EDUCATION
1971–74 Ontario College of Art, Canada (AOCA)
1968–69 Trent University, Peterborough, Canada (English & History)
TEACHING
2003–2018 University of Toronto (Visual Studies)
1981–83 Ontario College of Art (Experimental Arts)
SOLO EXHIBITION
2024 Clint Roenisch Gallery, Toronto (forthcoming)
2016 Diaz Contemporary, Toronto
2010 Georgia Scherman Projects, Toronto
2008 Georgia Scherman Projects, Toronto
2007 Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, Vancouver
2006 University of Toronto Art Centre
2005 Canadian Cultural Centre, Paris
Spoke Club, Toronto
Galerie de l’UQAM, Montreal
Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver
2004 Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, Ottawa
Bailey Fine Arts, Toronto
2002 Solo Exhibition Space, Toronto
Massey College, Toronto
2001 Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto
2000 Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto
1999 Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto
1997 Lutz Teutloff Galerie at the Chelsea Hotel, Cologne
1995 Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto
1994 Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto
Art Gallery of Hamilton (Canada)
1992 Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto
1991 Art Gallery of Ontario, travelling exhibition in Ontario
1990 Canadian Cultural Centre, Paris
1989 Galerie Chantal Boulanger, Montreal
Open Studio, Toronto
1988 Ruimte Morguen, Antwerp
Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh
1986 Ydessa Gallery, Toronto
1984 Funnel, Toronto
1983 Galerie France Morin, Montreal
1981 Galerie France Morin, Montreal
1980 Institute for Art and Urban Resources, P.S.1, Long Island City
1979 Mercer Union, Toronto
SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 “Chasm,” McMaster Museum of Art, Hamilton
“Travellers,” Clint Roenisch Gallery, Toronto
2019 “From every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you,” Montreal Museum of Fine Art, Montreal
2017 “Field Guide,” Remai Modern Museum, Saskatoon
“Yesterday was Once Tomorrow (or, A Brick is a Tool),” Banff Centre for the Arts, Banff
“Photography in Canada from 1960 - 2000,” National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
2016 “Collecting Red,” Gallery Stratford, Stratford
“Toronto: Tributes + Tributaries, 1971-1989,” Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
“Showroom,” Art Museum at the University of Toronto, Toronto
2015 “Stellar Living: A Benefit Auction for Mercer Union,” Mercer Union, Toronto
2014 “Running on Empty,” Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa
La Biennale de Montréal, Musée d'Art Contemporain de Montréal, Montréal
Adjunct installation, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
2013 “Art Untitled,” Georgia Scherman Projects, Miami
“David Cronenberg: Through the Eye,” Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto
“One, and Two, and More than Two,” The Power Plant, Toronto
“Stellar Living: Contemporary Art & Design Auction,” Mercer Union, Toronto
“Goodwater,” G Gallery, Toronto
“The Glove, the Car, and the Mirror,” McMaster Museum of Art, Hamilton
“Auto-Motive: World from the Windshield,” Oakville Galleries in Gairloch Gardens & Centennial Square, Oakville,
“Looking Out and Looking In: A Selection Of Contemporary Photography,” Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo
“Silver Editions,” Gallery TPW, Toronto
2012 “Red Sky at Night,” Mercer Union, Toronto
“Interactions,” Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Montréal
“Manscape: Man as Subject and Object,” Lora Reynolds Gallery, Austin
“Envisioning Buildings: Reflecting Architecture in Contemporary Art Photography,” MAK Exhibition Hall, Vienna
2011 "Rising to the Occasion: The Long 18th Century," McMaster Museum of Art, Hamilton
“Elastic Frames,” Transmission Gallery, Glasgow
2010 “Marburg! The Early Bird!” Marburger Kunstverein, Germany
“Art at Work,” Art Gallery of Mississauga (Canada)
“Yesterday’s Tomorrows,” Musée d’art contemporain de Montreal
2009 “Other Worlds,” Confederation Centre of the Arts, Charlottetown (Canada)
“Road Runners,” VOX centre de l’image contemporaine, Montreal
“True Lies,” Georgia Scherman Projects, Toronto
“The Way I Are,” Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto, Mississauga
2008 “Metamorphosis,” Akbank Sanat, Istanbul
“Pleinairism,” i8 Gallery, Reykjavik
“Architecture Through Art,” Design at Riverside, Cambridge Galleries (Canada)
2007 “Cinema Paradiso,” Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne
