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Join Robert Enright and panelists Allyson Mitchell and Dionne Brand in a lively discussion about the art of Wangechi Mutu. The alluring, stunningly intricate collages of Wangechi Mutu draw the viewer into contemporary and feminist narratives about beauty, consumerism, race, identity, and gender politics. Focused upon imagery of the human body, Mutu’s work offers a radical deconstruction of traditional figuration that bridges her Kenyan upbringing with contemporary American reality.

Robert Enright is the Senior Contributing Editor to Border Crossings magazine and the University research Professor in Art Theory and Criticism at the University of Guelph. Allyson Mitchell is a feminist artist based in Toronto. She is also an Assistant Professor in the School of Women’s Studies at York University. Dionne Brand is the Poet Laureate of the City of Toronto. She is also Professor of English in the School of English and Theatre Studies at The University of Guelph.

Wangechi Mutu, This you call Civilization?, 2008, Mixed media, ink, contact paper on Mylar, 98 x 52 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects. Collection of the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada. Photo credit: Bill Orcutt

Internationally renowned Canadian artist Brian Jungen is the recipient of the 2010 Gershon Iskowitz Prize at the AGO for his outstanding contribution to visual arts in Canada. The Gershon Iskowitz Foundation and the AGO celebrated the $25,000 prize at a public reception on May 6, and Jungen delivered a talk about his work. The AGO will mount an exhibition of Jungen’s work in the coming year.

Born in 1970 in Fort St. John, British Columbia, to a Swiss father and a Dunne-za mother, Jungen has risen to prominence over the last decade by creating artwork that recasts traditional Indian symbology using ordinary objects such as plastic lawn chairs, golf bags, and Nike Air Jordans. He has exhibited extensively in Canada and internationally in venues including Tate Modern, the Vancouver Art Gallery, and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, which is currently staging a major retrospective of Jungen’s work.

Recorded: Thursday May 6, 2010 @ Baillie Court, Art Gallery of Ontario
Duration: 1:07:41

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“In partnership with Toronto’s CONTACT Photography Festival, the Art Gallery of Ontario commissioned renowned American artist Barbara Kruger to create a large-scale public installation for the AGOs signature glass skirt, which spans an entire city block on the Frank Gehry designed facade. My office is located directly across the street from the AGO and I used my Blackberry to capture these images in a reflection and tribute to Kruger’s work.”

– Jerry Mcintosh

Stephanie Dickey (PhD, NYU, 1994) holds the Bader Chair in Northern Baroque Art at Queen’s University. She is the author of numerous publications on portraiture and printmaking in the Dutch Golden Age, including the books Rembrandt: Portraits in Print (2004) and Rembrandt Face to Face (2006).

Recorded: April 28, 2010 @ Jackman Hall, Art Gallery of Ontario
Duration: 1:04:19

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Giuseppe Penone. Cedro di Versailles, 2002-2003. Cedar wood, 600  x 170  x 170 cm. On Loan from Private Collection

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Recorded: September 29, 2009 @ Walker Court, Art Gallery of Ontario
Duration: 15:24

Working from the concept of ekphrasis, one art form paying homage to another, poet Alayna Munce created and presents a new poem in response to a sculpture by Giuseppe Penone.

Käthe Kollwitz. Die Klage, 1938. Bronze, 26.5 x 25.7 x 10.2 cm. Gift from the Junior Women’s Committee Fund, 1963 © Art Gallery of Ontario

Working from the concept of ekphrasis, one art form paying homage to another, poet Kelley Aitken created and presents a new poem in response to a sculpture by Käthe Kollwitz from the AGO’s collection.

Recorded: September 29, 2009 @ Walker Court, Art Gallery of Ontario
Duration: 4:27

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