Sculpture by British-Jamaican acquired by the Art Gallery of Ontario

TORONTO:

The work of a British sculptor of Jamaican heritage now sits outside the main entrance of the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto – one of the largest art museums in North America .

Standing 2.7 metres tall and made of lustrous black bronze, Thomas J. Price’s “Moments Contained (2022) sculpture depicts a contemplative young Black woman, dressed in casual wear. Feet planted on the sidewalk, her demeanour is serene, and she appears outwardly confident, but the hands she hides in her pockets are visibly clenched, suggesting a tension between her inner thoughts and outward expression.

Julie Crooks, curator, Arts of Global Africa and the Diaspora, who spearheaded the acquisition, said in 2021, as part of ArtworxTO: Toronto’s Year of Public Art, the AGO exhibited Price’s sculpture “Within the Folds (Dialogue 1).” That was a loan from a collector. It stood on the site currently held by Brian Jungen’s “Couch Monster: Sadzě? yaaghęhch’ill (2022)”.

Before that, in 2019, the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery hosted “Ordinary Men,” a major exhibition of Price’s work.

Crooks said this introduced everyone to Thomas’s work and his skill, in terms of form and scale, and his pushing forward the history of bronze casting and sculpture.

After “Within the Folds (Dialogue 1),” she was determined to see how the AGO could purchase one or acquire one for its collection. Price started making female figures and that sealed the deal for Crooks who said it would be important to have a bronze of a Black woman acquired for their collection.

The curator said the sculptures in this series that Thomas has created – which he calls “psychological portraits – are fictional characters, a compilation of different Black women, of their heads and their hairstyle.

“I think he’s really interested in getting in people’s minds – not only the viewer but somehow animating the figure – that you feel a real aura and presence and familiarity.”

Crooks said Price has various versions but this one in particular and the title “Moments Contained” really struck her.

According to Price, his use of multiple sources is essential in constructing his characters and “place[s] the focus on their psychological embodiment and underlying humanistic qualities.”

In conversation with Crooks, Price said he is focused on celebrating empathy and similarities instead of differences among people. The use of bronze has permanence and gives an official account of ordinary person who are usually not represented in many monuments. He noted that he does not create work because he wants people to like it.

“Moments Contained” is the first public artwork to be acquired by the AGO’s Department of Arts of Global Africa and the Diaspora. Since being founded in 2020, the department has worked to address historic gaps and erasures related to the representation of Africa and its diasporas through programming, acquisitions, and exhibitions. Recent additions to the collection include works by Moridja Kitenge Banza, Sandra Brewster, Jorian Charlton, Andrea Chung, Leasho Johnson, Manuel Mathieu, Bidemi Oloyede, Emmanuel Osahor, Zak Ové, Marc Padeu, Jan Wade, and Alberta Whittle.

The acquisition and presentation of the sculpture was made possible by the generous contributions of a group of donors, the majority of whom are from Toronto’s Black and Caribbean communities. Lead support for the acquisition was from an anonymous donor, with significant support from David W. Binet and The Haynes-Connell Foundation.

Crooks said even before this department it has been a mission of hers with The Montgomery Collection of Caribbean Photographs, the Moko Jumbie sculpture, and now this sculpture, “how do we create that nexus and relationship and cultivate donors and supporters who feel that they are part of the AGO ecosystem, and see themselves reflected in the collection.”

She said it is also about legacy, many of the donors who supported “Moments Contained” at times dedicated it to women in their lives: mothers, sisters, aunts – something which Crooks found lovely and poignant.

Price, who lives and works in London, has held solo exhibitions at institutions including: The Power Plant, Toronto, Canada; The National Portrait Gallery, London, UK; the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, West Bretton, UK; the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK; Kunsthalle Krems, Austria; and Kunsthal Rotterdam.

He was commissioned by Hackney Council to create the first permanent public sculptures to celebrate the contribution of the Windrush generation and their descendants in the UK, unveiled in June 2022. His solo presentation, ‘Witness’, in collaboration with The Studio Museum in Harlem was on view in Marcus Garvey Park from 2021-2022.