25 Years of Wedge Curatorial Projects

In 1997, Wedge Curatorial Projects’ Toronto-based founding director Kenneth Montague had a mission. He committed to the sharing and exhibiting of photographic works by local and international artists centering Black identity, representation, and culture.

Wedge Curatorial Projects was at the forefront of Toronto’s changing art scene, which in the 1990’s, championed artistic representation in relation to identity. These efforts were nationally and internationally influential as Wedge grew its reach among artists and arts professionals. Wedge’s mandate was, and remains, to create space–or wedge space–for Black artists, historically excluded from contemporary art.

Over the next 25 years, Wedge Curatorial Projects would take shape as a consistently dynamic non-profit organization, supporting local and international artists through major exhibitions and programs–from early shows such as James Van Der Zee Portraits and Jamel Shabazz Back in the Days, to the recent Jorian Charlton exhibition Out of Many, and presenting the international Black Portraiture[s] conference series. Join us, as we celebrate a milestone anniversary. The following timeline chronicles 25 years of Wedge.

The Wedge
Gallery

Wedge Curatorial Projects first took shape as The Wedge Gallery: a commercial photography exhibition space within Montague's urban loft and the site of Sunday afternoon salons. These events drew photo and art lovers from the Black community, as well as members of the general public eager to see works by established artists, many of whom were shown in Canada for the first time. Montague's gallery was literally wedged inside the hallway of his loft, creating a physical manifestation of wedging Black artists into a mainstream market, filling a gap in Toronto’s art community. Early exhibitions included works by Michael Chambers, James Van Der Zee, and Seydou Keïta, among others.

Narrow hallway with hard word floors, and images lining the walls

1997/98

Michael chambers

Michael Chambers: Transforming Reality was the first exhibition in the original project space, The Wedge Gallery. The hauntingly beautiful, black and white photographs by the Jamaican-Canadian artist examined and celebrated human spirit and form, setting precedent for the inspirational and empowering projects in the years to come.

Front and back scan of Michael Chambers: Transforming Reality exhibition invitation card from 1997
cd
CD cover of Synthesis, with black and white image of snake x-ray
Photo Collage of Dr. Kenneth Montague

Spotlight

Kenneth Montague

Dr Kenneth Montague is a Toronto-based dentist, art collector and the founding director of Wedge Curatorial Projects, a non-profit arts organization. Since 1997 Montague has been promoting both emerging and established artists via exhibitions, lectures and workshops. His focus is African Canadian and Diasporic art, which he also showcases in his privately-owned Wedge Collection.

1999

James Vanderzee

Wedge was thrilled to showcase the work by African-American photographer James Van Der Zee for the first time in Canada. The artist’s work documents Black New Yorkers and the rise of a Black middle class: Van Der Zee was a leading figure of the Harlem Renaissance. The exhibition, James Van Der Zee: Portraits, also marked the beginning of the curatorial partnership of Montague and Robert Osbourne.

In The Media

Colour scan of James Van Der Zee: Portraits exhibition preview invitation for Saturday, May 1, 1999
Front and back scan of James Van Der Zee exhibition invitation card from 1999

2000

Seydou Keïta

Curated by Robert Osbourne and Montague, Seydou Keïta: Mid-Century Modern was the first exhibition of the Malian photographer’s work in Canada. The exhibition was presented as part of Toronto’s CONTACT Photography Festival in 2000, also in Montague's home: The Wedge Gallery.

Front and back scan of Seydou Keita: Mid Century Monday exhibition invitation card from 2000

2001

tony gleaton

Curated by Robert Osborne and Montague, Tony Gleaton: Africa’s Legacy in Latin America paid homage to the African diaspora in Latin America in the 1980s–a rich culture, though underrepresented. The beautiful and eloquent portraits were featured as part of the 2001 Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival.

Colour scan of The Toronto Star "What's On" section, Thursday, May 3, 2001
Front and back scan of Tony Gleaton: Africa's Legacy in Latin America exhibition invitation card from 2001
Black and white immage of Kenneth Montague and Robert Osbourne standing together in front of sinage that reads

Spotlight

Robert Osbourne

Toronto-based independent curator and art enthusiast Robert Osbourne began working with Montague in 1999 and was instrumental in bringing works from the VanDerZee archive to Wedge Gallery. His passion for photography and business expertise gave shape to the project’s early shows and infused them with a clarity of vision.

Beyond Wedge Gallery

Early Wedge Gallery shows taught Montague that, while operating a commercial gallery and helping patrons purchase fine art photography was exciting, his passion resided in telling stories through those photographs. Montague turned his efforts to curating exhibitions, and growing local business and non-profit partnerships. During the next few years of the early 2000’s, Wedge moved into community spaces, beginning with Shift Gallery (formerly SOF Art House) and later well-known art hubs such as The Burroughs Building and Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art.

