BIO
Moira Ness is a queer interdisciplinary visual artist from Toronto. She makes ascetic and conceptually-driven work concerned with relentless archiving, pattern generation, and tracing comprehensive lines through her own personal history. Data mining her collection of personal correspondences and connections, Moira creates confessional and romanticized text by wielding word-organizing algorithms. These algorithms scramble groupings of source text and repurpose her archive into discrete series of new work. She has exhibited extensively throughout North America at Koerner Hall/The Royal Conservatory of Toronto, The Harbourfront Centre, The Los Angeles Center For Digital Art, Akasha Art Projects, Lakeshore Arts, Northern Contemporary, Gallery 44, Roman Susan Gallery, Red Head Gallery, Latcham Gallery, The Art Gallery of Mississauga, Narwhal Contemporary, The Gladstone, OCADU, Main Street Arts, Kunstwerk Carlshütte, and The CICA Museum. Moira participated in the 2017 Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition where she won the Emerging Artist Award and in the 2018 Toronto Outdoor Art Fair where she won the Catherine Bratty Award for Best of Art Fair, judged by Bruce Eves. In late 2019 Moira collaborated with Esprit Orchestra for a performance at Koerner Hall in Toronto. The new classical piece “I Hit My Head And Everything Changed” was written by Brian Harman and Moira provided the accompanying video projection of her algorithm created text work. Moira is on Arts Etobicoke's board of directors, as well as their gallery committee, and is a mentor through RBC’s Newcomer Artist Mentorship Program. Moira works out of her studio in Corso Italia.
MOIRA NESS
b. 1990 Toronto, Canada
moiraness@gmail.com
SOLO SHOWS
2020 Life Cycles, Lonsdale Gallery, Toronto
2019 Maladaptation, BBAM Gallery, Montreal
2019 HEX II, Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, Northern Contemporary, Toronto
2019 Revelation, Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, The Gladstone Hotel, Toronto
2018 Nightscapes II, Akasha Art Projects, Toronto.
2018 HEX, Lakeshore Arts, Toronto
2017 Nightscapes, Cedar Ridge Gallery, Toronto
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 - VIBE Arts Auction, Broadview Hotel
2022 ACT 3 - WATER, Collaboration with Esprit Orchestra, Koerner Hall/The Royal Conservatory, Toronto
2021 Artist to Curator, 2gallery, Prince Edward County
2021 The County Collects, 2gallery, Prince Edward County
2021 PIXEL Exhibition, Garden Square, Brampton
2021 Exchange Piece, DesignTO Festival Thematic Exhibition, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto
2020 PAINTING 2020, John B. Aird Gallery, Toronto
2020 Toronto Outdoor[Online] Art Exhibition, Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto
2020 Rebel Lens – Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, Lonsdale Gallery, Toronto
2020 SNAP! Live Auction for ACT, Toronto
2020 Studio Showcase, Northern Contemporary, Toronto
2020 Causality Loop, BUMP TV, Toronto
2019 Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto
2019 proudTObe, Northern Contemporary, Toronto
2019 Inaugural, 2 Gallery, Prince Edward County
2019 Main Street Arts Residency Alumni Exhibition, Main Street Arts, Clifton Springs, NY
2019 GRAND, Northern Contemporary, Toronto
2019 [ click here to edit ], OCADU, Toronto
2019 I Hit My Head And Everything Changed, collaboration with Brian Harman and Esprit Orchestra, Koerner Hall/The Royal Conservatory, Toronto
2018 Darling…, BBAM Gallery, Montreal
2018 Swash & Serif 5, Toronto Design Directory, Northern Contemporary, Toronto
2018 Tension Becomes Wrinkle, Narwhal Contemporary, Toronto
2018 Black and White, Pia Bouman, Toronto
2018 YD Square Digital Screen Exhibit, Younge-Dundas Square, Toronto
2018 Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto
2018 Salon 44, Gallery 44, Toronto
2018 The Artist Project, Better Living Centre, Toronto
2018 SCAN – HOLD RESIDENCY - Cargo Collective
2018 I Live Here and I Am Here, Arts Etobicoke, Etobicoke
2018 Moira Ness + Keight Maclean, Black Cat Gallery, Toronto
2017 Festival of Smalls, Art Interiors, Toronto
2017 Art Interiors Pop-Up, Hazelton Lanes Yorkville, Toronto
2017 Denial as the Leading Principle, 222lodge, Netherlands
2017 DIS[ ] : ARBITRATION Pavilion, The Wrong’s New Digital Art Biennale (forthcoming)
2017 Extend @ TIFF, The Great Hall, Toronto
2017 Slideshow, Roman Susan Gallery, Chicago
