An Interview With Dr. Zoé Whitley

Dr. Zoé Whitley is the curator of Art Toronto's Focus exhibition this year; the space is always one of my favorite parts of ArtTO, as it brings together works from different artists from galleries participating in the fair to create a unique exhibition from which collectors can purchase pieces. Whereas throughout the rest of the fair, folks peruse gallery and art centres’ booths featuring a selection of work by their roster of artists, Focus is an opportunity to see pieces through a different lens and in a novel context.

In anticipation of this year's fair, I asked the award-winning London-based curator and writer about her previous work with Canadian artists, and what visitors can expect. 

You've worked with a few Canadian artists before. What do you think are some of the key exciting characteristics of the art coming from this country?

In recent years I've had the pleasure of working with Abbas Akhavan in both London, at Chisenhale Gallery, and Dubai, at AlSerkal Arts Foundation. And also the distinct joy and pride of co-commissioning with the CAG Vancouver Lotus L. Kang's breakout installation, In Cascades and editing her related first publication (with Chisenhale Books and Hurtwood Press). The work was subsequently acquired by the Whitney Museum of American Art which I share not to boast but to answer your question: I think the most exciting Canadian artists take their specific vantage points and express them so uniquely that the rest of the world can't help but take notice.

What are your priorities in curating an exhibition like Focus?

This might sound odd but to be honest I'm not really a thematic exhibition curator. My starting point is always with artists' practices in their own right, rather than searching for works to illustrate a foregone curatorial conclusion. 

My priorities for Focus were to do my best to bring in an intergenerational cross-section of approaches to contemporary art. The result spans time-based media, weaving, ceramics and naturally, painting and sculpture. I wanted to respect what a culturally dynamic city Toronto is in particular, and that led me circuitously to the poetry of Toronto-based poet Olive Senior. Her 1985 poetry collection "Talking of Trees" became a springboard of sorts. Her poem 'Birdshooting Season' is in many ways the conductor of our Focus visual choir.

Do you have a favourite piece in the exhibition, or one that was the "starting point" for the curation?

Definitely no favourites! That's the kind of question that gets one in a heap of trouble. Vera Frenkel is an artist I have long admired for her probing questions and deeply engrained sense of community in searching for the answers. Having been thwarted by the pandemic when we tried to work together in 2020, I can say that inviting her to be one of the voices in Art Toronto 2025 was automatic. From the very beginning, I was drawn to making Focus 2025 an intergenerational conversation across artists' practices. I kept hearing a Vera Frankel quote echoing in my head:

"if one generation goes mute, the next generation can't hear them."

Vera Frenkel

Tell me more about the theme/name of this year's Focus exhibition, and what folks can expect while visiting this part of the fair?

"Fly Birds Fly" as an invocation for hope, longing and wishful thinking, even in the face of darker realities. Olive Senior's poem 'Birdshooting Season' ends with a quiet but powerful line, where little girls defiantly whisper what I interpret as an incantation for survival. I've kept the checklist lean but the artists are exploring vital questions about what and how we learn from our elders, the ways we might deviate from our upbringings in searching for the past or charting our own futures, but also with a resolute faith throughout that artists creatively nurture the next generation.

Damien Ajavon/ BAND

Shuvinai Ashoona/ Hugues Charbonneau

Virgil Baruchel/ Jane Corkin

Judy Chartrand/ macaulay+co

June Clark/ Daniel Faria - Keepers

Vera Frenkel/ Twoseventwo

Estate of Alicia Henry/ TrépanierBaer

Lotus L. Kang/ Franz Kaka

Jagdeep Raina/ Cooper Cole

How do you feel the Focus exhibition enhances the overall ambitions of Art Toronto this year?

I can't lay any claim to enhancement myself (though I really hope people enjoy the 2025 grouping as much as I do). Thinking back to past iterations by curators I know well and admire including Marie-Charlotte Carrier and Rhéanne Chartrand, Focus is a chance to do just that: to have your attention drawn in a particular direction within the exciting aesthetic overdrive of the fair.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit arttoronto.ca.