Front and back scan of Ojeikere: Hairstyles exhibition invitation card from 2002

2002

J.D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere

Expanding beyond the walls of Montague's loft and into Shift Gallery, Wedge was pleased to present the work of the Nigerian photographer J.D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere for the first time in Canada. The beautiful images in Ojeikere: Hairstyles the evolution and significance of Black hairstyles: ephemeral creations, made and unmade by time.

Front and back scan of Ojeikere: Hairstyles exhibition invitation card from 2002
Black and white scan of WORD Mag article
Photographer Jamel Shabazz stands with a fan who is holding a signed CONTACT 2003 poster of Shabazz's image, Rude Boy, Brooklyn, New York, 1982.

Spotlight

Contact

Wedge joined the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival in 1997 - its second year of existence - and the two organizations have enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship ever since. CONTACT has evolved into the largest festival of its kind in North American and has been a consistent supporter of the local and international photo-based arts in Toronto for over 25 years.

Front and back scan of Jamel Shabazz: Back in the Days exhibition invite card from 2003

2003

Jamel Shabazz

Another Canadian debut exhibition was Brooklyn-based street photographer Jamel Shabazz’s Back in the Days. The exhibition was part of the CONTACT Photography Festival, featuring a series of photographs from 1980s New York. Shabazz’ famous image, Rude Boy (1980) was selected as the cover image for the CONTACT catalogue and the official festival poster.

Front and back scan of Jamel Shabazz: Back in the Days exhibition invite card from 2003
Jamal Shabazz: Back in the Days exhibition at SOF Art House Toronto, May 2004
Jamal Shabazz: Back in the Days exhibition at SOF Art House Toronto, May 2004
Jamal Shabazz: Back in the Days exhibition at SOF Art House Toronto, May 2004
Jamal Shabazz: Back in the Days exhibition at SOF Art House Toronto, May 2004
Jamal Shabazz: Back in the Days exhibition at SOF Art House Toronto, May 2004
Jamal Shabazz: Back in the Days exhibition at SOF Art House Toronto, May 2004
Jamal Shabazz: Back in the Days exhibition at SOF Art House Toronto, May 2004
Jamal Shabazz: Back in the Days exhibition at SOF Art House Toronto, May 2004
Jamal Shabazz: Back in the Days exhibition at SOF Art House Toronto, May 2004

Jamal Shabazz: Back in the Days, May 2004, SOF Art House, Toronto.

Cover of 2003 Contact 7th Annual Toronto Photography Festival May 1 - 31 Catalogue featuring Rude Boy, Brooklyn, New York, 1982 by Jamel Shabazz.

2004

dennis morris

Dennis Morris - Another CONTACT partnership and another Canadian debut exhibition: Wedge presented Dennis Morris: Growing Up Black in London as part of Toronto’s 2004 photo festival. This exhibition featured a unique and personal collection of photographs by the Jamaican-born, UK photographer from his childhood neighbourhood of Hackney in East London.

This was the final Montague-Osbourne curatorial project, and for both of these Jamaican Canadians, it was a very personal one. This project also established a lasting friendship with artist Dennis Morris and his family.

Dennis Morris: Growing Up Black in London, May 2-29, 2004 at Shift Gallery, Toronto.
Dennis Morris: Growing Up Black in London, May 2-29, 2004 at Shift Gallery, Toronto.
Dennis Morris: Growing Up Black in London, May 2-29, 2004 at Shift Gallery, Toronto.
Dennis Morris: Growing Up Black in London, May 2-29, 2004 at Shift Gallery, Toronto.
Dennis Morris: Growing Up Black in London, May 2-29, 2004 at Shift Gallery, Toronto.
Dennis Morris: Growing Up Black in London, May 2-29, 2004 at Shift Gallery, Toronto.
Dennis Morris: Growing Up Black in London, May 2-29, 2004 at Shift Gallery, Toronto.
Dennis Morris: Growing Up Black in London, May 2-29, 2004 at Shift Gallery, Toronto.

Dennis Morris: Growing Up Black in London, May 2 - 29, 2004, Shift Gallery, Toronto.

Front and back scan of Jamel Shabazz: Back in the Days exhibition invite card from 2003

2005

Jürgen Schadeberg

Jürgen Schadeberg: The Black & White Fifties in South Africa was a featured exhibition of the 2005 CONTACT Photography Festival presented at Shift Gallery. Arriving in South Africa in 1950 from Germany, Schadeberg’s unique position as an outsider allowed him access to a wide spectrum of segregated communities–a perspective that was beautifully illustrated through a series of his black and white photographs.