“25sec. – Toronto,” Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art, Toronto
“Projections,” University of Toronto galleries, travelling to Art Gallery of Alberta (2008)
2006 “Beyond Cinema: The Art of Projection,” Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin
“Sound and Vision,” Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
“Existing, Nonconforming,” Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver
“Art of Peace,” Victoria & Albert Museum, London
The Viewing Room, Toronto
2005 “Lasting Impressions,” Art Gallery of Hamilton (Canada)
2004 “This Much is Certain,” Royal College of Art Galleries, London
“ID International,” Art Miami Basel
2003 “Adorno,” Franfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt
“Psychotopes,” YYZ Artist’s Space, Toronto
“Revealing the Subject,” Oakville Galleries, Oakville
“Mixed Messaging,” Toronto International Art Fair
2002 Bailey Fine Arts at New York Armory Show, Photography
“New Photography,” Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto
“Excelerator,” Innovations Foundation, University of Toronto
2001 “Bra Joe from Kilimanjaro,” University Art Museum, Brisbane
“Big Shots,” Art Sytem, Toronto
“Tempus Fugit,” Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa (Canada)
“Four Days at the Whitehouse,” 11 Jersey Avenue, Toronto
2000 “Canadian Stories,” Ydessa Hendeles Art Foundation, Toronto (through 2003)
1999 “Tongues & Ashes,” Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery (Canada)
“In Lieu,” Swan Restaurant, Toronto
1997 “After Life II, Anthuriums & Passion Flowers,” Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto
“Rococo Tattoo: The Ornamental Impulse in Toronto Art,” Power Plant, Toronto
“La Luxure,” Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
1996 The Biennale in Sydney (Australia)
Inter Access, Toronto
1995 “Barbara Bloom, Ian Carr-Harris, John Massey,” S.L. Simpson Gallery, Toronto
Lutz Teutloff Galerie, Cologne
“Press Enter,” Power Plant, Toronto
1994 “The Body – Le Corps,” Kunsthalle Bielefeld, travelling to Haus am Waldsee, Berlin
“Fixing the Gaze,” Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto
1993 “Canada: Une nouvelle génération,” Musée de l’Abbaye Sainte Croix, Les Sables d’Olonne & FRAC Franche-Comté, Dole
(France)
1992 “Xmostra da Gravura,” Museu da Gravura, Cidade de Curitiba (Brazil)
“Beau,” Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, Ottawa
Canadian Cultural Centre, Paris
1991 “Arden, Doherty, Garnell, Horsfield, Massey, Struth,” Galerie Giovanna Minelli, Paris
“Das Goldene Zeitalter,” Württembergischer Künstverein, Stuttgart
“Practicing Beauty,” Art Gallery of Hamilton (Canada)
1990 “Passages de l’image,” Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, travelling to Fundació Caixa de Pensions, Barcelona (1991);
Wexner Art Center, Columbus (1991); Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco (1992)
“Photographic Inscription: Künst aus Toronto,” Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen, Stuttgart
1989 “Fictions,” Mirabel International Airport, Montreal
Grace Hopper Collective at 1400 Dupont Street, Toronto
Parachute Benefit Show, Galerie Chantal Boulanger & Galerie René Blouin, Montreal
Selections from the Ann and Marshall Webb Collection, Art Gallery of York University, Toronto
1987 “From Sea to Shining Sea,” Power Plant, Toronto
“Toronto: A Play of History,” Power Plant, Toronto
1986 “Focus – Canadian Art 1960–85,” 20th International Cologne Art Fair
1985 “Alles und Noch Viel Mehr,” Künstmuseum, Bern
“Aurora Borealis,” Centre international d’art contemporain de Montréal
Laurentian University Art Centre, Sudbury (Canada)
Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon
“Subjects and Subject Matter,” London Ontario Regional Art Gallery at the Art Gallery at Harbourfront, Toronto
“Four Legs Good: The Dog Show,” Art Gallery at Harbourfront, Toronto
1984 “Canada / New York,” 49th Parallel, New York
“Reflections: Contemporary Art Since 1964,” National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
1983 “Künstler aus Kanada,” Württembergischer Künstverein, Stuttgart
1982 “OKanada,” Akademie der Künst, Berlin, travelling to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
1981 “Spring Hurlbut, Ron Martin, John Massey, Becky Singleton,” Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
1980 “Hier et Après,” Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
Paris Biennale (France)
1979 “Confrontations,” Vancouver Art Gallery
PUBLIC ART COMMISSIONS
