The Best Contemporary Art Galleries in Toronto

The best contemporary art galleries in Toronto are divided between public and commercial spaces with both contributing equally to the city's art scene. Much has changed for Toronto galleries over the last decade. Most notably, there's been an exodus away from former artistic hotbeds like West Queen West, where the influx of condos have priced galleries out of the area. When Mercer Union moved to Bloor and Lansdowne back in 2009, it helped to put the wheels in motion for a new gallery scene, one that's clustered in the former industrial area in and around Sterling Road.

This is probably a good thing. Toronto galleries have never had the cachet to create a district like you have, say, in Chelsea where galleries like Matthew Marks, Gagosian and Luhring Augustine have managed to create a must-visit neighbourhood for tourists and locals alike. In Toronto, galleries are busy during opening nights, and rarely otherwise, so the move to larger spaces in industrial areas allows for more ambitious programming and the cultural revitalization of the neighbourhoods in which they're located.

It's difficult to evaluate the relative health of the Toronto gallery scene at present. There are certainly exciting developments (like the one mentioned above), but the rate at which galleries are opening in the city isn't as high as it's been in years past. That said, Toronto's serious galleries -- like the places on this list, but also Angell Gallery, O'Born Contemporary, Olga Korper, Georgia Scherman Projects, Diaz Contemporary, and LE Gallery (to name only a few) -- continue to show challenging work that keeps the city's artistic community relevant both at home and abroad.

Here are the best contemporary art galleries in Toronto.

See also:

The best photography galleries in Toronto

The best contemporary art galleries for emerging artists in Toronto

by Derek Flack via blogTO