Rebecca Belmore: Facing the Monumental

Reservations to visit the galleries are required at this time 

This major solo exhibition of Rebecca Belmore shows that she is one of the most important contemporary artists working along the border of art and politics. One of Canada’s most celebrated contemporary artists, Belmore creates artworks that respond to the pressing concerns of our time with beauty, sensitivity and resilience. The exhibition is the largest survey of Belmore’s work ever presented, featuring photography, sculpture and media installations from the past three decades.

“Belmore’s powerful works reveal a compelling duality: her lyrical representations of human dignity, the beauty of youth, a sleeping subject, the power of water or the quieting effect of snow are all images that exist in contrast to the turmoil of our world. Her art asks us to consider where we are, and what we face in our future,” said Nanibush. “These works, seen in isolation, are beautiful. The facts they address, the questions they ask and the violence they reflect on—that is what is political.”

The exhibition is organized by the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) and curated by Wanda Nanibush (Anishinabe), AGO Curator of Indigenous Art. The FAC presentation is organized by Polly Nordstrand (Hopi), Curator of Southwest Art.

Please be advised that artwork in this exhibition contains the sound of firearms.

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ABOUT THE ARTIST
A member of Lac Seul First Nation (Anishinaabe), Rebecca Belmore is an internationally recognized multi-disciplinary artist. Rooted in the political and social realities of Indigenous communities, Belmore’s works make evocative connections among bodies, land and language. Her group exhibitions include: dOCUMENTA 14 (2017), Athens, Greece, Echigo-Tsumari Triennial, Niigata Prefecture, Japan (2015); Global Feminisms, Brooklyn Art Museum, New York (2007); Land, Spirit, Power, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, ON (1992); and Creation or Death: We will Win, Havana Biennial, Cuba (1991). Belmore was a recipient of the Gershon Iskowitz Prize in 2016 for her outstanding contribution to the visual arts in Canada, Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts in 2013, the Hnatyshyn Foundation Visual Arts Award in 2009, and Honorary Doctorates from the Ontario College of Art and Design University in 2005 and Emily Carr University in 2018.

“The world will be a different place in 20 years, and we have no idea what that looks like,” said Belmore. “I think that’s why we have conversations, that’s why we have to listen, that’s why we make art.”

Image: Rebecca Belmore, Anishinaabekwe, born 1960, Fringe, 2008, courtesy of the artist © Rebecca Belmore