2007 Because It’s Twue, video commission at Dundas Square
COLLECTIONS
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo
Art Gallery of Hamilton , Hamilton
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
Bruce Bailey Collection, Toronto
Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, Ottawa
Fonds National d’Art Contemporain, Paris
Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Remai Modern Museum, Saskatoon
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Vancouver Art Gallery
Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Ydessa Hendeles Art Foundation, Toronto
BOARDS AND COMMITTEES
2017– European Curatorial Committee, Art Gallery of Ontario
Board of Governance, Massey College
2016– Chair of Massey College Art Committee, Massey College
2016 Duncan Street Public Art Jury
2002–09 Art Gallery of Ontario, Board of Directors
1996– Member of corporation, Massey College
1990–94 Power Plant, Board of Directors
AWARDS AND GRANTS
2010 Canada Council Project Grant
2004 Canada Council A Grant
2001 Gershon Iskowitz Award
1995 Canada Council A Grant
1992 Canada Council A Grant
1987 Canada Council A Grant
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Artist’s Publications
2019 Red White & Blue (Toronto)
2006 Kitsch Unedited, book compiled by Jan Andriesse (Holland: De Pont museum of contemporary art), pp 75–6
1984 Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary, poster
1982 The House that Jack Built, 24-page book
1979 The Ornate Railing of Partial Appeasement, poster
Catalogues
2017 Toronto: Tributes + Tributaries, 1971 - 1989, Art Gallery of Ontario
2016 John Massey: Black on White (Toronto)
Photography in Canada from 1960 - 2000, National Gallery of Canada/Canadian photography, Ottawa
Yesterday’s Tomorrows (Musée d’art contemporain de Montreal)
The Donovan Collection (Toronto: University of St. Michael’s College)
2008 Metamorphosis (Istanbul: Akbank Sanat)
2007 Cinema Paradiso (Melbourne: Australian Centre for Contemporary Art)
20/20 Vision, The Power Plant 20th Anniversary Gala Dinner & Art Auction (Toronto: The Power Plant)
Projections (University of Toronto)
2006 John Massey, This Land (Paris: Canadian Cultural Centre)
Beyond Cinema: The Art of Projection (Berlin: Hamburger Bahnhof)
Existing, Nonconforming (Vancouver: Contemporary Art Gallery)
Art of Peace Auction for Atlantic College (London: Victoria & Albert Museum)
2005 John Massey, Phantoms of the Modern (Toronto: Bailey Fine Arts)
2004 John Massey, The House that Jack Built (Ottawa: Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography)
2000 John Massey, Once Upon a Time (Toronto: Olga Korper Gallery)
1999 John Massey: Modern Waiting Area, Faux Install, Jack in Situ (Toronto: Olga Korper Gallery)
1995 Press/Enter: Between Seduction and Disbelief (Toronto: Power Plant)
1994 The Body – Le Corps (Kunsthalle Bielefeld)
John Massey (Art Gallery of Hamilton)
1992 Canada: Une nouvelle génération (Gétigné-Clisson: FRAC des Pays de la Loire / La Roche-sur-Yon: Musée Municipal / Les
Sables-d’Olonne: Musée de l’Abbaye Sainte-Croix / Dole: FRAC Franche-Comté)
Beau (Ottawa: Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography)
La collection: Tableau inaugural (Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal)
1991 Mattress Factory: Installation and Performance 1982–89 (Pittsburgh: Mattress Factory)
Das Goldene Zeitalter (Stuttgart: Württembergischer Künstverein)
John Massey: Six Prints (Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario)
1990 Passages de l’image (Paris: Centre Georges Pompidou / Barcelona: Fondació Caixa de Pensions,1991)
Practicing Beauty (Art Gallery of Hamilton)
Photographic Inscription: Künst aus Toronto (Stuttgart: Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)
1989 Fictions (Montreal: LGE & Aubes 3935 Galerie)
Selections from the Ann and Marshall Webb Collection (Toronto: Art Gallery of York University)
1988 Twilight’s Last Gleaming (Antwerp: Ruimte Morguen)
1987 Toronto: A Play of History / Jeu d’histoire (Toronto: Power Plant)
From Sea to Shining Sea (Toronto: Power Plant)
1985 Aurora Borealis (Centre international d’art contemporain de Montréal)
Four Legs Good: The Dog Show (Toronto: Art Gallery at Harbourfront)
Alles Und Noch Viel Mehr (Bern: Künstmuseum)
Subjects and Subject Matter (London Ontario Regional Art Gallery)
1983 Canada / New York (New York: 49th Parallel)
Künstler aus Kanada (Stuttgart: Würtembergischer Künstverein)
1982 OKanada (Berlin: Akademie der Künst / Ottawa: The Canada Council)
