Patti Smith says AGO exhibit of her photography brought her to tears

TORONTO – Patti Smith says she was brought to tears the first time she walked through the Art Gallery of Ontario’s exhibit of her photography.

“Patti Smith: Camera Solo” is being displayed at the Toronto gallery through May 19.

The punk pioneer said the gallery’s arrangement of her work was “extremely beautiful,” and she was humbled to see her art alongside the likes of Czech photographer Josef Sudek.

The exhibit features more than 75 works of photography, film and objects from the musician’s personal collection, including such artifacts as Pope Benedict’s slippers, a stone from the river where English writer Virginia Woolf drowned herself and a teacup that belonged to Smith’s father.

Many of the photos and artifacts are associated with Smith’s friendship with American photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, which was explored in her award-winning memoir “Just Kids.”

Smith told The Canadian Press that she’s currently working on another memoir that probes other periods of her life, as well as an “existential detective novel” she’s been writing for the past couple of years.