TORONTO.- Camera in one hand and bass in the other, Montreal-born artist Melissa Auf der Maur spent the 1990s touring the world with iconic ‘90s bands Hole and The Smashing Pumpkins. An intimate portrait of a decade spent backstage, onstage, and everywhere in between, Melissa Auf der Maur: My ‘90s Rock Photographs makes its world debut at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Featuring more than 200 intimate photographs, alongside video, ephemera and new music, this original exhibition is co-curated by the AGO’s Curator of Photography Sophie Hackett and Curator of Special Projects & Director of Publishing Jim Shedden.
Suffused in the colour and textures of analogue photography, the exhibition moves in loose chronology, revealing an artist for whom photography was both an anchor and an act of witnessing. Born and raised in Montreal, Canada, Auf der Maur studied photography at Concordia University before becoming a member of two of the most celebrated bands of the ‘90s. Determined to maintain her artistic practice, Auf der Maur’s approach while on tour involved adopting point-and-shoot 35mm cameras, using one-hour photo labs on the road, taking Polaroids, and lo-fi video.
“My camera and my bass – they were my north stars amidst the chaos that came from traversing the global stage as part of the musical zeitgeist of our generation,” says Auf der Maur. “It was that chaos and the rise of corporate greed that I eventually ran away from. As an act of healing, and an offering to others who reflect on the impacts and lessons of the last analogue decade, I have surveyed my archive of more than 15,000 images to create this project in honour of the sacred parts of that era: the undivided attention and the communion of music — in hopes to inspire more of that in this new digital existence."
Fuelled by the propulsive energy of a trio of lead characters, notably Auf der Maur herself, the audience as seen from the stage each night, and Hole, with lead singer Courtney Love, the artworks on view range in scale and format — from one-hour instant prints to select chromogenic enlargements and Hi-8 video — culminating in a new immersive installation, BASS WOMB ROOM: My ‘90s 4-Track Demos x Field Recordings.
A mirrored pyramid, featuring video and set to music written and recorded by Auf der Maur, BASS WOMB ROOM is both a celebration and emotional centerpiece, a site designed to give visitors to the exhibition a taste of the transcendent experience of being on the road and performing on stage, before cell phones and digital recording. The installation soundtrack, BASS WOMB ROOM: My ‘90s 4-Track Demos x Field Recordings, will be released on cassette and digitally on Sept. 4, 2026, as a standalone album.
“The BASS WOMB ROOM is both a multimedia installation and dynamic sound piece,” says Auf der Maur. “Pulled from the past, it features audio samples from onstage and everyday life, as well as demos I recorded in my living room on a 4-track tape recorder in the ’90s. To experience it – to see and hear it – is to be at an intersection of sounds and moments, both ambient and noisy, past and present. Binding these disparate elements is a recurring heartbeat, symbolizing the bass (the mother of all instruments) and the womb that we all come from.”
The BASS WOMB ROOM installation features moving image content developed in collaboration with editor Neil Gust and film director Jennifer Baichwal; audio produced by Auf der Maur and Alex Crow and mixed by Crow; and installation components developed in collaboration with elsonstudio and McWood Studios.
Production is ongoing on a feature length documentary about Auf der Maur and her photo archive of the last analog decade, slated for release in fall 2027, directed by Jennifer Baichwal and filmed by Nicholas de Pencier, with partners Banger Films, The National Film Board and the CBC.
