practice, with the final exhibit focusing on the colour work of Rafael Goldchain, a Toronto-based Chilean artist.
The exhibition also features Graciela Iturbide, a Mexican artist, with thirty-five of her own images. Iturbide's work explores themes such as life and death, modernity and tradition, and gender. The exhibition, titled Recuerdo: Latin American Photography at the AGO, also includes works by fourteen photographers, including The Alvarez Bros, Michael Lambeth, Tina Modotti, and Iturbide herself.
The Image Centre Museum, Toronto Metropolitan University’s affiliated institution focused on contemporary Canadian film, photography, and digital art, provides a platform for Canadian artists to express and challenge notions of identity through contemporary photographic and visual media. This venue supports Canadian regional identity by showcasing contemporary Canadian artists, fostering new dialogues around place, culture, and self-representation in photography.
In summary, the AGO explores Canadian identity through historic and contemporary photography, prominently including Latin American perspectives in exhibitions. The Image Centre Museum emphasizes contemporary Canadian photography and digital art to express regional and cultural identities. Together, these institutions define regional identity through the artistic medium of photography by situating Canadian and Latin American cultural narratives within their collections and exhibitions, offering perspectives on history, memory, and place that illuminate the unique identities of these regions.
[1] AGO Website [2] Group of Seven Website [3] Image Centre Website
- Despite the AGO's focus on art that showcases Canadian identity, the retrospective exhibition Scotiabank Photography Award: Clara Gutsche includes not only Canadian perspectives, but also features a Chilean artist, Rafael Goldchain, as the final exhibit.
- The Image Centre Museum, as a contemporary platform for Canadian artists, emphasizes regional and cultural identities by fostering dialogues around place, culture, and self-representation, aligning it with home-and-garden magazines that feature lifestyle and identity through various perspectives.
