What’s on at MOCA this Spring
Five art shows we can’t wait to check out
Toronto’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) is not to be missed. With invigorating programming—and a formidable silhouette rising above Sterling Road—a trip inside its brick-clad walls is always well worth the visit. Plus, if you’re lucky, you might catch a whiff of chocolate from the Nestlé factory down the street. Here, discover five must-see art shows for their Spring season (April 17, 2025—August 3, 2025).
The Squared Circle: Ringing by Jessica Stockholder
For Canadian-American artist Jessica Stockholder, colour is powerfully emotive. Exploring the intersection of painting and sculpture, her work is fueled by vibrant colour in dynamic—often explosive—combinations. Frequently described as “paintings in space”, Stockholder’s site-specific artworks investigate how we approach the materiality of objects in our spaces, transforming unassuming items as large as a car and as small as a plastic bag.
In a process that embraces unpredictability, her work stands at the intersection of abstract expressionism, colour field painting, minimalism and theatre. Don’t miss Stockholder’s large-scale site-specific takeover on Floor 1 during Spring 2025 at MOCA.
Shoes, books, hands, buildings, and cars by Margaux Williamson
Blending a subtle surrealism with intimate moments, Toronto-based painter and filmmaker Margaux Williamson’s new exhibit Shoes, books, hands, buildings, and cars offers a dream-like dive into her world. Drawing from a collection of familiar objects from her own life—including magazine clippings, drawings, photographs and more—and scenes of everyday city living, her painting practice is at once personal and universal. For gestural forms and a cinematic use of light and shadow, catch her solo exhibition on Floor 3.
Ear Worm by Alex Da Corte (rerunning)
Back due to popular demand, Philadelphia-based Alex Da Corte’s Ear Worm (covered in a previous edition of The City Beat) will stay on for the Spring season. Drawing from children’s fiction, pop culture, cinema and more, the Venezuelan American artist presents a surreal—often violent or sexually suggestive—alternative to cultural landmarks.
On Floor 2, Da Corte has reimagined his 2018 film Rubber Pencil Devil plus new work the Mouse Museum (Van Gogh Ear) across various vivid projections. In many of his moving image works, Da Corte challenges the looker to question the morality of famous protagonists and antagonists, inserting himself as lead actor (and director) to reshape Sleeping Beauty or Marcel Duchamp—or the Wicked Witch of the West.
Blur by Justin Ming Yong
In a site-specific intervention by Toronto-based textile artist Justin Ming Yong, the often-overlooked elevator gets a makeover for Spring 2025 at MOCA. Walking the line between art and design, Blur taps into the ancient cultural practice of quilt-making to reimagine the gallery’s elevators as immersive soft spaces. His works weave together a variety of materials, textures and prints in geometric—yet gestural—forms.
Sondra Perry’s Digital Futures Residency
This year’s recipient of MOCA’s Digital Futures Residency—a program that enables the production of a digital artwork that fosters connectivity—American interdisciplinary artist Sondra Perry explores the possibilities of new technologies of representation. Her practice involves video and performance, from sculpture and found furniture to moving images and AI-generated elements. As artist-in-residence, she draws from the industrial roots of MOCA’s current home, the Auto BLDG, which was previously an aluminium foundry as well as the African American barbershop (like the site of her old studio in Newark).
