Steppng off the elevator onto the fifth floor of the Art Gallery of Ontario, I am greeted by their most recent exhibition, “The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century,” featuring six sections: Language, Ascension, Pose, Adornment, Tribute, and Brand. Together, they showcase the influential power that hip-hop has had on a wide range of visual culture, representation, activism, and identity since its birth in 1973.
This exhibition visits Toronto as it travels across North America, initially started and curated by the Baltimore Museum of Art and St. Louis Art Museum. Changing with each city it encounters, “The Culture” uniquely includes Canadian artists and designers such as Caitlin Cronenberg, who photographed Drake’s Views album cover, and Patrick Nicols’ work, “A Great Day in Toronto Hip-Hop”, picturing major DJs, MCs, producers, radio and television personalities, as well as those in breakdancing, graffiti writing, and fashion from Toronto.
Walking through the exhibit, I was not only immersed by the display of creation rooted in Black, Latinx, and Afro-Caribbean experience but also surrounded by the sounds of hip-hop. Travelling from one section to the next, the music connected yet separated the works. What has started as a verbal and instrumental medium for expression has since blossomed into much more, including fashion, contemporary art, videography, and sculpture—solidifying its place among visual culture and affecting the larger picture of activism and identity across the world.
Hip-hop music typically discusses topics of interpersonal relationships, opinions, experiences, and political wrongdoing as a way for artists to connect and communicate with the public and their listeners. This is then translated into other forms of art present in the exhibition. For instance, the videography by Kahlil Joseph that takes inspiration from Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d. city album offers a visual representation of Lamar’s storytelling about Compton, California. Robert Pruitt’s work, “For Whom the Bell Curves,” outlines the travel routes of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade using gold chains that serve as a comparison of wealth, personal expression, and forced Black diaspora. Next to it, Anthony Olubunmi Akinbola reworks and redefines black durags, which are used to protect hair and also function as a fashion accessory, to create a four-panel collage that is reminiscent of abstract painting.
The artists themselves have become self-proclaimed brands through their growing popularity and influence over their listeners. Mainly, this is apparent through fashion and shoes. The exhibition holds Moncler’s “Maya Jacket”, which was famously worn by Drake in his “Hotline Bling” music video and was a common status symbol among hip-hop celebrities back in the 2000s. Other examples include bedazzled Timberland boots and Travis Scott’s collab with Nike, creating his own Jordan 1s that are available for fans to purchase.
“The Culture” conveys the genre’s impact on visual culture beyond what I have discussed in this article, and I encourage you to check out the impressive display. The exhibit runs until April 6, 2025.
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