Bio April Hickox is a Canadian lens-based artist, teacher and independent curator who lives on the Toronto Islands. Over the course of 37 years, April has mined the distinctions between personal and public sites through film, video, photography and installation. Her work with objects and the still life is rooted in narrative histories that individuals accumulate through-out their lives and the ability of inanimate objects to shape memory. This work continues in both photographic and video works with Provenance Unknown and Observation, and atributied a series of photographs and video works that explore still lifes.
April is also known-as a landscape photographer who explores notions of the wild and what we know wilderness to be. Over the years she has continued to document over-lapping layers of human and natural histories, to demonstrate how, with our help, nature is reinvented. She has produced numerous landscape series in Carolinian forest areas including Hancock Woodlands, Point Pelee and the Toronto Island where she has been engaged with an extensive series or work titled Invasive Species. An active community leader, she is the Founding Director of Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography, and a founding member of Tenth Muse Studio, and Artscape Toronto. For the past seven years she has been a member of the curatorial board of Art With Heart, Casey House. Currently April is an Associate Professor of Photography at the Ontario College of Art and Design University in Toronto.
Notable recent exhibitions include Harbourfront Centre, Winnipeg Art Gallery, MacLaren ArtCentre, Oakville Galleries, Tom Thompson Memorial Art Gallery and the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography. Most recently her video work was shown at the Surrey Art Gallery in Surrey, BC. A survey solo exhibition of her photographs was curated by Crystal Mowry for the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery. Her work was recently included in the Art Gallery of Hamilton’s exhibition In Her Own Words curated by Tobi Bruce and featuring the work of several Canadian women artists.
https://www.lensculture.com/search/projects?q=april+hickox
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_Hickox
https://hyperallergic.com/633729/a-view-from-the-easel-during-times-of-quarantine-43/
RESUME Condensedversion 2021
APRIL HICKOX
25 Fifth Street, Ward’s Island, Toronto, Ontario, M5J2C1
647-208-0787 text preferred
SoloExhibitions
2023 Avion Nuit Blanche two part video loop.
2023 Observance, TD Bank Video Wall Queen and Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario
2017 Plein Air, on-site images of park visitors on park buildings, Toronto Island, Ontario
2017 Index, Kitchener Waterloo Art Gallery,Kitchener, Ontario, curated by Crystal Morey
2016 Provenance Unknown, Cancelled Paintings, KatzmanContemporary, Toronto, Ontario
2014 Invasive Species, KatzmanContemporary, Toronto, Ontario
2012 Park Workers, on-site images on parkbuildings, Toronto Island, Ontario
2012 Vantage, Main Space, Katzman KamenGallery, Toronto, Ontario
2010 Compost, Project Room, Leo KamenGallery, Toronto, Ontario
2009 Gather, five backlit billboards,Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, Ontario
2008 Ritual, Leo Kamen Gallery, Toronto,Ontario
2006 Drift, Leo Kamen Gallery, Toronto,Ontario
2003 Landscape and Memory, Main Space,Leo Kamen Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
Landscape and Memory: Point Pelee, Art Gallery of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario
2002 Porcelain, Crystal, Glass, Main Space,Leo Kamen Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
2001 Glance, Project Room, Leo Kamen Gallery,Toronto, Ontario
2000 Within Dialogue, installation, LeoKamen Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
Within Dialogue, site-specificinstallation, St. Norbert Cultural Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba
1999 Untitled, site-specificinstallation, Portland and Richmond Streets, Toronto, Ontario
1998 Tracings, Prime Gallery, Toronto,Ontario
