Art Gallery of Burlington’s 50th Anniversary celebrations continue with a Fall Exhibition Opening Reception taking place on Saturday, September 20, 1–3pm for Russna Kaur’s Been there twice, haven’t got there yet (the space behind a thin screen, and prying eyes); Gikinoo’amaatowin – This Is All Learning, featuring the work of Jean Marshall and Nicole Richmond; and a series AGB’s Community Generator exhibitions.

Russna Kaur, The delicate boundary between the past and the willow, 2025. Acrylic, sawdust, coloured sand, and bridal mesh on linen and canvas. 48″ x 54″. Courtesy of the artist.

Russna Kaur
Been there twice, haven’t got there yet (the space behind a thin screen, and prying eyes)

September 20, 2025 – January 4, 2026
Lee-Chin Family Gallery
Sponsored by the Shehla and Adil Giving for Arts (SAGA) Foundation

Been there twice, haven’t got there yet (the space behind a thin screen, and prying eyes) is a major solo exhibition by acclaimed Canadian painter Russna Kaur, on view September 20, 2025 – January 4, 2026. Known for pushing the boundaries of painting, Kaur transforms the gallery into a vibrant, immersive environment and envelops visitors in bold colour and texture.

Raised in Brampton, based in Vancouver, Kaur returns to Ontario with a body of work that bridges both geographies. Drawing from pieces created since 2019 alongside new works produced at the Annandale Artist Residency in Prince Edward Island, she expands her practice into the architecture of the gallery itself. Paintings bleed onto walls, works slice through space and hang like sculptural forms, and sightlines shift as visitors move around and through the installations.

Material experimentation is central to Kaur’s approach. Wood panels, bridal mesh, canvas, and aluminum are layered with hand-blended pigments made from sand, rice flour, dried petals, sawdust, and soil. These surfaces—by turns stitched, jagged, and fluid—embody her embrace of play, imperfection, and the complexity of relationships between people, places, and objects.

At once exuberant and destabilizing, her work reveals the hidden scaffolding of painting while exploring façades—what they conceal, reveal, and allow to slip through.

For Kaur, colour is both seduction and disguise. References to sari stitching, festivals, and religious spaces vibrate across her surfaces, yet beneath the joy lie stories of grief, loss, and cultural negotiation. “Bright colours may appear playful—like confetti suspended in air—but can just as easily fall into chaos,” she explains. “Beneath these intense surfaces is the constant potential for rupture—for something unspoken to emerge.”

This exhibition reflects the AGB’s commitment to artists whose practices are deeply rooted in material traditions while pushing into new territory. Kaur’s paintings exist at the intersection of craft and contemporary art, their tactile processes resonating with textile histories while reimagining what painting can be.

In the spirit of expanding dialogue, the exhibition also brings local artists Par Nair, Rafia Shafiq, Vick Naresh, and Azadeh Elmizadeh, along with Farrukh Rafiq, Coordinator of South Asian Community Engagement at the ROM, into conversation with Kaur’s work. Two accompanying texts—an essay by artist-scholar Ara Osterweil and a personal reflection by chef-activist Joshna Maharaj—offer perspectives on abstraction, identity, and the shared languages of memory and creativity.

Jean Marshall, Don’t Forget To Love Yourself (detail), 2024, beads, wool and thread, 23″ x 23″. Courtesy of the artist.

Gikinoo’amaatowin – This Is All Learning

September 20, 2025 – January 25, 2026
Perry Gallery

Gikinoo’amaatowin – This Is All Learning, is an exhibition celebrating the knowledge carried through the beadwork and regalia of Anishinaabe artists Jean Marshall and Nicole Richmond, curated by AGB’s TD Associate Curator, Albany Sutherland.

Marshall, from Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (Big Trout Lake) in Treaty 9, and Richmond, from Biiigtigong Nishnaabeg (Pic River) in Robinson-Superior Treaty territory, root their practices in the relationships between land, memory, and intergenerational teachings. Together, they invite audiences to consider how learning happens in movement, making, and community.

Richmond’s seven rainbow jingle dresses emerged from a vision of women dancing in unison. The jingle dress, originating as a form of healing and prayer, connects to the sacredness of water. When danced, its metallic cones evoke the sound of raindrops, offering collective healing. The rainbow colours speak to diversity and the shared strength of Indigenous women, while beadwork draws from the Anishinaabe woodland tradition and mystical connections to the “star people.”

Marshall’s Gitigan series—circular felt works mirroring her beadwork style—features native plants, affirming the importance of Indigenous food sovereignty. Her message Don’t Forget to Love Yourself underscores themes of care and self-compassion embedded in her practice.

Through beadwork and regalia, Gikinoo’amaatowin honours ancestral artistry while creating new pathways for future generations. This exhibition reminds us that learning is an ongoing, relational process rooted in care, creativity, and connection.

Kamaldeep Kaur, Blooming Hearts, 2025. Natural Colors and Gouache on hot press Arches Aquarelle sheet. 28″ X 34.5″ Courtesy of the artist.

Community Generator: Series 1

August 16 – November 2, 2025

The AGB’s Community Generator is a series of exhibitions and activations designed to connect artists with wider audiences. Presented in dedicated spaces throughout the Gallery, the program fosters creativity, dialogue, and inclusivity by offering a platform for local artists, collectives, and community groups. The AGB kicks off the program with the work of Kamaldeep Kaur, Maha Mustafa, and Zorica Silverthorne from August 16 to November 2, 2025.

The Art Gallery of Burlington is supported by the City of Burlington, Ontario Arts Council, and Ontario Trillium Foundation. 50th Anniversary Exhibitions are sponsored by the J.P. Bickell Foundation. Learning programming is sponsored by The Burlington Foundation, The Joyce Family Foundation, and the incite Foundation for the Arts.

The AGB is located on the ancestral territory of many Indigenous Nations including the Anishinaabeg, Haudenosaunee, and Métis peoples. The territory is mutually covered by the Dish with One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Iroquois Confederacy, the Ojibway, and other allied Nations to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes. We acknowledge that the land upon which we gather, to create and learn, is part of the Treaty Lands and Territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit.

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