Spring 2025 Exhibitions at The Robert McLaughlin Gallery

We are pleased to present four new exhibitions this spring

Tom Dean, GOOD-BYE, blue and gold sequins on canvas, 1970. Photograph of work hanging from Dean’s studio on Saint Laurent Boulevard, Montreal by Gabor Szilasi.

Tom Dean: GOOD-BYE

April 5 – September 7, 2025
Curator: Leila Timmins + Yan Wu

Driven by two essential inquiries—why “GOOD-BYE” then, and why Tom Dean now—the exhibition GOOD-BYE revisits the artist’s life in early 1970s Montreal. It brings together a rarely seen body of work—early conceptual artworks on canvas and in sculptural forms—and archival materials from that period, documenting the artist’s extensive and active engagement with the local alternative art scene and broader cultural milieu.

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Related Programming:
Tom Dean: GOOD-BYE Opening Reception
April 5, 2025, 1:00 – 3:30pm

Tom Dean: Roundtable Discussions
Saturday, June 7, 2025
2:00 – 5:00pm, followed by a reception, 5:00 – 7:00pm
Top Top Projects, 165 Geary Ave, Toronto, ON M6H 2B8
RSVP

Roundtable A: Press and Publications | 2:00pm
Co-presented with Art Metropole
Featuring: Vincent Bonin, Robert Fones, Peggy Gale, and Louis Jacob

Roundtable B: Artist-Run Spaces and Culture | 3:30pm
Co-presented with the plumb
Featuring: Anthony Cooper, Suzy Lake, and Adam Welch

Isabel McLaughlin (Canadian, 1903-2002); Prudence Heward; n.d.; chalk pastel and graphite on paper; Gift of the estate of Isabel McLaughlin, 2003

Artists by Artists

March 8 – August 10, 2025
Curated by Sonya Jones

Artists by Artists, drawn from the Permanent Collection, presents portraits of artists created by their peers. Bringing together various mediums, styles and approaches, the artworks featured in this exhibition are as varied as the subjects and artists themselves. Ranging from intimate sketches to formal representations, these works go beyond mere likeness to reflect the deep admiration and special connections between artists.

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William Ronald (Canadian, 1926 – 1998); Midnight Personified; 1952; casein on masonite; Purchase, 1971

Eleven: Abstract Bonds

March 8 – August 24, 2025
Curated by Sonya Jones

This exhibition features work by Painters Eleven, the first abstract artist collective in Ontario. They were founded in 1953 at the cottage of artist Alexandra Luke on the Oshawa/Whitby border. The group did not have a common philosophy or style, instead Painters Eleven banded together around their shared desire to support abstraction and exhibit together. As Jock Macdonald noted: “The meaning of our group is the fact that we think alike about creativeness in art and the unity established is our power.” Rather than a manifesto, the group settled on a statement: “There is no manifesto here for the times. There is no jury but time. By now there is little harmony in the noticeable disagreement. But there is a profound regard for the consequences of our complete freedom.”

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The Oshawa Art Association’s 57th Juried Art Exhibition

May 1 – May 18, 2025
Community Partnership

This exhibition showcases artworks created by artists from across Durham Region.

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Related Programming:
Opening Reception: May 1, 2025, 6:00 – 9:00pm

Presented in partnership with the Oshawa Art Association.

EMERGING VISIONS: Durham College Thesis Exhibition 2025

May 2 – June 8, 2025
Community Partnership

We are pleased to present the annual Durham College Thesis Exhibition! Like all visionary explorers, the students in Durham College’s Fine Arts Advanced program are involved in a continual process of identifying and studying meaningful subjects that pertain to their own evolving bodies of work. They first research then develop strategies unique to their practice through experimentation, all the while learning to define and focus their personal interests. This exhibition includes a wide range of subjects, interests, and mediums.

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Related Programming:
Opening Reception: May 1, 2025, 7:00-9:00pm
Artist Talks: May 14, 2025, 1:00 – 2:30pm

The Robert McLaughlin Gallery is an accessible venue. To learn more or request accommodations, please visit our website.