The art galleries along and adjacent to Supercrawl’s festival corridor offer a vibrant and varied cross-section of Hamilton’s creative life.
Art Gallery of Hamilton
123 King St. W., Hamilton
Founded in 1914, the Art Gallery of Hamilton is the oldest and largest art museum in southwestern Ontario with a permanent collection that is recognized as one of the finest in Canada. Embracing Canadian historical, international and contemporary art, the collection consists of more than 10,000 works. You can see superb pieces by Alex Colville, Tom Thomson, the Group of Seven, Emily Carr, James Tissot, Jean-Léon Gérôme, Gustave Doré, Norval Morriseau, Keith Haring, Ed Burtynsky, Kim Adams or Tyler Tekatch, to name a few. Through Dec 31, 2023, the AGH Lobby hosts a two-storey collaboration between Moises (aka Luvs) and Alexander Bacon, curated by Leon (Eklipz) Robinson through Concrete Canvas. The Lobby is also home to Lester Coloma’s permanent installation Masquerade. Through year-end, AGH Gallery Level 1 features exhibitions The Collection Wall, and Farheen Haq’s میں اپنی ماں کی بیٹی ہوں ….. I am my mother’s daughter , as well as Breathing in China: Art, Ethics, and Environment, featuring 15 artists guest curated by Yan Zhou, including Jean-François Côté (Québec City), Alexandre David (Montréal), Dong Dawei (Beijing), Xin He (Toronto), Ren Jie (Guangzhou), Gao Jie (Shanghai), Hua Jin (Montréal), Yam Lau (Toronto), Mireille Lavoie (Montréal), Li Ming (Beijing) , Zhang Qingfan (Beijing), Xu Tan (Guangdong), Yang Xiao and Chen Sisi (Guangzhou) and Zhang Xiao (Chengdu). Through Mar 31, 2024, Gallery Level 2 features RBC Artist In Residence Melissa General, whose work Nitewaké:non was memorably showcased as part of Supercrawl’s 2021 & 2022 Visual & Public Arts programming.
The Assembly
68 King St. E.
The Assembly is an artist-run gallery organized by a co-operative of professional artists that present their work on a regular basis. The Assembly is uniquely positioned to present contemporary art in Hamilton in a timely and immediate pace while contributing to larger dialogues in contemporary art today. Originally sited near James and Cannon, The Assembly moved to a space within Redchurch Cafe in early 2019.
B-SIDE
288 James St. N.
B-SIDE is a 19+ DIY art and music space located within FARSIDE on James Street North. Its curator-programmers lean toward the weird and wonderful. B-SIDE is open to experienced and amateur organizers. Organizers do not charge rental fees, take commissions or take a door percentage from art or music shows, but the space is not available for pop-ups or sales. From Aug 21 – Sept 4, B-SIDE hosts Rabbit Iles: Cottagecore Gothic. Sept 5-Oct 9, B-SIDE features Gabriel Baribeau: Art Lotto.
Centre [3] for Artistic + Social Practice
173 James St. N.
Centre [3] is an artist-run centre that is dedicated to promoting print and media arts in contemporary artistic discourse for practicing artists and the community at large. As a production, exhibition, education centre and animator of community arts, Centre [3] supports both traditional and experimental print media and media art practices. The centre encourages research and innovation and provides forums for discussion and examination of critical and theoretical issues. Centre3 supports artists in the development of their professional endeavours and acts as a resource centre for the visual and media arts community. Curated by Lesley Loksi Chan, Ness Lee: Space of Feeling (Main Gallery, Sept 8-Oct 13, 2023) is a solo exhibition featuring works made by the artist during their recent Incite Foundation residency at Centre[3]. The artist will be undertaking a street painting performance Fri Sept 8, 6-9pm (roughly concurrent with the exhibition’s opening reception). Also showing at Centre [3] is VibraFusionLab: Haptic Voices (126 Prototype Gallery through Sept 29, 2023) pushes the boundaries of haptic technology by creating an art installation — a large scale ten channel vibrotactile wall — that is an interactive hybrid-online venue. Visitors are invited to stand against the wall to experience vibrations that are controlled by online participants. Online participants will chant, hum, and vocalize into the microphones on their computers as the sound is played through the vibrotactile transducers in the wall in real time. As well, Centre [3]’s Members’ Gallery hosts Moma Dada: Room to Breathe (showing though Sept 22, 2023) and Aichoucha Haidara: I, The Wearer (showing though Oct 18, 2023), both of which will have an opening reception on the evening of Fri Sept 8, 7-10pm).
