Sanctuary Doors
- Walmer Road Baptist Church
Toronto-based photographer Jon Blak establishes a unique visual language through personal storytelling. With three intimate portraits installed at 38 Walmer Road, on the sanctuary doors of the Walmer Road Baptist Church, Blak’s work redefines inclusive spaces to celebrate merging identities and styles that reflect the multiplicity of Toronto’s Black community.
Blak captures his subjects—often local artists themselves, working to uncover the intersections of Black and diasporic identities—in unscripted, natural poses, that are contemplative and reflective. His practice has developed an arresting subtlety that reflects formal qualities of photography including light, form, and composition.
Jon Blak: Sanctuary Doors is Wedge Curatorial Projects’ inaugural public art installation and the second time Wedge has exhibited Blak’s work. The first exhibition, Home: Photographs by Jon Blak, was a love letter to the Caribbean Canadian community, presented at the Gladstone Hotel in 2014. Established by Dr. Kenneth Montague in 1997, Wedge is a non-profit arts organization with a mandate to support emerging artists.
Presented as part of WCP25, Wedge’s 25th anniversary program. In partnership with Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, TAS, and Walmer Road Baptist Church.
In celebration of this project, please join the artist and Wedge onsite for a community block party Saturday, September 24, 2–6pm.
