Since 1971, Tim Whiten RCA has presented his two- and three-dimensional works and ritual performances in exhibitions throughout North America and Asia. His work is held in numerous collections, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, and the Art Gallery of Hamilton. Whiten is represented by Olga Korper Gallery in Toronto. He received the prestigious Gershon Iskowitz Prize at the AGO in 2022 and a Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts for Artistic Achievement in 2023.
Exhibition History (Selected)
Selected Solo Exhibitions
1971
Tim Whiten: Meditation Metamorphosis and Psalm, Erindale College, University of Toronto Mississauga
1972
Tim Whiten: Sculpture and Drawings, Jerrold Morris Gallery and Art Gallery of York University, Toronto
1976
Tim Whiten, Bau-Xi Gallery, Toronto
1978
Tim Whiten, Bau-Xi Gallery, Toronto
1979
Tim Whiten: Selected Works on Paper, Bau-Xi Gallery, Toronto
1983
Tim Whiten, Bau-Xi Gallery, Toronto
1986
Descendants of Parsifal, Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto
1990
Tim Whiten, Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto
1993
Tim Whiten, Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto
1996
Tim Whiten, Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto
1997
Last Night, Night Before, Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto
Tim Whiten: Messages from the Light, Koffler Gallery, Koffler Centre of the Arts, Toronto
1998
Tim Whiten: Messages from the Light, Liane and Danny Taran Gallery, Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts, Montreal; Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto
2001
Tim Whiten: Enigmata/Rose, Meridian Gallery, San Francisco
2002
T After Tom, Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto
2004
Working The Unseen, Meridian Gallery, San Francisco
2006
…as it is…, Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery, Waterloo
2008
UP, DOWN, IN-BETWEEN, Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto
2010
Ritual Evidence, Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton
Darker, ever darker; Deeper, always deeper: The Journey of Tim Whiten, Meridian Gallery, San Francisco
2011
coming PASSAGE going, Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto
2013
CIRCUIT inside, Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto
2018
Mindful, Tom Thomson Art Gallery, Owen Sound
2019
Suspend, Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto
2021
Tim Whiten: Tools of Conveyance, CU Art Museum, University of Colorado Boulder
2022
Elemental: Ethereal, McMaster Museum of Art, Hamilton
Elemental: Oceanic, The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa
2023
Elemental: Earthen, Art Gallery of Peterborough, Peterborough
Elemental: Fire, Art Gallery of York University, Toronto
Selected Group Exhibitions
1970
Works Mostly on Paper, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston
Circuit, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston
Drawings and Prints, Nightingale Gallery, Toronto
1974
Selections of Contemporary Canadian Painting, State University of New York, Buffalo
1977
Making Marks: An Exhibition of Current Canadian Drawing, MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina
Ontario Now 2: A Survey of Contemporary Art, Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton
1981
Post-Modernist Metaphors, The Alternative Museum, New York
Sculptural Density, Visual Arts Museum, New York
Down Under, Site Works, Cultural exchange with Australia, Art Gallery at Harbourfront, Toronto
1983
Remains to be Seen, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin
1991
Site Memory: Contemporary Art from Canada, Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art; Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Guelph
1994
Ofrenda, Art Gallery at Harbourfront, York Quay Centre, Toronto
1995
Ordinary Magic: Aspects of Ritual in Contemporary Art, Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Concordia University, Montreal
1998
Between Body and Soul, Liane and Danny Taran Gallery, Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts; Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Concordia University, Montreal
Outdoor Installations, The Tree Museum, Gravenhurst
2005
Tribute: The Art of African Canadians, Art Gallery of Mississauga; Art Gallery of Peel, Brampton
2008
Transformation AGO, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
2011
Magic Squares: The Patterned Imagination of Muslim Africa in Contemporary Culture, Textile Museum of Canada, Toronto
2014
If It Weren’t for the War, Tom Thomson Art Gallery, Owen Sound
The Human Condition Through Glass, Espace VERRE, Montreal
2015
Puppet Act: Manipulating the Master’s Voice, The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa
2016
Toronto: Tributes + Tributaries, 1971–1989, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
2017
Cultural Topographies: The Complexities of History and Identity in Canada, Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery, Waterloo
2018
BELIEVE, Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto
2020
Detroit, We Love You, Art Gallery of Windsor, Windsor
Ritual Installations / Performances
1976
Lecture on the Weather, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo
Four Worlds, The Music Gallery, Toronto
1977
Morada, Artpark, Lewiston
1978
Requiem for Abraxas, Bau-Xi Gallery, Toronto
Metamorphosis (Stage I), College Street, Toronto
1979
Septem Septum, Factory 77, Toronto
Voler Volé, York University Fine Arts, Markham (YUFAM)
Pier De Vigne, Bau-Xi Gallery, Toronto
Osiris Ahmose, York University Fine Arts, Markham (YUFAM)
1980
Metamorphosis (Stage II), Bau-Xi Gallery, Vancouver
Metamorphosis (Stage III), Bau-Xi Gallery, Toronto
1982
Matrix, presented at Art Across the Park, Central Park, New York
1986
Mediatrix, Atkinson College Theatre, Art Gallery of York University, Toronto
Awards
1989
Distinguished Leadership Award, Extraordinary Service to the Arts, American Biographical Institute
2000
Faculty of Fine Arts Dean’s Teaching Award, York University
2022
Gershon Iskowitz Prize at the AGO, Gershon Iskowitz Foundation
2023
Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts for Artistic Achievement
Selected Exhibition Publications
Greenwood, Michael. Tim Whiten: Sculpture and Drawings. Toronto: Art Gallery of York University, Toronto, 1972.