In The Media

Polaroid snapshot of two young women in an art gallery. One is seated in a chair and one is on the floor
Front and back scan of Jurgen Shadeburg: The Black and White Fifties in South Africa exhibition invite card from 2003
Opening Reception, Jürgen Schadeburg: The Black and White Fifties in South Africa, May 1, 2005 at Shift Gallery, Toronto.
Opening Reception, Jürgen Schadeburg: The Black and White Fifties in South Africa, May 1, 2005 at Shift Gallery, Toronto.
Opening Reception, Jürgen Schadeburg: The Black and White Fifties in South Africa, May 1, 2005 at Shift Gallery, Toronto.
Opening Reception, Jürgen Schadeburg: The Black and White Fifties in South Africa, May 1, 2005 at Shift Gallery, Toronto.
Opening Reception, Jürgen Schadeburg: The Black and White Fifties in South Africa, May 1, 2005 at Shift Gallery, Toronto.
Opening Reception, Jürgen Schadeburg: The Black and White Fifties in South Africa, May 1, 2005 at Shift Gallery, Toronto.
Opening Reception, Jürgen Schadeburg: The Black and White Fifties in South Africa, May 1, 2005 at Shift Gallery, Toronto.
Opening Reception, Jürgen Schadeburg: The Black and White Fifties in South Africa, May 1, 2005 at Shift Gallery, Toronto.

Opening Reception, Jürgen Schadeburg: The Black and White Fifties in South Africa, May 1, 2005 at Shift Gallery, Toronto.

2006

Dawit L. Petros

In 2006, Wedge and Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art presented Dawit L. Petros: Remix, curated by Pamela Edmonds. Remix was the Eritrean-Canadian photographer’s first major exhibition, featuring work that combined diverse elements drawn from urban culture, cinema, and advertising to examine issues of representation in the contemporary Canadian landscape.

Front and back scan of Dawit Petros: Remix exhibition invite card from 2004 featuring Hadenbes (from the series Reinscriptions) (2005)

2007

ninety-six hours of Wedge

Curated by Catherine Dean, Liz Ikiriko, and Montague in celebration Wedge’s 10th anniversary, ninety-six hours of wedge was a retrospective exhibition and book launch showcasing images from the first decade of exhibitions. The event featured Wedge’s first self-published book, FLAVA, designed by Del Terrelonge–which marked the beginning of the Wedge publishing program.

In The Media

Front and back scan of 96 Hours of Wedge exhibition invite card from 2007, featuring an image by Pete Doherty
Multiple copies of WORD Mag's May 2004 issue,

Spotlight

Word Magazine

Founded by Phil Vassell in the early 1990s, WORD quickly became Toronto’s urban culture source - an essential guide to Black music, entertainment, and the arts. The magazine, which ended its print edition in 2013, was a consistent supporter of Wedge Gallery, providing comprehensive coverage of its exhibitions and programs.

Becoming a non-⁠profit organization

In 2010, Wedge entered the non-profit sector as a registered Canadian charity devoted to the promotion of Canadian artists on a national and international platform. The organization’s new positioning attracted public and private support that created the foundation for further programming, publishing, and exhibition opportunities. Many early supporters, including government arts councils and financial service corporations, became steadfast champions of Wedge’s mission; without these patrons the organization could not exist. Their contributions allowed for collaborations with local partners such as The Design Exchange, Interior Design Show, and The Gladstone.

Front and back scan of Guy Tillim: Avenue Patrice Lumumba exhibition invite card from 2011

2011

Guy Tillim

Guy Tillim: Avenue Patrice Lumumba, co-presented by The Design Exchange for the 2011 CONTACT Photography Festival and organized by the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago, examined modern history and architecture in Africa against the backdrop of its colonial and post-colonial roots. This exhibition presented Tillim’s stunning series of large-scale colour photographs that traced Patrice Lumumba’s nationalist legacy across numerous African countries.