FilmScreenings and interactive works
2023 Observance, TD Bank Video Wall Queen and Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario
2017 Interactive stories of Families,National Film Board, Co-Producer with Justine Pimlott, Evie Ruddy
2017 Primary, Blue, Red, Yellow, Spectrum,four-channel video, Surrey Art Gallery, British Columbia
2016 Variations (White) Queen Spacific,Toronto, Ontario
2016 Variations (Grey) Measured Time,Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, Ontario
2012 The Queen’s Garden, HarbourfrontCentre, Toronto, Ontario
2010 When the Mind Hears, Waterlines FilmFestival, Struts Gallery, Sackville, New Brunswick
2009 Consonance, Frame to Frame, ImagesFestival, Toronto, Ontario
2001 When the Mind Hears, PacificCinematheque, Vancouver, BC
2000 When the Mind Hears Our Voices, Loop Collective, Toronto
1996 When the Mind Hears, Ann ArborFilm Festival, Michigan, US
Cinematheque Ontario, Atribute to Marian McMahon
1995 When the Mind Hears, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario
Toronto International Film Festival, Film Makers Workshop, Helsinki, Finland
Winnipeg Film Group, Winnipeg,Manitoba
Group Exhibitions
2023 Attributed Summer Institute OCADU University
Housing Histories City of Toronto Archives
So to Speak, Tom Thompson Art Gallery, Owen Sound, Ontario
2021 Tether, Thames Art Gallery Chatham, Ontario
Facing It, Tom Thompson Art Gallery,
A Wave in Words Curated by Crystal Mowry
2020 Rogue Wave, site work, TorontoIsland, Ontario
2020 Portraits from the permanent collection, curated by Emily McKibbonand Noor Alé, MacLaren Gallery, Barrie
2020 CapitalOne Bank, curated by Carol-Ann Ryan, Capital One, Toronto, Ontario
2018 Roque Wave, site work, TorontoIsland, Ontario
2018 In Her Words, Art Gallery ofHamilton, Hamilton, Ontario
2018 Water Works, Art Gallery ofHamilton, Hamilton, Ontario
2017 150 Stories, Officeof the Lieutenant Governors of Ontario, Landscape andmemory, Point Pelee, Ontario
2016 The Road Trip Maclaren Art Centre,Barrie, Ontario
2015 Beyond the Pines: HomerWatson and the Contemporary Canadian Landscape, Art Gallery ofMississauga, Ontario
2015 A Print Salon, Birch Contemporary,Toronto, Ontario
2014 10 x 10, Portrait Project, TheGladstone, Toronto, Ontario
2014 A Noble Line, curated by MarnieFlemming, Oakville Galleries, Ontario
2013 Park Workers, part of SocialJustice Week, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario
2010 Hanitise, Art Mur, curated by Eve DeGarie-Lamanque, Montreal, Quebec
2009 Looking Forward LookingBack, Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography, Toronto, Ontario
2007 Framed: The Art of the Portrait, curatedby Sara Kelman, Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton
2006 Addressing Oakville, curated byShannon Anderson, Gairloch Gardens, Oakville, Ontario
2005 Shorelines, curated by James Patten,MacLaren Art Centre, Barrie, Ontario
2004 Get a little closer, Oakville Galleries,Oakville, Ontario
Evoking Place, CMCP touringexhibiting, Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, Ontario
2003 The Reality of Fantasy, Art Gallery ofHamilton, Hamilton, Ontario
Revealing the Subject,curated by Shannon Anderson, Oakville Galleries, Oakville, Ontario
2002 Evoking Place, McMaster Museum of Art,Hamilton, Ontario
2001 Crows: an ace art inc. bookwork, ace artinc., Winnipeg, Manitoba
The Photographic Narrative, Art Rental Service, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario
Evoking Place,Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, Ottawa, Ontario
Surprise!, anniversaryexhibition, Archive Inc. Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
Parting Ways, AreaGallery, Toronto, Ontario
The Very Image, HarbourfrontCentre, Toronto, Ontario
2000 Landscape Photography, Tom Thomson ArtGallery, Owen Sound, Ontario
Our Voices, RyersonGallery, Toronto, Ontario
Contaminated Symptoms,Oakville Galleries, Oakville, Ontario
The Infinite Within: Islands of Enchantment, Alliance Française, Toronto, Ontario
Roque Wave, sitework, Toronto Island, Ontario