Cumming, Glen E. Ontario Now 2: A Survey of Contemporary Art. Hamilton: Art Gallery of Hamilton, 1977.
Phillips, Carol A. Making Marks: An Exhibition of Current Canadian Drawing. Regina: MacKenzie Art Gallery, 1977.
Morris, Jerrold. 20th Century Canadian Drawings. Stratford: The Gallery Stratford, 1979.
Aarons, Anita. Down Under: 3 + 3 + 9: Sculptors in Exchange: Australia and Canada. Toronto: Art Gallery at Harbourfront, 1981.
Jenkner, Ingrid. Site Memory: Contemporary Art from Canada. Guelph: Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, 1991.
Antaki, Karen. Ordinary Magic: Aspects of Ritual in Contemporary Art. Montreal: Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Concordia University, 1995.
Christie, Claire. The Spontaneous Echo: Christian Eckart, Barbara Steinman, Tim Whiten. Toronto: Olga Korper Gallery, 1995.
Bell Farrell, Carolyn, David Liss, and Claire Christie. Tim Whiten: Messages from the Light. Toronto and Montreal: Koffler Gallery, Koffler Centre of the Arts and the Liane and Danny Taran Gallery, Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts, 1997.
Antaki, Karen, and David Liss. Between Body and Soul. Montreal: Liane and Danny Taran Gallery, Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts and Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Concordia University, 1998.
Bell Farrell, Carolyn. The Tree Museum: Site-Specific Installations. Gravenhurst: The Tree Museum, 2000.
Anthony, Elizabeth, and Carolyn Bell Farrell. Tim Whiten: Enigmata/Enigmata Rose. San Francisco: Meridian Gallery, 2001.
Clarke, Neville, and Andrea De Shield. Tribute: The Art of African Canadians. Mississauga and Peel: Art Gallery of Mississauga and the Art Gallery of Peel, 2005.
Eichhorn, Virginia. …as it is…. Waterloo: Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery, 2006.
Lister, Kenneth R., ed. Canada Collects: Treasures from Across the Nation. Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum, 2007.
Reid, Stuart, Carla Garnet, and Corinna Ghaznavi. 18 Illuminations: Contemporary Art and Light. Owen Sound: Tom Thomson Art Gallery, 2007.
Brodzky, Anne Trueblood, Robert Farris Thompson, Dale McConathy, Claire Daigle, Jarrett Earnest, and Mia Kirsi Stageberg. Darker, ever darker; Deeper, always deeper: The Journey of Tim Whiten. San Francisco: Meridian Gallery, 2010.
Singer, Christian Bernard, and Nancy Schnarr. Glass Factor: Luminaries in the Canadian Art Glass Scene. Waterloo: Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery, 2010.
Meurehg, Claude S. Art & Theology in Dialogue: Concerning the Spiritual in Art. Toronto: Toronto School of Theology, 2011.
Nanibush, Wanda, and Georgiana Uhlyarik, eds. Toronto: Tributes + Tributaries, 1971–1989. Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 2018.
Firmin, Sandra Q., Jarrett Earnest, and S. Brent Plate. Tim Whiten: Tools of Conveyance. Boulder: University of Colorado Art Museum, 2022.
Selected Books, Periodicals, and Anthologies
Brodzky, Anne Trueblood, Rose Danesewich, and Nick Johnson, eds. Stones, Bones and Skin: Ritual and Shamanic Art. Toronto: Society for Art Publications, 1977.
Lippard, Lucy R. Overlay: Contemporary Art and the Art of Prehistory. New York: Pantheon Books, 1983.
Krantz, Les. American Artists: An Illustrated Survey of Leading Contemporaries. New York: American References Publishing Corporation, 1985.
Marriott, John, Ich Neuman, Ken Little, Hakim Bey, Stefan Szczelkun, Chris Bearchell, Ben Allen, et al. Sensoria from Censorium: An Anthology of Diverse Perspectives, Volume 2. Toronto: Mangajin Books, 1993.
Belton, Robert J. Sights of Resistance: Approaches to Canadian Visual Culture. Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 2001.
Holubizky, Ihor, and Daniel Donovan. Signs of the Spirit: The Donovan Collection at St. Michael’s College. Toronto: St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto, 2001.
Firmin, Sandra Q. Artpark: 1974–1984. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2010.
Vanderstukken, Koen. Glass: Virtual, Real. London: Black Dog Publishing, 2016.
Online Interviews
“Interview: Tim Whiten.” Lori Starr. ArtSync. Vimeo video (https://vimeo.com/19606777), 11:48. February 4, 2011.
“Catching the Rainbow: Image-Maker Tim Whiten in Conversation with Jarrett Earnest.” Meridian Gallery. Vimeo video (https://vimeo.com/126381045), 38:33. April 29, 2015.
“Art in the Spotlight: Tim Whiten,” Tim Whiten in Conversation with Sherry Phillips and Georgiana Uhlyarik. Art Gallery of Ontario. Vimeo video (https://vimeo.com/538744861), 40:19. August 27, 2020.
“Tim Whiten in Conversation with Erika DeFreitas.” McMaster Museum of Art. YouTube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XvnzJAP1TM), 58:51. May 6, 2022.
Online Databases
“Tim Whiten,” www.timwhiten.com.
“Tim Whiten,” e-artexte.ca.
“Tim Whiten,” CCCA Canadian Art Database, Concordia University, Montreal, https://ccca.art/artwork/maker-whiten-tim/.
About the Author
More Online Art Books
Acknowledgements