Front and back scan of Guy Tillim: Avenue Patrice Lumumba exhibition invite card from 2011
The 2011 exhibition Guy Tillim: Avenue Patrice Lumumba at The Design Exchange, Toronto
The 2011 exhibition Guy Tillim: Avenue Patrice Lumumba at The Design Exchange, Toronto
The 2011 exhibition Guy Tillim: Avenue Patrice Lumumba at The Design Exchange, Toronto
The 2011 exhibition Guy Tillim: Avenue Patrice Lumumba at The Design Exchange, Toronto
The 2011 exhibition Guy Tillim: Avenue Patrice Lumumba at The Design Exchange, Toronto
The 2011 exhibition Guy Tillim: Avenue Patrice Lumumba at The Design Exchange, Toronto
The 2011 exhibition Guy Tillim: Avenue Patrice Lumumba at The Design Exchange, Toronto
The 2011 exhibition Guy Tillim: Avenue Patrice Lumumba at The Design Exchange, Toronto
The 2011 exhibition Guy Tillim: Avenue Patrice Lumumba at The Design Exchange, Toronto
The 2011 exhibition Guy Tillim: Avenue Patrice Lumumba at The Design Exchange, Toronto

Installation views, Guy Tillim: Avenue Patrice Lumumba, April 20 - June 14, 2011, at The Design Exchange, Toronto.

Scan of Stephen Burks: Man Made Toronto exhibition invitation card from 2012.

2012

Stephen Burks

Stephen Burks: Man Made Toronto, another Design Exchange presentation, featured work by New York-based industrial designer Stephen Burks and his studio, Readymade Projects. This was the second iteration of an exhibition that debuted at the Studio Museum in Harlem. Man Made Toronto featured objects inspired by and developed with Senegalese basket weavers – including lamps, shelving, tables among other interior objects.

Scan of Stephen Burks: Man Made Toronto exhibition invitation card from 2012.
Wedge Curatorial Projects director Kenneth Montague with artist and designer Stephen Burks on 2012 Toronto Interior Design Show promotional material
Colour scan of Reggae or Not: The Birth of Dancehall Culture in Jamaica and Toronto - Photographs by Beth Lesser promotional poster

2013

Beth Lesser

Reggae or Not: The Birth of Dancehall Culture in Jamaica and Toronto Photographs by Beth Lesser recognized the history of modern reggae music and dancehall culture in celebration of Jamaican musicians of the 1970s and 1980s through an ambitious presentation at The Gladstone Hotel. Reggae or Not was Toronto-based artist Beth Lesser’s first hometown art exhibition, in spite of her widely published photographic archive.

Colour scan of Reggae or Not: The Birth of Dancehall Culture in Jamaica and Toronto - Photographs by Beth Lesser promotional poster
Front and back scan of Reggae or Not exhibition invite card from 2013
Reggae or Not: The Birthday of Dancehall Culture in Jamaica and Toronto Photographs by Beth Lesser opening reception on February 1, 2013. Photographed by Tayo Yannick Anton
Reggae or Not: The Birthday of Dancehall Culture in Jamaica and Toronto Photographs by Beth Lesser opening reception on February 1, 2013. Photographed by Tayo Yannick Anton
Reggae or Not: The Birthday of Dancehall Culture in Jamaica and Toronto Photographs by Beth Lesser opening reception on February 1, 2013. Photographed by Tayo Yannick Anton
Reggae or Not: The Birthday of Dancehall Culture in Jamaica and Toronto Photographs by Beth Lesser opening reception on February 1, 2013. Photographed by Tayo Yannick Anton
Reggae or Not: The Birthday of Dancehall Culture in Jamaica and Toronto Photographs by Beth Lesser opening reception on February 1, 2013. Photographed by Tayo Yannick Anton
Reggae or Not: The Birthday of Dancehall Culture in Jamaica and Toronto Photographs by Beth Lesser opening reception on February 1, 2013. Photographed by Tayo Yannick Anton
Reggae or Not: The Birthday of Dancehall Culture in Jamaica and Toronto Photographs by Beth Lesser opening reception on February 1, 2013. Photographed by Tayo Yannick Anton
Reggae or Not: The Birthday of Dancehall Culture in Jamaica and Toronto Photographs by Beth Lesser opening reception on February 1, 2013. Photographed by Tayo Yannick Anton
Reggae or Not: The Birthday of Dancehall Culture in Jamaica and Toronto Photographs by Beth Lesser opening reception on February 1, 2013. Photographed by Tayo Yannick Anton
Reggae or Not: The Birthday of Dancehall Culture in Jamaica and Toronto Photographs by Beth Lesser opening reception on February 1, 2013. Photographed by Tayo Yannick Anton
Reggae or Not: The Birthday of Dancehall Culture in Jamaica and Toronto Photographs by Beth Lesser opening reception on February 1, 2013. Photographed by Tayo Yannick Anton

Opening Reception, Reggae or Not: The Birth of Dancehall Culture in Jamaica and Toronto
Photographs by Beth Lesser
, February 1, 2013. Photography by Tayo Yannick Anton.