Recent Photography,excerpts from Within Dialogue, ArtRental Service, Art Gallery of Ontario
1999 Women in Photography, OakvilleGalleries, Oakville, Ontario
The Photography Lesson,York Quay Gallery, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, Ontario
Oh Baby!,Cambridge Galleries, Cambridge, Ontario
A Public Room, ExtensionGallery, Toronto, Ontario
1998 Tracings, Prime Gallery, Toronto,Ontario
Song, installation, Portland and RichmondStreets, Toronto, Ontario
1997 Blink, street level photographicinstallation, Portland and Adelaide Streets, Toronto, Ontario
Utopia/Dystopia,billboard project, Floating Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba
1996 Excerpts Photography Narrative, Centred’exposition L’Imagier, Aylmer, Quebec
PublicArt Projects
2020 VantagePoint Passing, Site work, Toronto Islands
2020 CAMHPublic art projects, Toronto, Ontario, Installed
2017 HumberRiver Hospital, Installation, Toronto, Ontario,
2017 OslerProject, Short Listed, Toronto, Ontario, March
2013 CornellBuilding, Short Listed, Markham, Ontario
2009 Gather, five backlit billboards, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto,Ontario 2009
1995 Dissonance and Voice, installation and site work, curated by RichardRhodes, Oakville Galleries, Oakville, Ontario
Public Art Jury Member, Various Sites for Public Art Management, Toronto, Ontario
Public collections Connor, Clark & Lunn Financial Group Ltd, Urban Properties 401 Richmond Street, Annandale Artist Residency, Agnes Etherington ArtCentre, Art Gallery of Hamilton, Art Gallery of Peterborough, Bennett Jones,British Airways, Burnaby Art Gallery, Canada Council Art Bank, Canadian Government, Department of External Affairs, The National Gallery of Canada,Capital One, Central Guarantee Trust, City of Toronto, Ministry of Social Services, Clarkson Gordon, CN Hotels, Fidelity Investments, Glenhyrst Art Gallery, Government of Ontario, Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, MacLaren Art Centre, Maclean Hunter, Navigator LTD, Norcen Energy, Oakville Galleries,Price Waterhouse Inc., Royal Bank of Canada, Royal Trust, Scotiabank, Ryerson University, Tom Thomson Art Gallery, Owen Sound, Toronto Board of Education, Toronto-Dominion Bank, and the Winnipeg Art Gallery, Humber River Hospital, Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre, Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital.
The Toronto Islands have a rich cultural history beginning withthe indigenous peoples, for whom the Island had spiritual and huntingimportance. I would like to acknowledgethat this work was created on the traditional territories of the Mississaugasof the Credit, the Anishinaabe, the Chippewa, and the Haudenosaunee. I wouldlike to thank the Huron-Wendat for sharing these Islands, known as Mnisiing,where I live and work.
The artist wishes to thank the following for their support of the production of her work:
Ibrahim Abusitta, Stephen Andrews, Jeannie Baxter, Melissa Bennett, Tobi Bruce, Philip Chatterton, Janet Cornfield, Kathleen Doody, Carolyn Bell Farrell, Marnie Fleming, John Greyson, Merle Harley, Alexa Hickox, Toni Hickox, Warren Hoselton, Gaye Jackson, Joanna Kidd, Jennifer Long, Emily McKibbon, Shirley Madill, Karen McKinnell, Ben Mills, Karen Mills, Luisa Milan, Aaron Moore, Hugh Marin, Crystal Mowry, Raffy Ochoa, Justine Pimlott, Nicholas Pye, Christina Rampton, Stephen Ranger, Raymond Salaber, Leonard Schlichting, Karl Seger, the Shevlin family, Jon Spencer, Penelope Stewart, Yang Woo-Taek, David Tamblyn, Judith Tinkl, Viktor Tinkl, Seti Zakeri, Margie Zeidler, and Kate Zeidler.
For their vision, leadership and supporting of a vulnerable artist community thanks go to Urban Space-401 Richmond Street where I have shared a studio for over fifteen years. Thanks also to the Artscape Gibraltar Point, Toronto Islands, where I have a shared a shooting studio. Thank you to OCAD University, where I continue to be inspired by my colleagues and students. Finally thank you to the Toronto Island community for helping me shape my vision.
April Hickox