MOCA Toronto
MOCA is a permanent home for contemporary art right here in Canada’s largest city.
It’s now housed in what used to be an old aluminum factory, five times the size of the previous West Queen West space. MOCA started out as the Art Gallery of North York in 2000.
The first floor is always free and open to the public, though admission to the entire museum is $10 for adults, $5 for students and seniors and if you’re under 18, it’s free.
Art Metropole, formerly found on Dundas West, moved into this first floor, selling books and art publications. There’s also a location of Forno Cultura housed in a light-filled glass front area.
The first floor will also always be home to what’s being called an Invitation Project. Andreas Angelidakis’ DEMOS - A Reconstruction is composed of 74 foam modules covered in vinyl the public is free to interactively rearrange, and which can be repurposed to create makeshift performance spaces.
Inaugural exhibit of 16 international artists BELIEVE centres around the powerful, positive verb, meant to reflect the positive impact of the art gallery on the community.
The first piece encountered exiting elevators up to the second floor is Indigenous artist Carl Beam’s The Columbus Suite, 12 photo-based etchings depicting those who died for their beliefs from Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln to Sitting Bull and religious martyrs.
Scarborough artist Nep Sidhu created Quazarz Pinball Arcade with Security and Leisure Enhancement Console, an entirely redesigned, reprogrammed pinball machine with sounds and music by Shabazz Palaces connected to a responsive opposing machine that calls to mind concepts of surveillance.
Toronto-based Rajni Perera’s Talisman is a captivating double throne created in collaboration with Yorgo Liapis, and immediately evokes an opportunity for discussion of different viewpoints and a bridging of ideas.
Darkened rooms for exhibiting video art are slotted into corners of the gallery, Jeremy Shaw’s Quickeners appropriating footage from a documentary about a Pentecostal Christian sect, two rows of chairs thoughtfully but eerily set up in imitation of a church basement environment.
Originally installed in Montreal, Dineo Seshee Bopape’s And-In. The Light of This._ creates art out of Haitian voodoo symbology and spells.
Having a Barbara Kruger piece as part of BELIEVE solidifies MOCA as a gallery where world-class art can be seen.
Half the fifth floor is devoted to rotating programming, an Art in Use program of rotating exhibits centring around new commissions, events and workshops. The other half is devoted to a location of Akin collective with over 30 studio spaces available.
Hector Vasquez
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10 Upcoming Events
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July 1-12
Join MOCA’s Youth Council, Creative Youth, for their Opening Reception and exhibition! Drawing inspiration from our current exhibitions, Lost in Transmediation will be presented on Floor 1 from July 1–12 with a full day of programming on Saturday, July 11.
MOCA’s Youth Council presents “Lost in Transmediation.” This pop-up exhibition explores the journey between mediums, from paint to pixels, can…
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July 3
Meet you at MOCA for Free Friday Night!
Join us on Friday, July 3 from 5–9 pm. Admission is free, and all exhibitions are open to explore.
Bring a friend, wander the exhibitions, take in MOCA’s striking architecture, and enjoy snacks and drinks at Forno Cultura, open until 9 pm on Fridays.
This season, experience Kimsooja’s “Dimensions of a Needle,” Sara Cwynar’s “Baby Blue Benzo Beta," and…
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July 4
Join MOCA’s Artistic Director, Rui Mateus Amaral, for an exclusive, in-depth tour of Kimsooja: “Dimensions of a Needle” and Sara Cwynar: “Baby Blue Benzo Beta.”
Moving through the galleries, Amaral will reflect on key works, from suspended textiles and video to ceramics and photographic series, exploring how Kimsooja engages themes of handcraft, female labour, migration, memory, and transformatio…
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July 4
Join us on Saturday, July 4, for a special collaboration with Clay With Me and create your own mosaic.
Turn broken fragments into something beautifully whole while exploring the basics of mosaic design in this hands-on workshop. No experience needed, all are welcome.
Guided by your instructor, you’ll choose your tiles and learn how to safely use hand-held cutting tools to shape them. You’ll finis…
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July 9
Welcome to Art Hive at MOCA, a free art-making programme that invites you to create on select Thursday evenings!
Join us Thursday, July 9 for Art Hive at MOCA, a free art-making programme that invites you to stop by and create! This season, Explore textile and film works by artist Kimsooja on MOCA’s Floor 1.
Each Art Hive session is unique, featuring creative invitations written by graduate stude…
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July 11
Join MOCA’s Youth Council: “Creative Youth” for a day of youth-led programming they developed in dialogue with their pop-up exhibition "Lost in Transmediation."
Start your visit by making handmade fabric notes with textiles, then learn more about their work by joining a drop-in tour!
Exploring tactile, screen-free forms of making and connecting, you’ll be invited to reflect on your pers…
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July 17
Join us at MOCA for an intimate sound performance by multimedia artist Adam Basanta.
Using tuned microphone feedback, modified amplification techniques, and kinetic elements, Basanta creates delicate sonic compositions with handheld microphones, speakers, cassette recorders, custom software, and everyday objects.
This performance is presented within Sara Cwynar’s exhibition Baby Blue Benzo Beta. …
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July 18
Every day, we search online for information and images to find ourselves and understand our place within the world and in the deeper currents of history.
Join MOCA for an illuminating and timely presentation by Dr. Amy Marshall Furness, a Wikipedia editor, scholar, educator and Chief Librarian of Victoria University.
Furness will discuss how we build reliable information online, and why informati…
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July 23
Welcome to Art Hive at MOCA, a free art-making programme that invites you to create on select Thursday evenings!
Join us Thursday, July 23 for Art Hive at MOCA, a free art-making programme that invites you to stop by and create! This season, Explore textile and film works by artist Kimsooja on MOCA’s Floor 1.
Each Art Hive session is unique, featuring creative invitations written by graduate stud…
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July 30
Join MOCA and Mosaic Yoga for a guided breathwork experience amidst Kimsooja’s exhibition “Dimensions of a Needle.”
Through intentional breathing and meditation, you’ll be invited to slow down and cultivate a deeper awareness of the present moment. Surrounded by Kimsooja’s work, reflect on the relationships between body, space, and materiality that underpin her practice.
