Michelle Jacques (curator)

Jacques studied at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, where she obtained a B.A. in art history and psychology, and at York University, where she earned her M.A.[4]

Jacques worked at the Art Gallery of Ontario for a number of years, holding positions including Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art and Acting Curator of Canadian Art. She was the Director of Programming at the Centre for Art Tapes in Halifax, Nova Scotia from 2002 to 2004.[4] In 2012, she was named as the Chief Curator of the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (AGGV).[4] Jacques was named Head of Exhibitions & Collections/Chief Curator at Remai Modern in Saskatoon in 2020.[5]

At the AGGV, she curated exhibitions of the work of contemporary artists including Carol Sawyer, Rodney Sayers and Emily Luce, Gwen MacGregor, and Hiraki Sawa, among others; and co-curated retrospective exhibitions of the work of the Canadian artists Anna Banana and Jock Macdonald. In the 2019 exhibition Unformable Things, she examined the work of Emily Carr alongside her Canadian contemporaries.[6][7]

Jacques has taught writing and curatorial topics at institutions including NSCAD University, the University of Toronto Mississauga, and OCAD University.[8]

She has also served on the board of numerous visual art organizations including Vtape, the Feminist Art Gallery and Mercer Union.[9] In 2019, she was appointed as the inaugural vice-president, inclusion and outreach, of the Association of Art Museum Curators, a New York-based group that supports and promotes curatorial work around the world.[3][10]

In 2021, she was one of the participants in John Greyson's experimental short documentary film International Dawn Chorus Day.[11]

As an extension of her curatorial practice, Jacques has authored and co-authored numerous exhibition catalogues. She has also published essays, reviews, and interviews in magazines. This includes serving as a board member, writer, and a contributing editor at Fuse Magazine; and submissions to Chatelaine, Canadian Art, and Public Journal, among others.[9][12][13][14] A selection of Jacques' publications include:

• Gathie Falk: Life & Work (Toronto: Art Canada Institute, 2022), ISBN 978-1-4871-0285-2
• Howie Tsui: retainers of anarchy (Vancouver, BC: Vancouver Art Gallery, 2017), ISBN 9780888853813, co-edited by Jacques, Diana Freundl, and Michelle S. Gewurtz[15]
  • Catalogue of a travelling exhibition held at the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Ottawa Art Gallery, and the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria.
• In another place, and here (Victoria, BC: Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, 2015), ISBN 9780888853769- co-authored with Toby Lawrence and Gabrielle Moser[16]
• Carole Sabiston: everything below all of the above (Victoria, BC: Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, 2014), ISBN 9780888853745, co-authored with Patricia E. Bovey[17]
• Jock Macdonald: evolving form (London, UK: Black Dog Publishing, 2014), ISBN 9781908966810, co-authored with Linda Jansma and Ian M. Thom[18]
• Introducing Suzy Lake (London, UK: Black Dog Publishing, 2014), ISBN 9781894243780, with contributions from Georgiana Uhlyarik, Jacques, and others
  • This publication comprehensively addresses Suzy Lake's artistic production in performance, photography and video from the late 1960s on.
  • In 2015 it received an art publication award from Galeries Ontario Galleries.[19]
• Laurel Woodcock (Waterloo, ON: University of Waterloo Art Gallery, 2012), ISBN 9780978154325, co-authored with Dave Dyment and others
  • This exhibition brought together the work of eight artists: Nadia Huggins, O'Neil Lawrence, Mike Andrew McLean, Meryl McMaster, Troy Moth, Dawit Petros, Krista Belle Stewart, and Li Xinmo, to explore relationships between geography, politics, identity-and photography.
• Shary Boyle: flesh and blood (Montréal: Galerie de l'UQAM, 2010), ISBN 9782920325418- co-authored with Louise Déry and others[20]
  • A bilingual publication highlighting the drawing, painting, sculpture, audio-visual performance and installations of Toronto-based artist Shary Boyle, which explores explore various human psychological and emotional states through a fictional fantasy world. This travelling exhibition was held at the Art Gallery of Ontario, in Toronto, Ontario; Galerie de l'UQAM, in Montreal Quebec; and the Contemporary Art Gallery, in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Jacques has sat as a juror on numerous art competitions. Recent examples include:

• The Scotiabank Photography Award, 2021[21]
• The Salt Spring National Art Prize, 2021[22]
• The Hnatyshyn Foundation Awards for Canadian Visual Artists and Curators, 2019[23][24]
• Middlebrook Prize for Young Canadian Curators, 2019[25][26]
• AIMIA | AGO Photography Prize, 2011[27]

• 2022 The Hnatyshyn Foundation Awards for Canadian Visual Artists and Curators[28]