Exhibitions

Joi T. Arcand, ekawiya nepewisi (don’t be shy), 2017, neon channel sign. Photograph by Toni Hafkenscheid

The RMG annually programs over twenty exhibitions across six gallery spaces. With a focus on modern and contemporary Canadian art, we present a variety of exhibitions that reflect a diverse range of artistic output, including painting, photography, sculpture, film, installation and performance. Reflecting our commitment to connect our communities through art, we strive to produce innovative and timely exhibitions that recognize our collective responsibility to contend with the past and vision a more equitable, just, and expansive future.  

View a selection of online exhibition catalogues here.

Community Connections

January 17, 2026 - June 7, 2026

Community Partnerships

Curator: Sonya Jones

The Robert McLaughlin Gallery and the Oshawa Camera Club is teaming up with Community Development Council Durham’s (CDCD) Community Connections program to highlight the experiences of newcomers and immigrants in Durham Region. For this project, the participants took photographs that capture their lives in their new community and consider their important role within it. The […]

Natural Curiosities

January 17, 2026 - June 7, 2026

Permanent Collection

Curator: Sonya Jones

Artists: Various from permanent collection

Flowers and plants have long fascinated artists, serving as both subjects of study and sources of inspiration. To hone their skills of observation, artists look to botanical subjects to study the effects of form, colour, and light and to translate the beauty and fragility they see in nature into poignant works of art. Drawing from […]

The Neighbour’s Art Hive

December 11, 2025 - February 16, 2026

Community Partnerships

The Neighbour’s Art Hive is back for another year! Join us at the Opening Celebration on Thursday, December 11, 2025, 6:30-8:30pm The Neighbour’s Art Hive is a temporary installation that transforms the gallery into an active studio space with help from the LivingRoom Community Art Studio. As a place to make, rest, and connect, the […]

Scott Rogers: Mutualism (Fixed Assets)

November 15, 2025 - April 12, 2026

Special Exhibition

Curator: Leila Timmins

Artists: Scott Rogers

Mutualism (Fixed Assets) is a new temporary public artwork for the backyard at The Robert McLaughlin Gallery. This ambitious new installation builds on Rogers’ interest in human- built infrastructures for the care and support of non-human beings. Taking the form of a site-responsive bird feeding station, the work is assembled from broken automobile parts scavenged […]

Homage

September 6, 2025 - August 23, 2026

Permanent Collection

Curator: Sonya Jones

Paying homage is more than an act of reverence—it is a gesture rooted in respect and a way to acknowledge influence and inspiration. Artists often engage with the past to make sense of the present: responding to those who shaped them, the histories they’ve inherited, and the cultural forces that continue to shape our world. […]

Hortense Gordon: Towards the New

September 6, 2025 - March 1, 2026

Permanent Collection

Curator: Sonya Jones

Artists: Hortense Gordon (Canadian, 1887 – 1961)

Hortense Gordon (1886–1961) was an important figure in Canadian modern art. Trained at the Hamilton Art School, Gordon spent her early career making ceramics and painting traditional landscapes, but it was her later embrace of abstraction that defines her legacy. Gordon returned to teach art at the Hamilton Technical and Art School and married fellow […]

Olivia Whetung: inawendiwok

November 15, 2025 - April 12, 2026

Special Exhibition

Curator: Mona Filip

Artists: Olivia Whetung

Organized by The Art Gallery of Mississauga A member of Curve Lake First Nation and citizen of the Nishnaabeg Nation, artist Olivia Whetung draws upon her experience working on and with the land to create artworks that speak of the interdependence and relationality within our ecosystem. Researching land-based and food de-commodifying movements, Anishinaabe knowledge, and […]

Ekow Nimako, Wawa Aba, I, 2022. Courtesy of the artist

Building Black Civilizations: Journey of 2,000 Ships

September 20, 2025 - February 15, 2026

Special Exhibition

Curator: Alyssa Fearon

Artists: Ekow Nimako

Building Black Civilizations: Journey of 2,000 Ships continues artist Ekow Nimako’s afrofuturistic reimagining of ancient African kingdoms. Using LEGO bricks as his medium, Nimako explores the mysterious fourteenth century sea voyage of Mansa Abu Bakr II, predecessor of Mansa Musa, ruler of the ancient Mali Empire. According to legends, Abu Bakr II was an intrepid […]