2017 Carmichael Canadian Landscape Exhibition: Tradition Transformed, Orillia Museum of Art and History, Orillia
2017 Format: Top Talent Salon, Unloveable Gallery, Toronto
2017 repost_modern, OMNI MODERN, Austin, Texas
2017 SURGE: Emerging Artist Exhibition, Propeller Gallery, Toronto
2017 Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto
2017 NordArt, Büdelsdorf, Germany
2017 The Amended Landscape, Latcham Gallery, Stouffville
2017 Ontario Society of Artists Juried Exhibition, John B. Aird Gallery, Toronto
2017 Unseen / Seen 3, Studio 42, Toronto
2017 Loosen Art Group Exhibit, Loosen Art Mag and Gallery, London, Milan, Cagliari
2017 The World Through Your Eyes, WTC Centre, Wilson, North Carolina
2017 Just Another Road Side Attraction, Neighbourhood Gallery, Toronto
2017 Framed: Shadow and Light, Black Box Gallery, Portland, Oregon
2017 The Alternate Self, Blue Door Gallery, Yonkers, NY
2017 Deep Roots, Living Arts Centre, Mississauga
2017 Visual Arts Mississauga 39th Juried Show of Fine Arts, Art Gallery Of Mississauga
2016 Concept Winter Exhibition, CICA Museum, Seoul, South Korea
2016 Dirty Talk Art 004, Dirty Talk Gallery, Toronto
2016 The Human Condition Revealed, Neighbourhood Gallery, Toronto
2016 Snap To Grid, Los Angeles Center For Digital Art, Los Angeles
2016 Stage Against The Machine, Oddville Studios, Los Angeles
2016 9 x 12 Works on Paper Show – Fort Worth Art Centre, Forth Worth, Texas
2016 New York International Photography Show, Flushing Gallery, NYC
2016 Bright Lights – Nuit Blanche, The Red Head Gallery, Toronto
AWARDS/RESIDENCIES
2018 Memorandums, Peripheral Forms Online Residency
2018 Catherine Bratty Award for Best of Art Fair, judged by Bruce Eves, Toronto Outdoor Art Fair, Toronto
2018 Main Street Arts Residency, New York, USA
2017 The Emerging Artist Award at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition
2017 The 108 Residency - New York, USA
2017 Shortlisted for The Royal Photographic Society’s International Photography Exhibition 160, Bath, UK
2017 SNAP! 2017 – Finalist for SNAP! 2017 Photo Auction Gala
2017 The Artist Project - UNTAPPED Emerging Artists Competition finalist and winner, Toronto
2017 OAC Provincial Government Exhibition Assistance
2016 RMG Exposed- Finalist, Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa
PROFESSIONAL
2020 "Cancellations, unpaid bills, eviction threats: Inside the grim reality of being an artist right now", CBC Arts, article
2020 EDGE: Youth Art Show Critique, Artscape Youngplace, Toronto
2019 RBC Newcomer Artist Mentor, Toronto Arts Foundation
2019 Appointed to Arts Etobicoke Gallery Committee
2019 EDGE: Youth Art Show Critique, Artscape Youngplace, Toronto
2019 Main Street Artist Residency Artist Panel, Clifton Springs, Toronto
2018 Booth Camp 2018 Panel, Toronto Outdoor Art Fair, Toronto
2018 Nightscapes Workshop, Main Street Arts, Clifton Springs, NY
2018 CyberArts Workshop, Lakeshore Arts and Lakeshore Collegiate Institute, Toronto
2018 EDGE: Youth Art Show Critique, Artscape Youngplace, Toronto
2017 Appointed to Arts Etobicoke’s Board of Directors
PRESS
2018 Moira Ness: Nightscapes / Akasha Gallery, review, ArtToronto
2018 How 20 Artists See the Color Red, article, Format Magazine
2018 30 artists to look for at the Toronto Artist Project, article, blogTO
2017 "Pure in existence, wild in form": an interview with Moira Ness, interview, Split Lip Magazine
2017 Surge: Emerging Artists Exhibition, article, NOW Magazine
2017 TOAE: Award Recipients 2017, article, Akimbo
2017 Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, 2017, article, Art Toronto
2017 What To See At The Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, article, blogTO
2017 Must-Sees This Week: July 6 to 12, 2017, article, Canadian Art
2017 Latcham Gallery exhibit to portray human effects on environment, article, Metroland Media
2017 The Amended Landscape: Edward Burtynsky, Moira Ness, Eve Gane, Marco Francisco, Shavon Madden, article, Akimbo
2017 The Artist Project, article, Faulhaber Communications
2017 Explore Hot 2017 Art Trends at the Artist Project, article, Reno and Decor Magazine
PUBLICATIONS
2018 Cyclical, Uppercase, Magazine
2017 WOTISART August, Arts and Literary Magazine
2017 I SAVED EVERYTHING, Split Lip Press, Arts and Literary Magazine
2017 A5 – Portfolio #3, Art Magazine
2017 Die Angst, Art Magazine
2016 The Woven Tale Press, Arts and Literary Journal
2016 Novelty Magazine, Arts and Literary Magazine