Collage of photos of WCP current and former board members Warren Crichlow, Julie Crooks, Andrew Garrett, Owen Gordon, Sophie Hackett and WCP Director Kenneth Montague

Spotlight

WCP BOARD

In 2011, WCP became a registered Canadian non-profit organization, under the direction of inaugural Board members Warren Crichlow, Owen Gordon, and Julie Crooks. Shortly thereafter Sophie Hackett joined, replacing Crooks. This team led the organization for almost a decade until Owen Gordon’s untimely passing in 2021. Today, the Board continues to oversee programming and development with the addition of Andrew Garrett in 2022.

Wedge and The Gladstone

The Gladstone Hotel was home to many of Wedge’s exhibitions, programs, and events. The organizational partnership began in 2013 when longtime friends Montague and Gladstone Hotel founder, Christina Zeidler, decided to align their mutual passion for community outreach and visual art. At that time, the Gladstone already had a long history of presenting art shows in their second floor gallery–a space that would become a beloved exhibition venue for the Wedge community. Wedge has subsequently showcased dozens of local artists at the Gladstone and hosted hundreds of visitors for associated talks, tours, panel discussions, and even late-night DJ sets.

Colour scan of Home: Photographs by Jon Blak exhibition poster

2014

jon blak

Celebrating the work of Toronto-based photographer Jon Blak, Home marked a growing partnership with The Gladstone Hotel. Blak’s work reflected the changing cultural milieu of Toronto’s Jamaican-Canadian community, and examined issues around class, race, and cultural production. The exhibition included a memorable reinterpretation of Toronto’s Caribbean Corner supermarket and the screening of a short documentary about the business community around Toronto’s Little Jamaica.

In The Media

Colour scan of Home: Photographs by Jon Blak exhibition poster
Front and back scan of Home: Photographs by Jon Blak exhibition invite card from 2014
Colour scan of Pictures from Paradise: A Survey of Contemporary Caribbean Photography poster, 2014.

Pictures from Paradise

Expanding beyond the conventional indoor gallery space, Pictures from Paradise: A Survey of Contemporary Caribbean Photography was displayed in a viewing space created from conjoined shipping containers, located on the lakefront behind Toronto’s Power Plant Contemporary Gallery. The exhibition, a co-presentation with Robert & Christopher Publishers for Toronto’s 14th Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, was adapted from the 2012 book of the same name and featured works by 18 Caribbean artists.

Colour scan of Pictures from Paradise: A Survey of Contemporary Caribbean Photography poster, 2014.
Front and back scan of Pictures from Paradise exhibition invite card from 2014
Colour scan of Fade Resitance exhibition promotional poster. Image featured: Untitled (Woman in red), circa 1970s.

2016

fade resistance

Fade Resistance marked the first presentation of the celebrated archival project by Toronto-based artist and collector Zun Lee, and featured hundreds of vernacular Polaroid snapshots of Black life. In sharing how families documented themselves throughout recent decades, spanning from the 1970s to 2000s, the exhibition sparked meaningful conversations around issues of agency and empowerment in the depiction of Black communities in North America. In 2019, the Fade Resistance collection was acquired, in part, by the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Colour scan of Fade Resitance exhibition promotional poster. Image featured: Untitled (Woman in red), circa 1970s.
Front and back scan of Zun Lee: Fade Resistance exhibition invitation card, 2016.
Front scan of Liminal Sense exhibition invitation card from 2017

2017

Liminal Sense

Curated by Liz Ikiriko, Liminal Sense was presented in conjunction with the Rite of Passage: Chef in Residency Program with Suzanne Barr at The Gladstone Hotel. The exhibition, featuring images by emerging Jamaican-Canadian photographer Jorian Charlton, displayed throughout the hotel’s cafe, amplifying homeland stories, tastes, and ways of being that create cultural rites of passage.

Front scan of Liminal Sense exhibition invitation card from 2017
Back scan of Liminal Sense exhibition invitation card from 2017
Front scan of Of Ourselves exhibition invitation card from 2018 featuring work by Nathalia Allen, Untitled from the series Fête du Jour (Carnival Morning).

2018

Of Ourselves

Curated by Emilie Croning and Hannah Traore, Of Ourselves explored the complexities of Black experience and identity through the vision of young and emerging photographers Tayo Yannick Anton, Curtiss Randolph, Nathalia Allan, and Neva Wireko. These artists considered the photographer's historic role in creating images, by placing the power of portrayal in the hands of those being portrayed.

