Stéphane Aquin holds a distinguished profile in the Canadian art world and abroad, in part because he arrived to the role of curator from art criticism, but also because, in an era of revolving doors and fast-tracked career-making, Aquin has stayed with one institution—the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA)—for a long stretch of time, putting his head down and achieving increasingly strong exhibitions. Over the course of 16 years, he has accomplished major solo exhibitions with the likes of Pipilotti Rist, Tom Wesselman, and, most recently, Peter Doig, what many consider (including Aquin) his crowning achievement at the MMFA. In addition, he has curated interpretations of the Chapman brothers, Andy Warhol, and Alfred Hitchcock, and expanded the museum's collection by more than a thousand artworks, including works by David Altmejd, Kiki Smith, Antony Gormley, Dorion FitzGerald, and Michael Snow.
