The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) is regarded as one of the 10 best museums in Toronto. The museum presents rotating exhibitions centred on 21st century artistic expression, and its mission is to promote dialogue and diversity through art.
Located at 158 Sterling Road in Toronto’s Lower Junction neighbourhood, the museum is open Wednesday through Sunday from 11am-6pm, and open until 9pm on Fridays. The museum is free for people under 18, $5 for students/seniors, and $10 for adults. The museum also offers free entry every Friday from 5pm-9pm, and is free all-day on the first Sunday of the month.
(Planning to check out the exhibits during the holidays? Make sure you check out the museum’s website for opening hours before your visit.)
The museum’s current programming, House of Card, is an architectural focused pursuit inspired by the work of Thomas Demand and runs from September 16th, 2022 to January 8th, 2023 on its first, second and third floors. Read more about the exhibit and artists here.
Suggested visit time: Less than one hour
CURRENT EXHIBITS
Floor 1: Time Scale by Kelly Jazvac
Located on the museum’s first floor, Time Scale is accessible to all patrons - either you’re a paying museum visitor or someone just stopping by for a coffee at the Forno Cultura café. Through the use and manipulation of billboard images, Jazvak creates a series of interactive mediums that examines how we interpret and understand our relationship with images, consumerism and plastics. Learn more here.
Floor 1: Untitled 2013 / Thomas Demands Here (House of Card)
Arguably the most popular of the MOCA’s current programming, this site-specific installation mirrors a Japanese bar called Black Label, and plays on themes of space. To bring the work to life, MOCA has partnered with local businesses and organizations to engage audiences by using the space as a bar and performance area, including karaoke. Partners include Mother Cocktail Bar and Bar Mordecai where these pop-up collaborations offer a different set menu that highlights not only their own offerings, but also plays with the exhibit’s theme. These collaborations take place on Friday nights, and the last pop-up takes place on December 23rd.
Floor 2: Modeling (House of Card)
The works on this floor centre on the act of modeling, a crucial component of architectural design. Pieces on this floor include a diorama, detailed photographs, and a site-specific ceiling installation.
Floor 3: Recreating (House of Card)
Centring on Demand’s approach to recreating spaces through photographs and moving images, this floor include Refuge, works of art that aim to recreate the environment Edward Snowden lived in when seeking refuge in Russia; and Black Label, a wallpaper recreation of the Japanese bar introduced on Floor 1.
South Stairwell: Growth, Change, Decay by Sarah Badr
Keep your eyes – and ears – peeled for this small exhibition or you’ll miss it, This unexpected and cool installation is part of the museum’s programming.
WANT MORE ART?
Seeing the Invisible: An Outdoor Augmented Reality Exhibition in partnership with the City of Toronto and Toronto Parks, Forestry & Recreation, curated by Hadas Maor & Tal Michael Haring | October 1, 2022 – September 30, 2023
With locations at the MOCA, Sorauren Park and High Park, this exhibition includes AR works by thirteen internationally recognized artists, such as Ai Weiwei. Activated by the Seeing the Invisible app - available for iPhone and Android in the App Store and Google Play – the artworks can be experienced individually or as a walking tour that can be completed in 1-1.5 hours. Learn more about the exhibition here and here.
Plus, keep your eye out for the museum’s next exhibition February 24th – April 30th, 2023. Follow MOCA’s Instagram to learn more, and check back on the Toronto Coffee Date blog!
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