Welcome to CIMAM to Adam Welch!
“As the curator of modern art at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, I’m responsible the collection of international art made between 1900–2000. Home to the world’s largest public collection of Henry Moore sculptures as well as the Sam & Ayala Zacks collection, the AGO’s holdings of Modern art continue to grow. Reflecting the global nature of modernism, it features artworks from across North America, Europe and Brazil, ranging from celebrated Surrealist and post-painterly abstract paintings to rare examples of the Cologne Dada movement. The department champions art from the twentieth century through acquisitions, exhibitions, and publications. The ideals and outcomes of modernism continue to ricochet globally, impacting artists, art and contemporary life everywhere, and I’m passionate about leading that conversation from Toronto.”
Adam Welch, Curator, Modern Art, Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), Toronto, Canada.
"I’m most excited to join CIMAM in order to meet and collaborate with fellow curators working in modern and contemporary art museums. I’m passionate about thinking about histories of modernism globally, and appreciate CIMAM’s deep commitment to working across and beyond national boundaries. I’m especially keen to participate in CIMAM’s rapid response seminars, which seem to me to be a means of engaging with the most pressing issues affecting our work as curators of modern and contemporary art. I have long admired CIMAM’s high professional standards and collegiality—I’m pleased to now support its vision."
About Adam
Curator of the acclaimed 2022 retrospective exhibition General Idea, organized by the National Gallery of Canada, which subsequently travelled to the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and the Gropius Bau, Berlin, Adam arrived at the AGO in 2023 from the National Gallery of Canada, where he served as Associate Curator, Canadian Art. Prior to that he held positions at the Art Museum at the University of Toronto and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
With an MA from Columbia University, New York, and a PhD in the history of art from the University of Toronto, his doctoral dissertation, Borderline Research: Art between Canada and the United States, 1965–75, explored relationships between artists, curators, and dealers across the Canadian-American border. Adam is an assistant professor, status only, in Art History at the University of Toronto.
About CIMAM
CIMAM – International Committee for Museums and Collections of Modern Art – is an Affiliated Organization of ICOM.* Founded in 1962, CIMAM’s vision is a world where the contribution of museums, collections, and archives of modern and contemporary art to the cultural, social, and economic well-being of society is recognized and respected.
Join today, and take part in our network with almost 900 contemporary art museum professionals from over 80 countries.
Thank you, Adam Welch, for becoming a member of CIMAM!