Patti Smith in Toronto with photo exhibit, performances

Punk artist talks photos, Mapplethorpe and gender

Legendary musician and artist Patti Smith is in Toronto to promote Patti Smith: Camera Solo, an exhibition of her photography on display at the Art Gallery of Ontario until May 19.

The exhibit includes approximately 70 black-and-white photos of items related to artists such as Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath and Smith’s friend Robert Mapplethorpe. The photos are accompanied by personal artifacts and a short film Smith directed in 2008, Equation Daumal.

On March 9, Smith will perform in a tribute show at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. March 9 is the anniversary of Mapplethorpe’s 1989 death from AIDS-related complications.

Smith will also do two separate Toronto performances: An Evening of Words and Song with Patti Smith is Thursday, March 7; and on Friday, March 8 she will appear at a screening of Patti Smith: Dream of Life at Jackman Hall. Both events are at the AGO.

Below are video clips from Smith’s media conference in Toronto, as well as some of the photographs included in the exhibit.

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