Spotlight with Shannon Anderson
Shannon Anderson, Senior Curator, Art Gallery of Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Could you tell us a little more about your background and how you got into curating?
While I was completing my MA in contemporary art history in Montreal, I assisted one of my professors in putting together a group exhibition, and I found the experience of going to studio visits and seeing where and how artists work fascinating. I started working in a gallery soon after graduating as an exhibition coordinator, and eventually I become an independent curator, which gave me the chance to experience how different galleries worked across Canada. I was also a part-time art curator for the Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital for about 6 years. After the pandemic, however, I was eager for the stability that comes with having a full-time role in an institution, and I am now with the Art Gallery of Mississauga (AGM) as their Senior Curator.
Who/what has influenced your curatorial practice?
My undergraduate degree was a specialized program that blended studio art and art history, and my experiences in the painting, photography, print, and sculpture studios impacted my approach to curating. In part, this hands-on experience gave me a more intimate understanding of process, but more so in that I appreciate the tenacity it takes to be a practicing artist. A visiting artist once said that they resented curators who “treat artists like paint,” and I took it to heart. I’m always mindful of letting the art lead the way in how I develop exhibitions, and not simply slot artists into a pre-conceptualized theme.
Working for the Oakville Hospital was also important to my development as a curator, because I saw the impact that contemporary art could have in daily life, outside the confines of a gallery. The hospital an ideal setting for encountering art in many ways, since people seem to come without preconceived notions of what art “should” be. Most individuals are there waiting, or looking for distraction, and it was heartening to see visitors pausing and spending time with the art – reading the labels to learn more, and having conversations about what they were looking at. It allowed me to witness the beneficial relationship between art and mental health first hand.
The role of the curator is continuously changing. Could you describe what it means to be a curator today?
I was an independent curator for quite a few years, and now being part of an institution, I find my attention is more focused on our local community - in terms of both people and place - and creating different experiences with each exhibition that hopefully resonate for our audiences and that challenge and excite me as a curator. But, ultimately, being a curator is about supporting artists and I want to use my platform to ensure that the artists we work with have a valuable experience that allows their practice to develop further.
Tell us about the latest exhibition / project that you curated.
Part of my curatorial practice is a collaborative venture with co-curator Jay Wilson (andersonwilsonprojects.org). Our most recent exhibition was The Further Apart Things Seem, and it travelled to galleries in Ontario and Alberta, Canada. It was a group exhibition that pushed against today’s divisive climate to focus on practices that invent strategies of resistance to explore areas of connection between things that otherwise seem disconnected or in opposition. It included works by Atanas Bozdarov, Anna Binta Diallo, Barbara Hobot, Adriana Kuiper & Ryan Suter, Brendan Lee Satish Tang, and Couzyn van Heuvelen. We’re on to our next project now; we just wrapped up a long series of studio visits and are in the midst of drafting the curatorial framework.
What are you reading, watching, or listening to now, that is helping you to stay relaxed and positive?
Jay and I have a 2-person book club, so that we can maintain a dialogue as we’re developing our projects. We’ve read more than 100 books together since we started, about 7 years ago. We recently read Sean Michaels’s Do You Remember Being Born?, which is a story about a renowned senior poet who is asked by an unnamed, high-profile company to generate a long verse poem with their AI poetry bot. It was elegantly composed, and I found myself deliberately slowing my pace so it wouldn’t end too soon. We document all the books we’ve read together on our website.
How long have you been part of IKT and how do you feel that it has benefited your curatorial practice?
I’ve been a member for over 10 years, and I enjoy being part of an international network. I was grateful to receive IKT grants to attend the Miami Congress in 2019, and I was so impressed by the unique opportunity to absorb the city’s cultural landscape at a deep level while connecting with colleagues from around the world. The congresses often conflict with art installation periods, so I need to do a better job of earmarking the dates in advance so that I can attend more of them. I have enjoyed the IKT online symposiums as well.
Thank you Shannon!
Spotlight
Spotlight is a new series of short interviews, aiming to showcase the diverse expertise and innovative approaches of our IKT members. Whether you're seeking inspiration or searching for potential partners, join us on this captivating journey as we uncover the stories, ideas, and creative visions of our members.
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