Vera Frenkel’s As If by Chance…, on view at Koffler Arts’ 301 Gallery is a compelling multimedia installation that blends real-life interaction with fictional narrative. Known for her long-standing engagement with questions of power, perception, and truth, Frenkel turns her attention here to ageism, particularly the ways both children and older adults are often overlooked or dismissed.
Installation view of Vera Frenkel, As If by Chance. Courtesy of Koffler Arts
Prompted by what she describes as an “aversion to ageism at both ends of life’s arc,” Frenkel brings together two groups rarely centered in cultural discourse: children under ten and adults over seventy. Inspired in part by William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience, the project explores what emerges when these two generations meet on equal footing. The result is a series of unscripted, often tender exchanges that challenge assumptions about dependency, capability, and voice.
Installation view with William Blake’s poetry of Vera Frenkel, As If by Chance. Photo: Nusrat Papia
At the core of these interactions is a simple creative exercise. Participants select cards from a deck, each bearing a single word, which then becomes the basis for a collaborative artwork. The conversations that unfold are spontaneous and disarmingly honest, revealing moments of humor, curiosity, and shared imagination. Rather than reinforcing generational divides, the work emphasizes mutual recognition and presence.
Selecting cards. Courtesy of Koffler Arts
Yet As If by Chance does not present these encounters as purely documentaries. The installation is structured in two parts, with the second introducing a fictional narrative that complicates the first. A voiceover informs viewers that the Toronto Art Center, a community arts space where these intergenerational meetings took place, has been abruptly shut down. Its founder, Natasha, is missing, and speculation has emerged about the center being used as a cover for espionage or political activity.
There is no evidence to support these claims, but their inclusion shifts the tone of the work. Frenkel, who also provides the voiceover as Natasha’s assistant, draws on elements of detective fiction to create a sense of uncertainty. As she suggests, absence invites projection, the less we know, the more we imagine. This narrative layer raises questions about truth, trust, and the ways stories are constructed and manipulated.
Installation view of Vera Frenkel, As If by Chance. Courtesy of Koffler Arts
The installation itself reflects this duality. Presented as both a two-channel video experience and a single-channel sequential screening, it allows viewers to engage with the material in different ways, either in an immersive way or reflectively. The gallery design reinforces this interplay between immediacy and mediation.
Produced during a residency at Charles Street Video and initiated in 2017, the work includes participants such as artist Tim Whiten and critic Gary Michael Dault alongside children from the community. Their presence underscores the authenticity of the exchanges, even as the fictional framework destabilizes it.
Installation view of Vera Frenkel, As If by Chance. Courtesy of Koffler Arts
Ultimately, As If by Chance is both gentle and unsettling. It offers a quiet but powerful critique of age-based marginalization while inviting viewers to question how narratives, whether personal, institutional, or political, are formed. By weaving together innocence and experience, fact and fiction, Frenkel creates a space where overlooked voices are not only heard but taken seriously.
Nusrat Papia
*Exhibition information: Vera Frenkel, As If by Chance, May 21 – Jun 14, 2026, Koffler301, 180 Shaw St., #104 Toronto. Gallery hours: Wed & Fri – Sun 12:30 – 5pm, Thu 12:30 – 8pm.