In The Media

Front scan of Of Ourselves exhibition invitation card from 2018 featuring work by Nathalia Allen, Untitled from the series Fête du Jour (Carnival Morning).
Front and back scan of Of Ourselves exhibition invitation card from 2018 featuring Horizon (2017) by Curtiss Randolph
Opening Reception, Of Ourselves, February 2, 2018 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Tayo Yannick Anton.
Opening Reception, Of Ourselves, February 2, 2018 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Tayo Yannick Anton.
Opening Reception, Of Ourselves, February 2, 2018 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Tayo Yannick Anton.
Opening Reception, Of Ourselves, February 2, 2018 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Tayo Yannick Anton.
Opening Reception, Of Ourselves, February 2, 2018 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Tayo Yannick Anton.
Opening Reception, Of Ourselves, February 2, 2018 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Tayo Yannick Anton.
Opening Reception, Of Ourselves, February 2, 2018 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Tayo Yannick Anton.
Opening Reception, Of Ourselves, February 2, 2018 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Tayo Yannick Anton.
Opening Reception, Of Ourselves, February 2, 2018 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Tayo Yannick Anton.
Opening Reception, Of Ourselves, February 2, 2018 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Tayo Yannick Anton.
Opening Reception, Of Ourselves, February 2, 2018 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Tayo Yannick Anton.
Opening Reception, Of Ourselves, February 2, 2018 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Tayo Yannick Anton.
Opening Reception, Of Ourselves, February 2, 2018 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Tayo Yannick Anton.
Opening Reception, Of Ourselves, February 2, 2018 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Tayo Yannick Anton.
Opening Reception, Of Ourselves, February 2, 2018 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Tayo Yannick Anton.

Opening Reception, Of Ourselves, February 2, 2018 at The Gladstone Hotel.Photography by Tayo Yannick Anton

Detail of colour scan of front of a love ethic exhibition invitation card from 2019 featuring Untitled from the Okobo series (2018) by William Ukoh

2019

a love ethic

Curated by Emilie Croning, a love ethic celebrated contemporary ideas around Black love in all its forms, including love of community, family, partners, places and of oneself. The exhibition presented work by local and international artists Jah Grey, Jamila Noritz Reyes, Jeremy Rodney-Hall, Jorian Charlton, Justin Aranha, Nadia Huggins and William Ukoh.

Detail of colour scan of front of a love ethic exhibition invitation card from 2019 featuring Untitled from the Okobo series (2018) by William Ukoh
Front and back scan of a love ethic exhibition invitation card from 2019 featuring The Love We Share (2015) by Jeremy Rodney-Hall.
Opening Reception, a love ethic, January 31, 2020 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Brianna Roye
Opening Reception, a love ethic, January 31, 2020 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Brianna Roye
Opening Reception, a love ethic, January 31, 2020 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Brianna Roye
Opening Reception, a love ethic, January 31, 2020 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Brianna Roye
Opening Reception, a love ethic, January 31, 2020 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Brianna Roye
Opening Reception, a love ethic, January 31, 2020 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Brianna Roye
Opening Reception, a love ethic, January 31, 2020 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Brianna Roye
Opening Reception, a love ethic, January 31, 2020 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Brianna Roye
Opening Reception, a love ethic, January 31, 2020 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Brianna Roye
Opening Reception, a love ethic, January 31, 2020 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Brianna Roye
Opening Reception, a love ethic, January 31, 2020 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Brianna Roye
Opening Reception, a love ethic, January 31, 2020 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Brianna Roye
Opening Reception, a love ethic, January 31, 2020 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Brianna Roye
Opening Reception, a love ethic, January 31, 2020 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Brianna Roye

Opening Reception, a love ethic, January 31, 2020 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Brianna Roye.

WCP staff Kenneth Montague, Maria Kanellopoulos and Emilie Croning walking down the street laughing and smiling

Spotlight

THE WEDGE TEAM

Maria Kanellopoulos and Emilie Croning have been WCP’s longest serving team members! Maria joined the organization way back in 2009. Her focus on research and documentation, and her expertise in communications, exhibition coordination, programming and curatorial work have greatly contributed to the stability and success of WCP. Emilie Croning has been with Wedge Curatorial Projects since 2016. Her exhibition and curatorial skills, media savvy and collaborative approach have significantly contributed to the organization's growth.

Former Wedge team members include: Robert Osbourne, Odie Cash, Marie Lortie, Melanie Scherenzel-Cherry, Sarah Aranha, David Jones

Front and back colour scan of Ayana V. Jackson: Fissure exhibition invitation featuring the image Sarah from the series Dear Sarah (2016) by Ayana V. Jackson.

Ayana V. Jackson

Ayana V. Jackson: Fissure was curated by Bonnie Rubenstein and presented in partnership with CONTACT and the Campbell House Museum. Employing her own body, Jackson deconstructs racial and gender stereotypes to create contemporary portraits laced with historical allusions. This site-specific exhibition brought together her series Dear Sarah (2016) and Intimate Justice in the Stolen Moment (2017) in the historic Georgian Campbell House.