1981 Spring Hurlbut, Ron Martin, John Massey, Becky Singleton (Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario)
1980 Hier et Après (Montreal Museum of Fine Arts)
1979 Confrontations (Vancouver Art Gallery)
Books & Articles
2016 Murray Whyte, “At the AGO, a river that flows, finally, in multiple directions,” The Toronto Star, 6 Oct
2010 Murray Whyte, “Making room to revisit a movie classic,” The Toronto Star, 13 Nov
David Balzer, “John Massey: Cine signs,” Canadian Art Online, 3 Nov
Peggy Gale, Wharf centre d’art contemporain de Basse-Normandie
Ihor Holubizky, “John Massey,” The Gershon Iskowitz Prize 1986–2006
“John Massey – Soldiers,” Descant, issue 148
2009 Ariane Noël de Tilly, “Moving images, editioned artworks and authenticity,” Art Conservation and Authenticities
“Ten Stones,” artist’s project, Public, vol. 38
Ian Carr-Harris, “Toronto: John Massey,” Contemporary Annual, issue 96
2008 Bill Clarke, “John Massey,” Modern Painters, October
Rick Rhodes, “John Massey: Driven to Distraction,” Canadian Art Online, July
2007 “John Massey interviews himself on ‘This Land (The Photographs),’” Idea&s, vol. 4, no. 2
2005 Joshua Knelman, “Bruce Almighty” (Camera), Toronto Life, March
2004 “Les vingt ans du CIAC,” Centre international d’art contemporain de Montréal
Sarah Milroy, “Massey’s masterpiece,” Globe & Mail, 24 Aug
Robert Fulford, “There’s no place like this home,” The National Post, 12 Oct
Kevin Browne, “It isn’t a snap,” The National Post, 7 Feb
2003 Sarah Milroy, “Odes to a city under siege,” Globe & Mail, 11 Sept
2002 Gary Michael Dault, Review, Canadian Art, Summer
Illustration for “Love, love will tear us apart, again …,” C, Spring
2001 Gary Michael Dault, “A military invasion of the familiar,” Globe & Mail, 8 Dec
2000 Bruce Bailey, “Minimalist Tea for Two,” Weekend Post, 1 April
Gary Michael Dault, “The polarities of beauty and threat,” Globe & Mail, 13 May
Thomas Hirschmann, “Dancing puppets,” Weekend Post, 13 May
Blake Gopnik, “Moments of truth, traces of fiction,” Globe & Mail, 21 Nov
1999 Gillian MacKay, “Massey manipulates modernist illusions,” Globe & Mail, 6 Feb
1998 Russell Keziere, “Digital Being: Reproduction in the age of art,” Artbyte, vol.1, no.2
1997 Terry Smith, ed., “In Visible Touch: Modernism and Masculinity,” Power Publications, Sydney
“Job’s Eyes,” artist’s project, Public, no.15: Icons and Ideas
1994 Didier Ottinger, “The Jack Photographs ou l’ubiquité du regard,” Parachute, no.74
John Bentley Mays, “No Exit,” Canadian Art, vol.11, no.2
Anne McPherson, “John Massey at the Hamilton Art Gallery,” Art in America
1992 John Bentley Mays, “Plumbing the depths of the unsayable,” Globe & Mail, 6 June
1990 Florette Camard, “Passages de l’image,” Galeries (Paris), Oct/Nov
Gordon Lebredt, “Some thoughts on Twilight’s Last Gleaming,” C, Fall
1989 Peggy Gale, “Art as Embodied Conditions,” Parachute, Oct/Nov/Dec
Claire Gravel, “L’imagination sans limite de John Massey,” Le Devoir, 18 Feb
Russell Keziere, “Ich bin ein Woodcutter Kanada/Europe/Amerika,”Vanguard, Feb/March
John Bentley Mays, “Toronto: A Play of History,” Toronto, May
1986 John Bentley Mays, “From coast to coast,” Globe & Mail, 27 Dec
John Bentley Mays, “Making sense out of culture’s image circus,” Globe & Mail, 25 Jan
John Bentley Mays, “John Massey, Photographic works and graphics at the Ydessa Gallery,” Globe & Mail, 23 Jan
Elke Town, “John Massey,” Parachute, June/July/Aug
Dot Tuer, “John Massey,” Vanguard, April/May
William Wood, “Saint Jack,” C, Spring
1985 Salem Alaton, “Gallery goes to the dogs,” Globe & Mail, 28 Sept
Robert Graham, “Aurora Borealis,” C, Fall
Elio Grazioli, “Aurora Borealis,” Flash Art, Oct/Nov
Scott Lauder, “The National Set-up,” Canadian Forum, Dec
Gillian Mackay,”A Milestone in Contemporary Art,” Maclean’s, 19 Aug
1984 John Bentley Mays, “A bumpily uneven display of expatriate art,” Globe & Mail, 30 March
Robert Bringhurst, Visions: Contemporary Art in Canada (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre)
David Burnett & Marilyn Schiff, Contemporary Canadian Art (Edmonton: Hurtig)
1983 Bruce Ferguson, “Artists from Canada,” Artmagazine, Summer
Lawrence Sabbath, “Multi-media exhibit shows concern for total environment,” Gazette, 9 April
1982 Jeanne Parkin, Art in Architecture (Toronto: Visual Arts Ontario)
1981 Peggy Gale, “John Massey’s essential realities,” Parachute, Fall
1980 John Bentley Mays, “Massey makes room for himself on art scene,” Globe & Mail, 26 April
Ann Morrison, “Off the Pedestal: Appearance vs Content,” Vanguard, March