Holding Patterns: the long view
A Look Inside the McIntosh Gallery Collection
Curated by Rachel Deiterding
September 25 — December 6, 2025
Jamie Q, The Possibilities are Endless, 2012, 6-colour screen print. Purchase, Saward Memorial Fund, 2012. Collection of McIntosh Gallery, Western University.
Holding Patterns: the long view examines the McIntosh Gallery collection through the lens of collection data, the information that is recorded to describe, organize, and preserve knowledge about each artwork. This information underpins everything we know about the collection, framing our understanding of individual artworks and the collection as a whole.
Tracing the pathways laid by the data, the selected artworks present a proportionally accurate overview of the 4,350 artworks in the gallery’s care. They make visible trends in collecting activity, artistic approaches, and how information has been categorized to offer insights into the collection’s purpose and its evolving priorities.
Among the many stories the data tells is a century-long history of collecting, the who, what, when of the collection since its inception in the 1920s. Yet data is not neutral. Equally present are the stories that are missing from the data, the gaps and inconsistencies that leave us with more questions than answers, shaping what we ask next.
This year the gallery began conducting a major collections audit and review. Looking closely at our collections data has positioned this data as both a historical and a future-oriented tool, allowing us to better understand the history of the collection and set priorities for its future. This exhibition invites visitors into this process, sharing some of the discoveries that a data-focused approach has brought to light. The culmination of this work will help guide how we collect, care for, and interpret the collection in the years to come.
Featured artists: Kenojuak Ashevak, Eric Atkinson, Carl Beam, Micheline Beauchemin, Ron Benner, Michael Bidner, Rudolf Bikkers, David Blackwood, Charles John Collings, William Nichol Cresswell, Greg Curnoe, Geraldine Davis, Michael Durham, Brian Fisher, Robert Fones, Annie French, Paddy Gunn O'Brien, Wyn Geleynse, Jamelie Hassan, Thomas Hodgson, Walter Jule, Brian Jones, Antje Laidler, Suzy Lake, Stanley Lewis, Arther Lismer, Stephen Livick, Kenneth Lochhead, Ron Martin, Clark McDougall, Ray Mead, David Milne, Kim Moodie, Shelley Niro, Kim Ondaatje, Gerald Pedros, Jamie Q, Angie Quick, Gillian Saward, Becky Singleton, Gordon Appelbe Smith, Michael Snow, Jamasie Teevee, Ningiukulu Teevee, Colette Urban, Aidan Urquhart, Tony Urquhart, Victor Vasarely, Eddy Weetalukektak, Joyce Wieland, Jeff Willmore, and Tim Whiten.
The Connecting to Collections project is generously supported by Catherine Elliot Shaw.
