THE FURTHER APART THINGS SEEM
ABOUT THE CURATORS

Shannon Anderson is an independent curator and writer based in Oakville, Ontario and Jay Wilson is an independent curator, artist (sculptor), designer and educator based in Toronto, Ontario. Their first co-curated project, The Closer Together Things Are, was a group exhibition focused on artworks that examine the space between similarity and difference arising from intense observation and consideration. An exploration of nearness and proximity, the exhibition brought together the work of ten artists from across Canada, including Kathleen Hearn, Ève K. Tremblay, Laura Letinsky, Micah Lexier, Dave Dyment, Roula Partheniou, Rhonda Weppler and Trevor Mahovsky, Luke Painter, and Chris Kline. Independently curated and organized, it travelled to the University of Waterloo Art Gallery (Waterloo, ON), the Owens Art Gallery (Sackville, NB), Saint Mary’s University Art Gallery (Halifax, NS), and the Southern Alberta Art Gallery (Lethbridge, AB) between 2017 and 2018. 

Anderson’s curated exhibitions have been shown at galleries across Canada, and she is currently the Art Curator for the Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital. She has also written essays for publications produced by numerous art galleries, and feature articles for Canadian Art, C Magazine, Carousel and EyeMazing Amsterdam. She holds a Specialist BA in Art and Art History (with distinction) from the University of Toronto and an MA in Art History from Concordia University in Montreal. 

Wilson is a full-time professor of design in the Art and Art History program, a joint program between the University of Toronto Mississauga and Sheridan College. He has an Honours degree in Wildlife Biology and Statistics from the University of Guelph, a diploma from the Ontario College of Art and Design and an MFA from York University. As an artist, Wilson has shown both locally and internationally, and has received numerous creation, research and exhibition assistance grants. His design and art practices are a mix of conceptual considerations and play, often full of segues, spontaneity and contradiction.