Inaugural Exhibitions Opening at The Joan and Martin Goldfarb Gallery of York University

El Anatsui, Silver and Gold Have I Not, 2023, aluminum and copper wire. 147 x 134 inches. © El Anatsui. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. Photo: Dan Bradica Studio

Announcing the opening of our new exhibitions with special commissions to mark the grand opening of The Joan and Martin Goldfarb Gallery of York University

Opening: Wednesday, November 13, 2024 | 7 – 10 pm
New Location: 83a York Boulevard, York University, Toronto
RSVP: TheGoldfarbGallery.ca
Exhibitions run until December 21, 2024

Manual Assembly: Fragments of a Whole featuring El Anatsui, Kevin Beasley, Wally Dion, Anthony Douglas Cooper, Gabrielle L’Hirondelle Hill, Jeneen Frei Njootli, Kelly Jazvac, Jenine Marsh, and Rosie Lee Tompkins. Curated by Lillian O’Brien Davis and Jenifer Papararo.

Plains Horizon a solo exhibition of commissioned work by Lori Blondeau. Curated by Jenifer Papararo.

Abstract Legacies works from York University’s art collection featuring work by Paul-Émile Borduas, Jack Bush, Alexander Calder, Sorel Etrog, Helen Frankenthaler, Roy Kenzie Kiyooka, Henry Moore, Robert Motherwell, Kenneth Noland, Jean-Paul Riopelle, Frank Stella, Françoise Sullivan, and Victor Vasarely. Curated by Lillian O’Brien Davis and Jenifer Papararo.

The Joan and Martin Goldfarb Gallery of York University (formerly the AGYU) is pleased to open a premiere series of exhibitions in celebration of the opening of our new stand-alone gallery and our transformation into The Goldfarb Gallery.

We are humbled to present Plains Horizon by renowned artist Lori Blondeau in a newly commissioned solo exhibition, incorporating stones collected from the gallery’s site as the grounding for an opulent installation featuring a painting by her mother from 1949. Building off Blondeau’s action of gathering stones, we present the cogent and striking group exhibition Manual Assembly, featuring nine international and national artists who use accumulation and assemblage as the basis for the construction of both form and meaning, entwining material experimentation with personal experiences, economic histories, and ecological impact. We also open Abstract Legacies, an exhibition correlating the significance of the University’s art collection to its academic identity.

As this new chapter begins we invite you to join us in celebrating The Goldfarb Gallery, a space and art organization that embodies a deep commitment to artistic practices, education, and community engagement, made tangible through these inaugural exhibitions. This significant transition, marked by the grand opening of a stunning new stand-alone gallery designed by iconic architect Siamak Hariri and made possible through the generosity and vision of our donors, Joan and Martin Goldfarb, whose longstanding commitment to the arts at York University is embodied in this newly constructed gallery.

Director/Curator Jenifer Papararo states, “We would only be a shell without the artists who work with us. These opening exhibitions are significant as they represent the long history of the importance of art at York University now and into the future. Lori Blondeau collected stones from underneath our new building, using what she calls Grandfather Stones, to assert and honour this new history as well as to acknowledge the long history of Indigenous stewardship of the land we now occupy. Jeneen Frei Njootli’s work Fighting for the title to not be pending will recede into the crevices of this new building, continuing to occupy it far into the future. And we also present the renowned work of El Anastui as a reflection of the university’s long commitment to the visual arts, as he cites the 10th International Sculpture Conference, hosted by York University in the late seventies, as being influential to his work. We have also commissioned a new sculptural installation by Toronto-based artist Jenine Marsh, which is offered as a place for visitors to leave their desires … and their coins.”

Please join us as we open The Goldfarb Gallery, the manifestation of years of vision, collaboration, and dedication, on Wednesday, November 13, from 7 to 10 pm at our new location, 83a York Boulevard, Toronto. Food and beverages will be served along with remarks and a performance by Lori Blondeau with special guest dancer Bill Coleman.

We also open the exhibition From the Visible Vault with Carl Beam, David General, David Ruben Piqtoukun, Abraham Angik Ruben, and Tim Whiten in our old gallery space and new Visible Vault, curated by Lillian O’Brien Davis. And we are pleased to present and promote Tracks and traces and changes (Sand Prints) by Shannon Garden-Smith in our Vitrines, curated by Clara Halpern. Both of these exhibitions are in the Accolade East Building.

For more information on each the exhibitions, please visit our new website: TheGoldfarbGallery.ca

For media inquiries and accommodations, please email: TheGoldfarbGallery@yorku.ca

The Joan and Martin Goldfarb Gallery of York University
83a York Boulevard (see map)
Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3

The Joan and Martin Goldfarb Gallery of York University is a socially minded not-for-profit contemporary art gallery that is a space for the creation and appreciation of art and culture. It is a supported Unit of York University within the President’s Division. We are externally funded as a public art gallery through the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the Toronto Arts Council, local and international foundations, embassies, and our membership who support our programs.

Our new gallery is a one storey accessible building only metres away from York University Station on Line 1. Wheel-Trans stop is York University Station, north entrance. For those who drive, there is pay street parking on Fine Arts Road or at the Student Services Parking Garage (84 James Gillies Street).