With wearable tech and a personalized wrap report, visitors can see what moved them as they explore the AGO
AGO’s Art Rate Monitor is free with general admission until November 19
TORONTO — Since launching in September, the Art Gallery of Ontario’s innovative Art Rate Monitor has been asking visitors “how does your heart react to our art?” And today, halfway through its limited-time run, early results suggest that it is Modern Art that is setting Toronto hearts a-flutter.
Click to learn more about the Art Rate Monitor Experience
“People come to the museum for many reasons – to play, to learn, to decompress, to be alone, to connect, or to be inspired. And now, for the first time, we’re able to showcase some of the very real physiological impacts of spending time with art,” says Herman Lo, Senior Director, Visitor Welcome, Art Gallery of Ontario. “The Art Rate Monitor is a playful and insightful way to show visitors that each AGO visit – and visitor – is unique. This is the gallery of us.”
With a collection as diverse as the city it calls home, it’s not surprising that early results among AGO visitors are eclectic.
To date, the AGO has found that:
• German artist Gerhard Richter’s sensitive photo-painting Helga Matura (1966), currently on view as part of Moments in Modernism, is proving a visitor favourite – with most participants spending the most time with this painting. It’s also the work that’s making 20- to 30-year-olds’ heart rates go slo-mo.
• Visitors aged 30 to 40 are enjoying Otto Dix’s satirical style of realist painting, spending the most time with his eerie Portrait of Dr. Heinrich Stadelmann (1922).
• Meanwhile, in the J.S. McLean Centre for Indigenous & Canadian Art, Japanese-Canadian artist Kazuo Nakamura’s lush Landscape (1963) is setting the hearts of visitors over 40 racing.
• As for colour preferences? Seems visitors across all age categories remain firmly in their Greige era. We love an overcast GTA day.
Free with general admission, the Art Rate Monitor continues through Nov. 19, 2024.
The AGO is always free for Ontarians under 25, AGO Members, Annual Passholders, and Indigenous Peoples. For more details on how to become a Member or Annual Passholder, visit ago.ca
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ABOUT THE AGO
Located in Toronto, the Art Gallery of Ontario is one of the largest art museums in North America, attracting approximately one million visitors annually. The AGO Collection of more than 120,000 works of art ranges from cutting-edge contemporary art to significant works by Indigenous and Canadian artists to European masterpieces. The AGO presents wide-ranging exhibitions and programs, including solo exhibitions and acquisitions by diverse and underrepresented artists from around the world. The AGO is embarking on the seventh expansion project undertaken since it was founded in 1900. When completed the Dani Reiss Modern and Contemporary Gallery will increase exhibition space for the museum’s growing modern and contemporary collection and reflect the people who call Toronto home. With its groundbreaking Annual Pass program, the AGO is one of the most affordable and accessible attractions in the GTA. Visit ago.ca to learn more.
The AGO is funded in part by the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Gaming. Additional operating support is received from the City of Toronto, the Canada Council for the Arts, and generous contributions from AGO Members, donors, and private-sector partners.
