Secondary museums in Toronto

No question most of my attention goes towards what is going on at the AGO and the ROM.  I'm usually only up for going to the ROM about once a year, typically on the weekend with membership-swapping with the AGO.

At any rate, the AGO is particularly interesting right now with the Impressionist exhibit going on.  Late this year and into 2020, there is an exhibit on Rubens.  I have to say this doesn't really interest me, though I'll probably go once.  I thought there was supposed to be another landscape exhibit coming up, but perhaps I've confused that with something else.  In a few months, the AGO will unveil its very own Infinity Room, and I'll check that out.  However, there is no question I'm not that thrilled about the 2020 offerings, at least at the moment.  (While I ultimately decided the studio exhibit in Montreal wasn't really worth travelling for, next year around this time they have a major exhibit on Signac and other Parisian artists -- in some ways a continuation of AGO's Impressionist exhibit.  I'll make sure to get out there next year, perhaps over Spring Break.)

Probably the single most "important" art event outside the big 2 is the Ai Weiwei exhibit at the Gardiner.  This runs through June 9.  I will be somewhat disappointed if it is just photos of him breaking pots (as I already saw those and didn't think the artistic statements was that profound).  Nonetheless, I do want to check this out.

I had more or less forgotten the exhibit of female artists at the Market Gallery (over at St. Lawrence Market).  Fortunately, this runs through late April, and as soon as I am biking again, I'll swing by.

I did get the sense when MOCA moved that I would be going less often, and that is definitely the case.  I find this location takes considerably more effort to get there (compared to their Queen St. location), but really I just don't like the works they are promoting.  Most of it is deeply unappealing to me and/or they are focusing on video art, which I simply don't have the patience for in a museum setting.  For instance, they are showing two Chantal Akerman films, but it is not at all clear how long they are (and you apparently have to turn up to find the start times).  I probably will not be going back more than once every three or four years.  MOCA has almost completely fallen off my radar, even though I used to make a point of seeing what they were up to.

It's been kind of a mixed bag at the Power Plant over on the Waterfront, but they often have exhibits that appeal to me, at least a bit (certainly in comparison to MOCA).  Again, once I am biking more regularly (hopefully within a week or two), I'll stop by.  The current set of exhibits runs through mid May, so I have lots of time.

I do often try to get to the Textile Museum, maybe twice a year.  I may miss the Crosscurrents exhibit (which ends March 31).  However, I will likely be taking my extended family when they turn up this summer, and we'll check out the Nadia Myre exhibit, which looks pretty interesting.

Finally, I do make a point of getting to the Aga Khan Museum on a regular basis, either on the free night (Wed. evenings) or when I get a free pass at the library.  Anyway, an exhibit on the role of the moon in Islamic art and culture has just opened, and I'll plan on seeing that in the spring or summer.

So there is generally quite a bit to do, apart from just the AGO or the ROM, even though they certainly do command the most attention.