The Image Centre

10/16/2026

What did Dorothy Parker think of Richard Avedon's portrayal of her? Curator Paul Roth takes a closer look at Avedon’s portrait of the famed American writer, poet and critic.

Known for her heavy drinking as much as for her razor-sharp quips, Parker cultivated an image that made her one of the most recognizable literary personalities of her era. She was also an outspoken activist, supporting civil rights and leftist causes. Health problems and depression plagued her until her death by heart attack in 1967.

See this photograph up close and discover more of Avedon’s groundbreaking work in Richard Avedon: Immortal, on view now at The Image Centre.

📷 Richard Avedon Immortal (installation view) © Toni Hafkenscheid, The Image Centre, 2026
📷 Richard Avedon, Dorothy Parker, writer, New York, June 17, 1958, gelatin silver print © The Richard Avedon Foundation

Lead Sponsor: Florence Minz
Exhibition Sponsors: .global
Supporting Sponsors: , Anju Virmani, the Bulmash-Siegel Private Foundation, .council
Media Sponsors:

Organized by The Image Centre at Toronto Metropolitan University and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts ().

10/16/2026

Artist Madison Chow "builds her images without a lens, laying paper directly at the water’s edge and letting water and natural light develop the picture."

Read more about Chow's practice in Musée Magazine at the link below⬇

Final days to experience Overflow. Visit the exhibition before it closes this Sunday, October 18, at 5 pm.

https://museemagazine.com/culture/2026/10/13/madison-chows-overflow-lets-the-water-hold-the-camera

📷
Image 1: Madison Chow, Saltwater Lumen (Full Body), Pacific Ocean, lumen print (replicated as digital print), 2024
Image 2: Madison Chow, Freshwater Photogram, Lake Ontario, photogram(replicated as digital print), 2025
Image 3: Madison Chow, Saltwater Lumen #1, lumen print (replicated as digital print), 2024

10/07/2026

Due to a power outage in our building, we are closed for the remainder of Wednesday, October 7. We apologize for the inconvenience and we hope to welcome you back during our regular hours tomorrow, Thursday, October 8.

10/03/2026

🎥 Weekend Watching: Adam Gopnik on Richard Avedon

Hear acclaimed writer Adam Gopnik reflect on his close friendship and more than 20 years of collaboration with Richard Avedon.

Drawing on portraits featured in The Image Centre's current exhibition, Gopnik offers a personal and insightful look at Avedon’s life and work, with particular attention to the ways his portraits so often transcended his intentions.

Watch the full lecture on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyPhIB8dfNM

Presented in conjunction with Richard Avedon Immortal, on view at The Image Centre now through December 5, 2026.

📍 Recorded September 22, 2026, at The Creative School Chrysalis in Toronto.

Presented by in association with The Creative School Chrysalis. Sponsored by Extendicare.

In this lecture, Adam Gopnik speaks about Richard Avedon, his close...

10/02/2026

🔲 Curator Talk: Paul Roth on Richard Avedon Immortal 🔲

Tickets may be sold out, but a first-come, first-served rush line will be available to claim any empty seats just before the talk begins. Arrive early as admission is not guaranteed.

Wednesday, October 14, 7 pm
Lecture Room IMA-307 | Enter via the IMC (33 Gould Street)

Join Image Centre Director (and exhibition curator) Paul Roth for a special talk exploring Richard Avedon’s influential series Jacob Israel Avedon, which chronicled his father’s final years through nine extraordinary portraits.

First displayed at New York’s Museum of Modern Art in 1974 and now on view at The Image Centre, these photographs have been regarded by some as Avedon’s masterpiece, while others have criticized them as exploitative and cruel. Roth will discuss the series in depth, examining the life of Jacob Israel Avedon, his relationship with his photographer son, and the making of the seminal MoMA exhibition.

A leading authority on Richard Avedon, Roth previously served as Executive Director of The Richard Avedon Foundation. He is also the editor and co-author of Richard Avedon: Immortal, Portraits of Aging 1951–2004 (Phaidon, 2025).

This event is generously supported by Anju Virmani.

📷 Clifton Li, The Image Centre, 2026

Join Image Centre Director (and curator) Paul Roth for a special talk focused on Richard Avedon’s influential series Jacob Israel Avedon.

09/25/2026

🎨 From September 24–27, the Canadian Art Hop brings together arts spaces in a coast-to-coast celebration of the country’s vibrant arts community. We’re marking the occasion with special programming at The Image Centre.

This Sunday, discover Richard Avedon Immortal with Paul Roth, Director of The Image Centre and curator of the exhibition. Get a closer look at Avedon’s work and hear the stories behind the show.