Gallery 4 Annex
55 York Blvd.
Hamilton Public Library’s Central branch has proudly made gallery space available to downtown customers since 1980. Gallery4 is located on the first floor of the Central Library. It has hosted a variety of artists using every medium, from all ranges of paint techniques, photography and 3D installations. Gallery 4 Annex is located on Circuit 4.0 (4th floor Central Library) and provides space for community organizations and individuals to share their works.
Hamilton Artists Inc.
155 James St N.
Hamilton Artists Inc. (popularly known as “The Inc.”) is committed to the presentation of contemporary art and related cultural practices. The Inc. facilitates a national dialogue surrounding issues in contemporary art through exhibitions, publications, performances, education and outreach projects. The Inc. actively engages in community arts programming and educational initiatives that represent the cultural life in Hamilton and beyond. Curated by Abedar Kamgari, Birdie Gerhl: Wormshop (Sept 6-Oct 28) brings together tactile sculpture and audio description as a medium, through video, vibrotactile experiences, and zines. Gerhl’s ongoing work at the wormshop imagines a world where her labour as a disabled person is more visible. Here, worms of all shapes and sizes crawl across a landscape of work benches and dining tables. Their flesh is cobbled together using mismatched, recycled bits of fabric, and lovingly adorned in textural flowers, embroidery, and patchwork. The worms are not fixed creatures, but constantly making, unmaking, and remaking themselves as they move towards the Crip Horizon. Laura Honsberger, Alana Morouney, and Par Nair: (No)Body (Sept 6-Oct 28) features works from the three member artists that comment on the discourse of the body in contemporary times. Elaborations on topics of care, harm, healing, and embodiment are explored through textiles and mixed media installations. The Inc’s Cannon Project Wall Installation, Mullyanne Nîmito amiskwaciy-wâskahikan: Cheyenne Rain LeGrande ᑭᒥᐘᐣ is part of a national billboard exchange between Hamilton Artists Inc., AKA Artist-run and PAVED Arts in Saskatoon.
i fiori
140 James St N
A new gallery space at independent, artist-run flower/plant shop i fiori showcases Hamilton artist Stephen Altena, whose botanical and nature themed oil paintings launch our gallery space this week.
Mulberry Coffeehouse Gallery
193 James St N.
Opened in a heritage building in August 2010, Mulberry Coffeehouse is well-known among locals for its organic coffee and craft beer, wine and cocktails, delicious baked goods, and homemade eats. The coffeehouses also hosts a variety of events and live music programming, and rotates exhibitions in its northernmost room. On Friday Sept 8, from 6pm to 9pm, Mulberry will host a live painting event featuring Natasha Rose, Alberto Morales, and Caillin Kowalczyk, with each of the participating artists creating an artwork over the course of an hour, and the resulting works auctioned off. The following night, Mulberry opens a new exhibition featuring paintings from Tania LaCaria’s Love Letters (To My Exes) collection, an exploration of love, relationships and dating, and how the artist learned more than she expected to about herself through the relationships she has had with others. The show will also feature Love Letters To Hamilton, an interactive art installation built around this collection, in which attendees will be offered love notes to take away during the opening reception Sat Sept 9 from 7pm-9pm. Mulberry will also host musical performances from Riddim Riders (Friday, 10pm-1am), Brown Brothers DJs (Saturday, 10pm-1am) and Alfie (Sunday, 12:30-3:30 pm).
Studio on James
126 James St. N.
Studio on James is home to artist Tara Smith, where she uses the space as a creative studio for creative expression and photographic workshops and classes for children, teens, and adults. There is always something happening at the studio, with a variety of special events such as open studios, one-day workshops, and rotating art exhibits.
Workers Arts and Heritage Centre
51 Stuart St.
The Workers Arts and Heritage Centre aims to preserve, honour and promote the culture and history of all working people, and learn from the past while challenging the future – for future generations. The contributions of working people (not only in Canadian history but worldwide) are showcased in art, exhibits, and performances. Their labour and advocacy has made this country a fair and vibrant place to live and work, and WAHC acknowledges these struggles. Tabitha Arnold: The People’s Cathedral opens Sept 8 and shows through Nov 25, and the Tennessee-based artist will also be Artist-in-Residence at WAHC (Community Gallery Sept 10-Dec 11) during the exhibition, using her time to work on a textile project illuminating her artistic practice.
You Me Gallery
330 James St. N., Hamilton
