The Gardiner is thrilled to announce the launch of CLAY, an original in-house restaurant offering seasonal menus of fresh, local fare in collaboration with The Food Dudes.
Ai Weiwei is one of the world’s most influential artists and human rights activists, and one of China’s most formidable critics. Ai Weiwei: Unbroken features a selection of the artist's most iconic ceramics, and marks the international debut of new work. Opens February 28!
Drawing from the Gardiner’s own collection and artist Ai Weiwei’s practice in traditional Chinese craft, Dr. Maris Boyd Gillette explores how Jingdezhen porcelain has inspired ceramists to create, copy, and counterfeit its glories.
The Gardiner Museum is among the few museums in the world focused on ceramics, and is one of the most important specialty museums internationally. It houses approximately 4,000 objects, including European porcelain, ceramics from the Ancient Americas, Chinese porcelain, Japanese porcelain, and contemporary ceramics. Search the collection online!
Everyone can love clay! Become a Friend at one of the world’s great specialty museums and enjoy the benefits, including unlimited admission, invitations to exhibition previews and special events, discounts on lectures and clay classes, and more.
Last year, the Gardiner Museum’s annual 12 Trees exhibition was transformed by contemporary artists and designers who reinterpreted the traditional Christmas tree. This year, the Museum presents a new crop of original trees, inspired by the theme “Good for the Earth”, and curated by internationally-renowned artist and environmentalist, David Buckland.
The installations, made from natural, recycled, or sustainable materials, include a tower of terracotta planting pots, a tree made from deconstructed cotton dress shirts, a re-purposed wood canoe, and a dreamlike video that takes viewers on a journey through the forest at night. The works draw attention to environmental themes ranging from the commercialization of water to the dwindling bee population.
In addition to the twelve artist installations, the Gardiner has erected a 35-foot white spruce on the Museum’s front plaza designed by the Presenting Sponsor, Nordstrom, and donated by Ontario Wood and Forests Ontario, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the renewal and stewardship of Ontario’s forests.
The outdoor tree is decorated with multicolored ornaments inspired by classic Nordic lines, themes, and icons that pay homage to Nordstrom’s Scandinavian heritage as well as the special exhibition True Nordic: How Scandinavia Influenced Design in Canada.
The Artists
Susan Avishai Linda-Marlena Bucholtz Ross Peggy Sue Deaven-Smiltnieks Amélie Desjardins Christine Dewancker and Katherine Strang Sandra Gregson and Gary Spearin Hermès Fiona Legg Erin Lightfeather Aurora Pagano Stratford Festival Robyn Thomas
About the Curator
The exhibition is being curated by internationally-renowned artist, curator, filmmaker, writer, and climate change activist, David Buckland. Buckland, whose works are included in the permanent collections of the National Portrait Gallery in London, the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, and the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, among others, created and now directs the Cape Farewell project, which has brought together over 300 artists and some 60 climate scientists to create operas, films, artworks, pop music, and novels addressing the complexities and global impact of climate change.
Buckland recently curated three new major exhibitions: CARBON 12 in Paris,CARBON 13 in Marfa, Texas, and CARBON 14, co-curated with Claire Sykes, at the Royal Ontario Museum. Each exhibition was comprised of new work commissioned from international artists and cultural practioners, addressing climate change and the reality of a desired cultural shift. bucklandart.com