Christie Contemporary, Toronto
The Canadian art landscape is ever-changing. Places + Spaces keeps you informed of established and up-and-coming exhibition venues across the country including museums, galleries, artist-run centres, and more. This month, we hear from Claire Christie, Director of Christie Contemporary in Toronto.
What is the history and mandate of your gallery?
Installation view of inaugural exhibition at Christie Contemporary, 2016
Christie Contemporary opened in October 2016 in its current space on Miller Street in Toronto’s west end. The opening of the gallery was a long-term goal: I’d worked with several leading galleries in Toronto for thirty years, had developed a curatorial and writing practice, written reviews for various publications, designed artist catalogues, and served on various boards and committees. The common refrain upon opening was, “It’s about time.” It seemed a rare privilege to present a vision of contemporary art to an audience. It still does. The gallery shows work that is conceptually-driven, materially sensitive, and stakes out territory around memory, space, time, and perception with a particular attention to the ways in which material, process, and subject become inter-referential. The work rewards slow looking. Ranging from emerging to established artists, the gallery has a modest roster, so I can list them all here: Brian Boigon, Therese Bolliger, Erika DeFreitas, Marla Hlady, Yam Lau, David Merritt, Nick Ostoff, Jade Rude, Adam Swica, Larissa Tiggelers, Erin Vincent, Douglas Walker, Kelly Wallace, and Emma Welch. Guest curators and internal curatorial initiatives bring additional artists by invitation. The mandate? To create a space and context for the artists’ work and ongoing practice that cultivates a market, a critical attention, and an appreciation.
What’s a highlight of the neighbourhood where the gallery is located?
(photo: Heritage Toronto)
If you haven’t visited (hmmm), I would mention the restaurants Dotty’s or Mattachioni, or say the north end of the West Toronto Railpath, or the design store Mjolk, or the gallery Zalucky Contemporary to give you an idea of where we’re located. I’m not the first gallery on Miller, as Jessica Bradley and Marianne Katzman started the trend, but am currently the sole gallery on the street. Located in the Junction area – I say Junction-ish; it’s the eastern flank of the rail lands for which the area is named – the larger neighbourhood is home to independent businesses, has a distinctive community vibe, an industrial edge, and a residential calmness. It has a bit of everything. Hinterland. Hub. Well, Junction.
What’s your favourite part of running an art gallery?
Installation view of Everybody carries a world at Christie Contemporary, 2025
I’d say there have to be numerous favourite parts in order to do it at all, but aside from the obvious response of the art, it’s absolutely appreciation for the ongoing exchange – with the artists, certainly, and with curators, colleagues, writers, collectors, and myriad cultural workers in this field. The business of art is compelling in and of itself. Oh, and I do love the installation process, determining the optimal placement of work to activate the show as a whole.
How do you find out about new artists?
Marla Hlady, Drop, 2025, installation view at Christie Contemporary
The art world has so many channels for finding out about new artists. In terms of resources, I kind of break my own rule – I’m always talking about how one has to stand in front of a work to really appreciate it, how JPEGs are approximate in too many ways, etc. – but I do look at a lot of work online if I can’t get to something in person. I am a regular reader of online publications and newsletters. As it happens, I also have a friend and colleague who is expert at tracking art world news articles and superb at forwarding links.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
Installation view of May contain at Christie Contemporary, 2026
Right here, principally. In five years’ time, I want to have a bigger audience for the gallery program with expanded strategic outreach through international art fairs, special exhibitions, and so on. Ideally, there will be expanded writing from and for the gallery program. While growth is an ongoing goal, it’s consistency that has real appeal. The ability to maintain an uncompromising path, for the gallery and its artists, that’s the route I want to have followed to arrive at five years from now.
What excites you about your upcoming exhibitions?
Erika Defreitas, from the series Twelve Photographs of the Moon (after Turner, after de la rue), inkjet print, 2026
I’ve got exhibitions with Erika DeFreitas, Erin Vincent, and Yam Lau scheduled in the coming season, which is always exciting. I have to say that I’m particularly excited about a show opening in late October. The gallery celebrates its tenth anniversary on October 21st, and I’m starting to plan the exhibition. There will be a party. Maybe even an after-party.