Spanish. Painted frame. 1600s. Wood with polychromy and gilding. Anonymous gift, 1994. 94/1044. Photo credit: AGO

In Plain Sight: Highlights from the AGO’s Collection of Historic Frames at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO)

On view in the Leonard Rotunda, located on Level 1, this exhibition presents 31 frames without pictures, organized by period and regional style. The exhibition features frames from the late 1400s through the 1900s and displays a range of periods and styles, including examples of Renaissance, Gothic Revival, Baroque, Rococo, and Louis XIV Revival artistry. Materials on view include wood and rare polished stone, ebony, copper alloys, papier-mâché, and gold leaf. The frames also demonstrate various decorative techniques, including refined carving, punchwork, heraldic symbols, gilding, and trompe l’oeil illusion (French for ‘trick of the eye’), where wood was polished to resemble more expensive marble. The exhibition is co-curated by Eric Birkle, the AGO’s Marie Zimmermann curatorial fellow in European Art, Julia Campbell-Such, the AGO’s assistant conservator, frames, and Adam Harris Levine, the AGO’s associate curator of European Art.

“Picture frames are too often unfairly overlooked when, in fact, they can tell us so much about what people thought was valuable and how they believed art should be seen. These exceptional examples of historical frames were chosen not only for the diversity of styles and craftsmanship they reflect, but for their unique attributes and beauty,” said Birkle, Campbell-Such and Levine. “This exhibition is one example of the AGO’s ongoing commitment to the care and presentation of our collection of historic frames. It is a commitment that affords us the rare privilege of being able to reframe works in our own collection and to lend these frames—as works of art themselves—to other museums.”

This exhibition is currently on view.

Colourful purple platform sandals worn by Madonna (Image: Bata Shoe Museum – Ron Wood)

Brilliant: The Art of Beaded Footwear Around the World at the Bata Shoe Museum

This exhibition brings together more than 85 objects, primarily drawn from the Bata Shoe Museum’s international collection, spanning Africa, Europe, South Asia, Turtle Island (North America), and Western Asia. The exhibition also provides an opportunity to discover many artifacts, including new acquisitions, that have never before been on view. Beads have long been used for decorative and symbolic purposes, expressing status, identity, and spirituality. Brilliant examines this art form while revealing the histories, traditions, and meanings embedded within beaded footwear from around the world. The exhibition is curated by Elizabeth Semmelhack, director and senior curator, Bata Shoe Museum, Nishi Bassi, curator and manager of exhibitions, Bata Shoe Museum, and Justine Woods, assistant professor, Parsons School of Design, The New School. 

“Beadwork is extraordinary because it transforms something as small and seemingly simple as a bead into a powerful means of expression,” said Semmelhack. “Across cultures and centuries, people have used their skill, time, and imagination to create intricately beaded footwear to communicate identity, status, belonging, and beauty. Brilliant celebrates the remarkable artistry of these works while also inviting visitors to look closely at the hands, histories, and cultural traditions behind their creation.”

The exhibition will be on view from October 22, 2026, until April 2028.

Siah Armajani, Prayer for the Sun, 1962, oil on canvas, Grey Art Museum, New York University Art Collection

Modern Iran and the Avant-Gardes, 1948–78 at the Vancouver Art Gallery 

Guest curated by Pantea Haghighi, Modern Iran and the Avant-Gardes, 1948–78 explores how complex cultural tensions during a thirty-year period of rapid modernization led to artistic innovation. Featuring international loans from public and private collections, the exhibition presents over 80 works, in painting, sculpture, mixed media, photography, drawing and architectural documentation, from more than 30 Iranian artists of the modern period, including women artists whose contributions have historically been overlooked. In the years following the coup of 1953, artists worked between Iranian and Western modes of production. Many artists found Iranian pathways toward abstraction, bringing traditional Iranian art into dialogue with Western Abstract Expressionism. The exhibition demonstrates how a generation of creators bridged heritage and progress against a backdrop of nationalism, foreign intervention and political upheaval culminating in the 1978 Islamic Revolution.

Metro Vancouver is home to a community of living artists and architects from this generation whose work is highlighted in the exhibition, including Hossein Amanat, Seyed Mohammad Ehsaey and Parviz Tanavoli.

The exhibition will be on view from December 11, 2026, to May 2, 2027.