The AGO's "Abstract Expressionist New York" is being hyped as a killer exhibit, though what it's killing isn't all that clear. There haven't been many retrospectives of the history of Abstract Expressionism quite this size. This one is unique because it brings together many of the key pieces in the collection of New York's MOMA. Works featured include those of such twentieth centuries luminaries as Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning, Barnett Newman and Philip Guston but there are many more. The AGO is the only stop off the show is making, testifying to the close, sometimes controversial, tie between the two institutions. It gives visitors the chance to see the disparate, often misunderstood, work that falls under the banner header.

If you've ever been bewildered by Abstract Expressionism, the show does provide a nice summary of some of its major features. It's a very traditional, even conservative, little narrative. It's organized around the principle that it was a kind of queasy feeling that came out in painting. More specifically, it's about two decades worth of such painting concentrated in New York. "Abstract Expressionism" is a loaded term, and not a very good one, generically used to describe some of what happened there.

This is the last look at photo shows related to this year's CONTACT Festival festival. This time, it's three galleries nestled on Dundas West.

This week:

• Eldon Garnet's "Helpless" at Christopher Cutts.
  • Lynne Cohen at Olga Korper.
    • Andrew Wright's "Coronae" and Sandra Doore's "Horizontal Desires" at Peak.

This week it's a whole lot more from the CONTACT Festival and a bonus show for those who are getting tired of photography.

On the Agenda:

• "Black Holes" by Marie-Jeanne Musiol at Prefix
• "Concentrated Geographies" by Tori Foster at WARC Gallery
• Public CONTACT installations
• "small mechanisms for drowning" by Nina Leo at the Redhead Gallery

In light of this being the month of the CONTACT Festival, here's a little peek at a few current shows in and out of the festival that use photography in some highly divergent ways.

This week:

• "The Undesirables" by Chantal James at The Department
  • "Kallima" by Alex Kisievich at Angell Gallery
    • "Top 30" by R. Kelly Clipperton at Pentimento

  Chantal James at The Department from May 1 - May 28.

This installment of the Art Agenda features three shows that offer intriguing juxtapositions, surprising tactility and some subtle ideas.

This week:

• "Outside In" by Elspeth Pratt at Diaz Contemporary.
  • "The Future Has Been Decided" by Anitra Hamilton at Georgia Scherman.
    • "Assembled Memories" by Lucilla Bonfanti at Pentimento.

This installment of the Art Agenda features two younger artists and one that's more established, all with radically different styles.

This week:

• "Stacked" Bruno Billio in Retrospect at at DeLuca Fine Art
  • Stephen Appleby-Barr at Nicholas Metivier
    • Ronald Boaks at The Moore Gallery