Through the Ground Glass: Reframing William James Topley
2024-06-21 - 2025-02-09 | Ottawa Art Gallery, 50 Mackenzie King Bridge, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6E2, Canada
Through the Ground Glass explores a dialogue between the historical work of Ottawa photographer William James Topley and the practices of six contemporary artists: Lori Blondeau, Chun Hua Catherine Dong, Anique Jordan, Neeko Paluzzi, Adrian Stimson, and Geneviève Thauvette. These artists engage with image manipulation, hauntology, costumes, and theatricality to challenge established narratives and reclaim agency through portraiture.
Topley’s innovative use of the composite technique, similar to cut-and-paste collage, highlights photography’s power to construct compelling stories. In parallel, the contemporary artists in this exhibition draw on this principle to resist, deconstruct, and critique existing frameworks, creating works that envision and catalyze new possibilities for identity and representation.

Rachel Kalpana JAMES Bright Oriental Star
2024-09-21 - 2025-06-08
Dialogue between contemporary and historical art offers fresh perspectives on the past, and in this exhibition, South-Asian Canadian artist Rachel Kalpana James creates an immersive installation that illuminates a pivotal moment of East-West interaction in the early 20th century. Her work centers on Rabindranath Tagore’s 1929 visit to Canada. A renowned Indian poet and philosopher, Tagore’s ideas on spirituality and nature resonated deeply with audiences worldwide. While the impact of his visit on Canadian artists, particularly members of the Group of Seven such as Lawren S. Harris and Frederick Varley, has been largely overlooked, James’ installation offers a space to reconsider this overlooked influence.
Through a dynamic interplay of media, James pairs stylized footage of foliage with text from Tagore’s poetry and newspaper clippings documenting his Canadian visit. The pulsating words on screen, evocative of a heartbeat or a newsreel, create a sense of urgency and immediacy. Distorted images of iconic Canadian landscapes—reminiscent of Group of Seven works—subtly challenge the established artistic narrative. Projected onto a chalked background, the installation navigates the space between documentary and imagination, blurring the boundaries between history and fiction. By inviting viewers to question how history is shaped and perceived, James’ work encourages a critical re-examination of the complex relationship between colonial and national narratives in Canadian art.

Stories My Father Couldn’t Tell Me: Jeff Thomas Origin
2024-10-19 - 2025-03-16
This exhibition delves into the critical and creative practices of Jeff Thomas, an Urban-Iroquois photographer, curator, activist, and cultural theorist. Through his work, we explore how Thomas’ artistic process—highlighted by artist proofs, archival materials, and a new series titled Dream Panels—reflects his authorship of his lived experience on this land. His work resists government designations and engages in activism and reflection, asserting Indigenous presence and sovereignty.
Since 1980, Thomas has challenged the exclusion of Indigenous histories, experiences, and sovereignties in urban environments, particularly in his hometown of Buffalo, NY. His early works, including street photography and portraits of his son, Bear, marked the beginning of his efforts to map the erasures and continuities of Indigenous knowledge. By recontextualizing archival images by colonial photographers like Edward S. Curtis and William James Topley, Thomas crafted complex narratives that countered historical misrepresentations.
The breadth of Thomas’ oeuvre reflects his expansive curiosity and the deep connections he sees between place and time. In Dream Panels, he revisits four decades of art-making, focusing on themes that have remained central to his practice: Indigenous masculinity, disability, fatherhood, and the intricate relationships between land, ancestors, and family. These panels underscore how these concerns have shaped his ongoing, rigorous exploration of identity and community.
This exhibition is part of a unique partnership between the National Gallery of Canada (NGC) and the Ottawa Art Gallery (OAG), committed to supporting the agency, self-determination, and cultural sovereignty of Indigenous artists, cultural producers, and communities.