In The Media

Installation views of Ayana V. Jackson, Fissure, Campbell House Museum, Toronto, May 1 - June 2, 2019. Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid. Courtesy CONTACT, the artist, and Galerie Baudoin Lebon
Installation views of Ayana V. Jackson, Fissure, Campbell House Museum, Toronto, May 1 - June 2, 2019. Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid. Courtesy CONTACT, the artist, and Galerie Baudoin Lebon
Installation views of Ayana V. Jackson, Fissure, Campbell House Museum, Toronto, May 1 - June 2, 2019. Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid. Courtesy CONTACT, the artist, and Galerie Baudoin Lebon
Installation views of Ayana V. Jackson, Fissure, Campbell House Museum, Toronto, May 1 - June 2, 2019. Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid. Courtesy CONTACT, the artist, and Galerie Baudoin Lebon
Installation views of Ayana V. Jackson, Fissure, Campbell House Museum, Toronto, May 1 - June 2, 2019. Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid. Courtesy CONTACT, the artist, and Galerie Baudoin Lebon
Installation views of Ayana V. Jackson, Fissure, Campbell House Museum, Toronto, May 1 - June 2, 2019. Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid. Courtesy CONTACT, the artist, and Galerie Baudoin Lebon
Installation views of Ayana V. Jackson, Fissure, Campbell House Museum, Toronto, May 1 - June 2, 2019. Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid. Courtesy CONTACT, the artist, and Galerie Baudoin Lebon

Ayana V. Jackson, Installation view of Fissure, Campbell House Museum, Toronto, May 1 - June 2, 2019.
Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid. Courtesy CONTACT, the artist, and Galerie Baudoin Lebon

Expanding Wedge

Despite the unpredictability of the pandemic era WCP continued to expand and grow. Wedge’s final exhibition at The Gladstone Hotel paired lens-based work with site-specific installation, performance, and painting. The following year, WCP’s first-ever online exhibition included contemporary artwork, vintage photography, and a virtual reality component in concert with ideas of familial experience. Finally, the organization was granted the opportunity to host the internationally renowned Black Portraiture[s] conference–its first time ever in Canada.

As Wedge Curatorial Projects continues to expand its mission in the years ahead – this timeline project celebrates the many artistic milestones of the past 25 years and gives way to what is to come.

Front and back scan of Handle With Care exhibition invitation card from 2020, featuring an image by Dainesha Nugent-Palache

2020

handle with care

Curated by Emilie Croning and Maria Kanellopoulos, Handle With Care marked Wedge’s final collaboration at The Gladstone Hotel before the space saw its own transformation (the venue closed in 2020 for major renovations). Handle with Care included photographs, painting, video-based work, and a site-specific installation by Canadian artist Dainesha Nugent-Palache and American artist Adrienne Elise Tarver. Both artists’ work centered around themes of domesticity, histories of displacement, and subsequent boundaries of everyday life.

In The Media

Supplementary Links

Front and back scan of Handle With Care exhibition invitation card from 2020, featuring an image by Dainesha Nugent-Palache
Opening Reception, Handle With Care, January 31, 2020 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Brianna Roye
Opening Reception, Handle With Care, January 31, 2020 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Brianna Roye
Opening Reception, Handle With Care, January 31, 2020 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Brianna Roye
Opening Reception, Handle With Care, January 31, 2020 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Brianna Roye
Opening Reception, Handle With Care, January 31, 2020 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Brianna Roye
Opening Reception, Handle With Care, January 31, 2020 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Brianna Roye
Opening Reception, Handle With Care, January 31, 2020 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Brianna Roye
Opening Reception, Handle With Care, January 31, 2020 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Brianna Roye
Opening Reception, Handle With Care, January 31, 2020 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Brianna Roye
Opening Reception, Handle With Care, January 31, 2020 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Brianna Roye
Opening Reception, Handle With Care, January 31, 2020 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Brianna Roye
Opening Reception, Handle With Care, January 31, 2020 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Brianna Roye
Opening Reception, Handle With Care, January 31, 2020 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Brianna Roye
Opening Reception, Handle With Care, January 31, 2020 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Brianna Roye

Opening Reception, Handle With Care, January 31, 2020 at The Gladstone Hotel. Photography by Brianna Roye

Image of social media asset for Jorian Charlton, Out of Many exhibition featuring vintage 35 mm slide, photographed by Clayton Charlton c.1979-85 from the collection of Jorian Charlton.

