Metamorphoses: Visions of Antiquity in the Modern Era

Journey through time as ancient, modern, and contemporary art come together in conversation. Inspired by the legendary Metamorphoses—an epic by the Roman poet Ovid— Metamorphoses: Visions of Antiquity in the Modern Era explores how artists have reimagined classical traditions over centuries.

This exhibition features works by leading contemporary artists such as Shary Boyle, Cassils, General Idea, Esmaa Mohamoud, and Kent Monkman, who critique the legacies of classical antiquity in bold ways.

These groundbreaking works are displayed alongside highlights from the 1800s and 1900s, drawn from the Art Gallery of Hamilton’s collection and major public and private loans. As part of the exhibition, visitors will enjoy the rare opportunity to experience Marc Chagall’s Daphnis & Chloé—a series of 42 colour lithograph prints—in its entirety.

The works in the exhibition respond to the stories in Ovid’s epic and the classical world that shaped these ancient tales. Some works draw directly from Ovid’s poetry and Greco-Roman mythology, while others reinterpret classical ideals and forms—speaking to contemporary notions of gender, identity, power, and memory.

Metamorphoses: Visions of Antiquity in the Modern Era brings together art spanning millennia to present transformation as an enduring artistic impulse and theory of artistic creation.

Metamorphoses: Visions of Antiquity in the Modern Era is curated by Dr. Amy Wallace. Dr. Amy Wallace is an art historian specializing in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. She holds a PhD in art history from the University of Toronto and previously curated The Artist’s Dream: Works of French Symbolism (Art Gallery of Hamilton, February 2020–January 2021).