Mizar and Alcor are binary stars – two entities often seen as one. Historically, they were used by Romans as a vision test to determine if an individual could split the stars with the naked eye and distinguish the subtle differences between them.  

With his untitled 2001 silkscreen print, Canadian artist Brian Groombridge evokes these stars by name, cleverly referencing the cosmos while using colour and spacing to comment on notions of perception. This, alongside 11 other prints and sculptural works by the artist, is on view now in his solo exhibition debut at the AGO.  

Installation view: Brian Groombridge: New Models for Measurement, 2026, Art Gallery of Ontario. Artworks © Brian Groombridge. Photo: AGO.

Featuring a selection of new acquisitions and loans, Brian Groombridge: New Models for Measurement presents the artist’s practice as both sculptor and printmaker. Inspired by historical facts, deliverable space, data, and measurements, Groombridge's work is characterized by an economy of means and a reductive style. The exhibition is curated by Renée van der Avoird, AGO Associate Curator of Canadian Art.  

Born in Sarnia, Ontario, Groombridge has applied a poetic, philosophical approach to human knowledge systems since he started his artistic practice in the 1970s. Inspired by cosmology, geography and art history, he often references tools from graphic design, carpentry, and surveying in his prints, sculptures and installation works. 

Installation view: Brian Groombridge: New Models for Measurement, 2026, Art Gallery of Ontario. Artworks © Brian Groombridge. Photo: AGO.

“His reductive aesthetic is at once playful and conceptually rich. Always keeping the viewer in mind, Groombridge reveals poetry through detail and precision,” says van der Avoird. “As an artist who works fluidly across various media, from painted aluminum sculptures to delicate letterpress prints, Groombridge contributes to our understanding of how conceptualism and minimalism come alive in Canada today. He reflects on moments of history in a way that is both beautiful and profound, turning his attention to the unseen, the peripheral, and the potential that lies in liminal spaces. We are so pleased to celebrate the addition of six new works by this remarkable Toronto artist to the collection.” 

Installation view: Brian Groombridge: New Models for Measurement, 2026, Art Gallery of Ontario. Artworks © Brian Groombridge. Photo: AGO.

One of the newly acquired works is, dd/mm/yyyy (2015), an elongated sculpture made of painted industrial aluminum. Installed in a corner, the piece sutures two gallery walls together, as though it might simultaneously hold the gallery space together and stretch it further. Another recent acquisition, the silkscreen, Two Views of a Past (1992), juxtaposes a print of Albrecht Dürer’s Renaissance Adam and Eve (a work in the AGO Collection) with the stark geometry of Mies van der Rohe’s Lake Shore Drive apartments in Chicago. The earliest work in the show is Comets Tell of Great Distances Travelled (1989), also a new acquisition to the AGO Collection, is a suite of five prints that marks when Halley’s Comet most recently appeared.  

Brian Groombridge: New Models for Measurement is on view now in the Nicholas Fodor Gallery (gallery 140 and gallery 141) on Level 1 of the AGO. 

Contemporary programming at the AGO is supported by

Canada Council - tier 3a