National Gallery of Canada and the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art forge a new partnership

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National Gallery of Canada and the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art forge a new partnership

Exhibition of works by nationally and internationally renowned artists
Kim Adams, Geoffrey Farmer and Thomas Demand inaugurate this landmark agreement.

Ottawa/Toronto (Ontario) November 9, 2010 – Thanks to an innovative new partnership between the National Gallery of Canada (NGC) and the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (MOCCA), Toronto residents and visitors can now view some of the most significant works from the NGC’s contemporary art collection, without having to leave the metropolitan area.

The National Gallery of Canada at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art is a three-year program that will see the two institutions co-organize and co-present a series of exclusive exhibitions in MOCCA’s newly-renovated project space, drawn from the NGC’s extensive contemporary art collection. These will include the presentation of single works, new acquisitions or full scale exhibitions designed to complement MOCCA’s existing programming.

The inaugural exhibition Adams|Demand|Farmer, is being launched at MOCCA on November 10 continuing until December 31, 2010. This exhibition brings together several works by three internationally renowned artists in which the language of sculpture figures prominently. Toronto-based Kim Adams, Berlin-based Thomas Demand and Vancouver-based Geoffrey Farmer are known for transforming existing materials and sources from the everyday world into sculptures and photographs of altered objects that generate new and unexpected meaning.

“Contemporary Canadian art has formed the basis of the Gallery’s mandate since its inception in 1880,” said NGC Director, Marc Mayer. “This new partnership will expand our service to Canadians in one of Canada’s most populous city and help broaden the conversation on contemporary art.”

This is the second such partnership for the NGC which launched the National Gallery of Canada at the Art Gallery of Alberta in 2009. Part of a new programming initiative designed to build on its On Tour exhibitions program, which is one of the largest touring art exhibition programs in the world, these agreements allow the Gallery to extend its reach to other major urban centres across Canada. The NGC at MOCCA program confirms the Gallery’s commitment to sharing its collections with more Canadians and fulfills MOCCA’s pledge to provide greater access to exceptional contemporary art.

“The exhibitions being presented at MOCCA are drawn from the NGC’s prestigious collection of contemporary art and will offer our audiences the opportunity to access the most exciting and relevant work and ideas of our times and a unique opportunity to engage with our shared cultural heritage,” said MOCCA’s Artistic Director & Curator, David Liss.

Reciprocal Membership

As part of the agreement between the NGC and MOCCA, members of each organization will enjoy reciprocal membership privileges which will include complimentary entry into each other’s exhibitions.

Future Programming

Throughout the course of the next three years a number of artists and guests will be invited to work with MOCCA and the NGC’s Contemporary Art curator, Josée Drouin-Brisebois. In February 2011 Toronto-based artist Luis Jacob will select works from the Gallery’s collections that will be shown alongside his solo exhibition at MOCCA, Luis Jacob: Pictures at an Exhibition. For further information, please visit www.mocca.ca/ngc

Supporters

The National Gallery of Canada at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art is generously supported by Cineplex Media, Porter Airlines and The Ouellette Family Foundation.  Additional support is provided by AXA Art Canada. The Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art is also grateful for the patronage of THE ART DEPT., a leadership circle of MOCCA patrons.

About the National Gallery of Canada

The National Gallery of Canada is home to the most important collections of historical and contemporary Canadian art, including the extensive collection of the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography. The Gallery also maintains Canada’s premier collection of European Art from the 14th to the 21st century, as well as important works of American, Asian and Indigenous Art and renowned international collections of prints, drawings and photographs. Created in 1880, the National Gallery of Canada has played a key role in Canadian culture for well over a century. Among its principal missions is to increase access to excellent works of art for all Canadians. To do so, it maintains the largest touring art exhibition programme in the world.

For more information, visit www.gallery.ca.

The Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (MOCCA) was founded from the former Art Gallery of North York in 1999, with the mandate to exhibit, research, collect, and promote innovative art by Canadian and non-Canadian artists whose works engage and reflect the relevant stories of our times. In 2005, MOCCA relocated to the West Queen West Art + Design District in downtown Toronto, in the heart of one of North America’s most dynamic arts communities and functions effectively as a nucleus of energies for cultural production and exchange. Since 2006, MOCCA draws 40,000 visitors annually.

All programs and activities of the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art are supported by Toronto Culture, the Ontario Arts Council, the Canada Council for the Arts, BMO Financial Group, the Hal Jackman Foundation, individual memberships and private donations.

For more information, visit www.mocca.ca.

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