2021

Jorian Charlton

In collaboration with Gallery TPW, Wedge’s first online exhibition, Jorian Charlton: Out of Many paired vintage 35mm slides from Jorian Charlton's family archive with her own photographic practice. Curated by Emilie Croning, the exhibition explores new visual references around Black aesthetics and Jamaican-Canadian identity, foregrounding the intersections between public and private histories. The online exhibition provided the opportunity for the physical exhibition to be installed at the Art Gallery of Ontario in December 2021.

Image of social media asset for Jorian Charlton, Out of Many exhibition featuring vintage 35 mm slide, photographed by Clayton Charlton c.1979-85 from the collection of Jorian Charlton.
Screenshot image of
Cell phone graphic of Vintage Black Canada's Instagram page sliding through archive vernacular photographs from Jorian Charlton's family album
Stack of books including exhibition catalogue, Out of Many and bell hooks, Art on My Mind, 1995.
Installation views of Jorian Charlton: Out of Many, December 18 - August 7, 2022 at the Art Gallery of Ontario © AGO
Installation views of Jorian Charlton: Out of Many, December 18 - August 7, 2022 at the Art Gallery of Ontario © AGO
Installation views of Jorian Charlton: Out of Many, December 18 - August 7, 2022 at the Art Gallery of Ontario © AGO
Installation views of Jorian Charlton: Out of Many, December 18 - August 7, 2022 at the Art Gallery of Ontario © AGO
Installation views of Jorian Charlton: Out of Many, December 18 - August 7, 2022 at the Art Gallery of Ontario © AGO

Jorian Charlton: Out of Many, December 18 - August 7, 2022 at the Art Gallery of Ontario © AGO

Black Portraiture[s]: Toronto

BLACK PORTRAITURE[S]: Toronto, Absent/ed Presence, 2021 was the first of the ongoing conference series, Black Portraiture[s], founded by Dr. Deborah Willis, to take place in Canada. The three-day online conference explored Blackness as absent/ed presence in art, art history, performance, archives, museums, cultural production, and technology through panel discussions, virtual artist studio visits, and a keynote featuring M. NourbeSe Philip in conversation with DJ and curator Mark Campbell.

Graphic of schedule overview of BLACK PORTRAITURE[S]: Toronto, Absent/ed Presence including information on the conference Keynote speaker and studio visits.

Opening remarks, BLACK PORTRAITURE[S]: Toronto, Absent/ed Presence, October 14, 2021. Hosted by Agnes Etherington Centre at Queen's University, presented by Wedge Curatorial Projects.

2022

Sanctuary Doors

Jon Blak: Sanctuary Doors is WCP’s inaugural public art installation and the second time Wedge has exhibited Blak’s work (see 2014 on this timeline). With three intimate portraits installed on the Walmer Road Baptist Church sanctuary doors, the Toronto-based photographer redefines inclusive spaces to celebrate merging identities and styles that reflect the multiplicity of Toronto’s Black community.

Front facade of church with black and white images installed on the front three doors
Installation views of Jon Blak: Sanctuary Doors at Walmer Road Baptist Church Community Block Party, September 24, 2022.
Installation views of Jon Blak: Sanctuary Doors at Walmer Road Baptist Church Community Block Party, September 24, 2022.
Installation views of Jon Blak: Sanctuary Doors at Walmer Road Baptist Church Community Block Party, September 24, 2022.
Installation views of Jon Blak: Sanctuary Doors at Walmer Road Baptist Church Community Block Party, September 24, 2022.
Installation views of Jon Blak: Sanctuary Doors at Walmer Road Baptist Church Community Block Party, September 24, 2022.

Jon Blak: Sanctuary Doors Unveiling, Walmer Road Baptist Church Community Block Party,
September 24, 2022. Presented in partnership with Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, TAS, and Walmer Road Baptist Church.

Installation view of large vinyl portrait photograph on wall next to exhibition title and didactics, pictured with hanging artwork depicting plant leaves and foliage made from painted wire mesh.

About

Wedge Curatorial Projects (WCP) is a non-profit organization with a focus on Black identity in contemporary art founded by Dr Kenneth Montague in 1997. Wedge organizes exhibitions and lectures that explore Diasporic narratives, identity, and issues of representation. Exhibiting local and international artists, Wedge is fueled by collaboration, creativity, and accessibility in the arts.

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to Wedge Curatorial Projects’ Emilie Croning for her dedication to this timeline, and to David Jones and Maria Kanellopoulos for their essential contributions.

Design by Marta Ryczko, Development by Jenna Maaskant.

© Wedge Curatorial Projects 2022.

This project is supported by TD Ready Commitment.