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Toronto's Art Gallery of Ontario to reopen Nov. 14

30.05.2008 14:00 Arts - Source: cbc.ca

The Galleria Italia, a light-filled sculpture gallery stretching almost a city block, is part of the AGO redesign.(Art Gallery of Ontario)

Toronto's Art Gallery of Ontario will reopen to the public Nov. 14 after a redesign by celebrity architect Frank Gehry.

The AGO plans three days of free admission to allow the public a taste of its new light-filled galleries.

Gehry's design expands the AGO to 110 galleries, giving it more space to show some of its new acquisitions.

Los Angeles-based Gehry grew up in Toronto, in a neighbourhood close to the AGO.

Among the works on display will be its collection of Group of Seven paintings, Montreal contemporary artist David Altmejd's installation The Index and Peter Paul Rubens' masterpiece The Massacre of The Innocents, which is part of the collection of 2,000 works given to the AGO by Ken Thomson.

Matthew Teitelbaum, the AGO's director and chief executive, calls Thomson's collection, most of which has not been displayed, "a gift for the ages."

Gehry's design includes a sculptural staircase, the Galleria Italia, funded by a group of Italian-Canadian benefactors, which extends an entire city block along Dundas Street, and the new contemporary tower with vistas of Grange Park and the city.

"Through Frank's remarkable design, the new AGO declares itself and what it stands for — a joining of the art museum and the city, an open invitation to enter and participate in something memorable and exciting," Teitelbaum said in a statement Wednesday.

The new AGO will have 50 per cent more viewing space and include a restaurant and family-friendly caf.

The opening ceremony will be Friday, Nov. 14, followed by two days of free admission.

The AGO will also begin its previously announced programs offering free admission to secondary school students, free Wednesday evenings and a cultural pass for new Canadian citizens.

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