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Arts Intel Report

Melissa Auf der Maur: My '90s Rock Photographs

Melissa Auf der Maur, Crowd at Edgefest, Mini Canadian Flag, Barrie, Ontario, Canada, 1999.

Sept 8, 2026 – June 30, 2027

Melissa Auf der Maur spent the 1990s as the bassist for Hole and the Smashing Pumpkins, and the whole time she kept a camera within reach. Auf der Maur had studied photography at Montreal’s Concordia University, and on tour she was constantly taking pictures with a 35 mm. Courtney Love backstage. Beck in a corridor. Drew Barrymore in a limousine. Herself in hotel mirrors mid-show with a self-timer. In 10 years she amassed more than 10,000 images. The Art Gallery of Ontario is presenting over 200 of those photographs alongside video, ephemera, and a new immersive sound installation scored by Auf der Maur herself. —Elena Clavarino

Photo: © Melissa Auf der Maur