📍 The Image Centre, 33 Gould Street, Toronto
🕐 Sunday, September 27, 1:30–2:30 PM
🎟️ Drop in—no registration required
✨ Admission is always free

Learn more about the Canadian Art Hop: www.canadianarthop.ca

09/24/2026

🎟️ Get your free ticket | Artist Talk: Tanya Marcuse

Next Wednesday, artist Tanya Marcuse joins us to talk about Book of Miracles—a three-part series that took shape during the uncertainty and upheaval of the 2020 lockdown.

Inspired by the sixteenth-century Augsburg Wunderzeichenbuch (Book of Miracles), Marcuse brings to life phenomena that seem to defy the laws of nature, using photography, staging, fire, paint, and found materials.

She’ll take us behind the scenes of the project’s three interconnected chapters—Kingdom, Portent, and Emblem—and share her intense and unconventional process.

Portent, the film component of the second chapter, is currently on view on The Image Centre's Salah J. Bachir New Media Wall.

📅 Wednesday, September 30, 2026
🕖 7 PM
📍 IMA-307 — enter via The Image Centre, 33 Gould Street, Toronto
🎟️ Free admission | Eventbrite registration required
Reserve your free ticket:

Marcuse will discuss Book of Miracles, its three interconnected chapters, and her intense process.

09/18/2026

Rush Line Information | Avedon Aging: An Evening with Adam Gopnik

Join us for an evening with Adam Gopnik, staff writer at The New Yorker and a close friend and frequent collaborator of Richard Avedon.

Gopnik will discuss Avedon’s life and work through photographs featured in 𝙍𝙞𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝘼𝙫𝙚𝙙𝙤𝙣 𝙄𝙢𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙡, currently on view at The Image Centre. He’ll explore portraits ranging from Stephen Sondheim and Oscar Levant to Harold Arlen, considering how Avedon’s images so often transcended his intentions.

Tuesday, September 22, 2026
7–8:30 pm · Doors open at 6 pm

The Creative School Chrysalis
43 Gerrard Street East, Toronto

Free Admission
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/avedon-aging-an-evening-with-adam-gopnik-tickets-1994714831758

🎟️ Ticket Holders — Arrival & Seating
Please have your Eventbrite registration ready when you arrive. Doors open at 6 p.m., and we recommend arriving early. 𝗧𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁-𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗹 𝟳 𝗽.𝗺. After 7 p.m., any unclaimed seats will be released to the rush line on a first-come, first-served basis.

No longer able to attend? Please release your ticket so someone else has the opportunity to join us.

🎟️ Rush Tickets
Don’t have a ticket? Join the rush line at the door for a chance at last-minute admission. Rush admission is not guaranteed and will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis as seats become available after 7 p.m. We recommend arriving early to join the rush line.

We also encourage you to check the Eventbrite page regularly in case tickets become available: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/avedon-aging-an-evening-with-adam-gopnik-tickets-1994714831758

Event sponsor: Extendicare
In association with The Creative School Chrysalis

📷 Courtesy of Adam Gopnik, photograph by Richard Avedon

09/16/2026

Richard Avedon and the photobooth have a history.

In 1957, Esquire magazine challenged Avedon to produce a series of photobooth portraits, featuring Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn and Truman Capote, among others. Published as “25c A Celebrity,” the resulting picture story embraced the spontaneity of the photobooth while testing Avedon’s belief that great photography did not depend on sophisticated equipment.

Avedon also took his turn in front of a photobooth camera, making a number of self-portraits over the years—including this 1965 image.

Introduced alongside the exhibition Richard Avedon: Immortal, our Classics Model 14 analogue photobooth (courtesy of our friends at Four Poses) invites you to experiment with the medium yourself. Discover Avedon’s approach to portraiture in the galleries, then step into the photobooth and make your own images.

📷 Richard Avedon, photomat, February 13, 1965 © The Richard Avedon Foundation📷 Clifton Li, The Image Centre, 2026

09/11/2026

Avedon Aging: An Evening with Adam Gopnik

Acclaimed author and journalist Adam Gopnik will speak about Richard Avedon's vision of age and artistry. Gopnik and Avedon were close friends and frequent collaborators over more than 20 years.

Gopnik will consider portraits ranging from Stephen Sondheim and Oscar Levant to Harold Arlen, with particular attention to Avedon’s intentions and the ways his work so often transcended them.

Following an earlier sell-out, more tickets have just been released.

Tuesday, September 22
7–8:30 PM
The Creative School Chrysalis, Toronto

Free tickets at the link in bio

Presented in conjunction with the exhibition Richard Avedon Immortal.

Sponsored by . In association with The Creative School Chrysalis

📷 Brigitte Lacombe

Join the acclaimed author for an evening exploring Richard Avedon's vision of age and artistry.