At the Art Gallery of Ontario, the last analogue decade unfolds through the photographs of a musician who spent it on the road. Melissa Auf der Maur: My ’90s Rock Photographs gathers more than 200 images from the Montreal-born artist’s personal archive, amassed while playing bass for Hole and The Smashing Pumpkins. As grunge and alternative rock came to define the sound and sensibility of a generation, Auf der Maur was documenting the scene from within, carrying her camera between the stage, the dressing room, and the crowd.
With a fine arts education that preceded her years of touring, photography remained a constant as music took the bassist around the world. The result is an archive numbering more than 10,000 images, from which curators Sophie Hackett and Jim Shedden have drawn a portrait of both an era and a young artist finding her place within it. The intimacy of which owes much to this double perspective. Auf der Maur’s photographs portray a world she helped create, ultimately preserving an authentic and lived perspective of 90s underground music culture.
The enduring legacy of the decade, and of Auf Der Mar’s work animates this year’s Art Bash, the AGO’s annual fundraiser, which takes its cue from the exhibition on September 24. With July Talk headlining and music from cascade____windows (aka Indie Sleaze), SadStab, and Uncle Cheyne, the evening brings live music, art, and fashion into the museum for one night only. For Rebecca-Jo Dunham-Baruchel, whose installation DIVA brings together a curated selection of Canadian designers for the occasion, the inspiration came into focus through one of Auf Der Mar’s very own photographs of Courtney Love.
Across Love’s stomach the word “DIVA,” irreverently scrawled, its final A rendered as an anarchist symbol, caught Dunham-Baruchel’s eye immediately. The stylist and creative director says she was drawn to the way Love claimed a label so often used perjoratively against women, recognising an affinity with the designers whose work she wanted to present. “To me this taking back of a name often used to oppress and label women is a powerful image indicative of how our female designers have used fashion to express themselves,” she explains. Conceived and styled by Dunham-Baruchel, DIVA presents their work on mannequins in Gallery 218 on the 24th, drawing on the punk spirit of Hole and Auf der Maur’s creative practice to celebrate that freedom of expression.
Ahead of the event, LIMINUL imagines those mannequins coming to life within the AGO. Photographed by Akash Tucker, the editorial stages a fiction around the forthcoming installation, with models taking the place of its figures and inhabiting the museum in the clothes selected by Dunham-Baruchel. Creative direction by Cody Rooney and Matt Oster, with styling and co-creative direction by Dunham-Baruchel. The photographs offer a first encounter with DIVA, lending its mannequins an imagined life before they take their places at Art Bash.
On the night, guests can explore both Dunham-Baruchel’s installation and Auf der Maur’s exhibition alongside one-night-only performances and installations throughout the museum. Party tickets include access to the AGO galleries, hors d’oeuvres, and an open bar, with proceeds supporting the museum’s collections, exhibitions, and programmes.
AGO Art Bash takes place on Thursday, September 24, 2026, from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Tickets are $250; the event is 19+. Buy tickets here.
Credits
Photography: Akash Tucker
Creative Direction: Cody Rooney and Matt Oster
Styling, Co-Creative Direction and Fashion Installation: Rebecca-Jo Dunham-Baruchel
Words: Cody Rooney
Styling Assistant: Violet Yin
Hair and Makeup: Kathy Nguyen
Models: Evelyn, Adia, Ashtyn, and Alyx
Set Assistance: Nathan Redburn and Matt Oster
Location: Art Gallery of Ontario
Cody Rooney is the Editor in Chief and senior contributor at Liminul.
He is a PhD candidate, digital content specialist, writer, editor, multimedia artist, and photographer.