McIntosh Gallery Information

Established in 1942, McIntosh Gallery is the oldest university art gallery in Ontario. It opened with an exhibition of paintings by war artists from the National Gallery of Canada. The first exhibition of contemporary Canadian art, including works by Paul-mile Borduas, Jean-Paul Riopelle, Jack Shadbolt and Kazuo Nakamura, opened in 1959. The following year, Michael Snow and Gordon Rayner were included in a major international exhibition featuring works by Edgar Degas and Marc Chagall. Contemporary artists from Southwestern Ontario have been the primary focus of exhibitions, programs and publications. From 1960 to 1978 an innovative artist-in-residence program engaged artists Greg Curnoe and Colette Whiten, among others, in curatorial, educational and collecting activities on campus and within the community. Sponsored by the Canada Council for the Arts, the residency program continued until 1980. During the 1990s, the McIntosh inititated several projects that garnered critical recognition through international exchanges. Following the first Gulf War in 1991 the McIntosh organized Travelling Theory, a seminal, international exhibition coordinated by London artist Jamelie Hassan in collaboration with the Near East Cultural and Educational Foundation of Canada. Curated by Suhail Bisharat, Director of the National Gallery of Art in Amman, Jordan, and featuring contemporary art from the Middle East and Canada, this community-based, collaborative project was the first of many organized by the McIntosh that brought international and regional interests together through the visual arts. From 1993-95, in collaboration with the University of Heidelberg, the Heidelberg Kunstverein and the Karlsruhe Centre for Art and Technology, the McIntosh facilitated the creation of a site-specific, outdoor sculpture in Heidelberg by Toronto artist Stacey Spiegel. In 1995 the McIntosh organized Ron Benner: All That Has Value, which traveled to the Edmonton Art Gallery, Presentation House Gallery, North Vancouver, and the Dunlop Art ...