Joan Jonas, now 88, has been a celebrated artist since the late 1960s. But it wasn't until 2024 that she received her crowning recognition in the U.S., when New York's Museum of Modern Art organized a major retrospective of her work.

The arts icon splits her time between a Soho loft in NYC, and the "magical landscape" of Cape Breton, where she can be by her muse: the ocean. As she tells IDEAS producer Mary Lynk, "We come from the sea. It's not a memory. It's a feeling. It's in our DNA."

Part of Jonas' MoMA retrospective called Moving Off the Land II has been acquired by the National Gallery of Canada and the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. The exhibit will tour across Canada this summer, beginning in Cape Breton.

Arts icon Joan Jonas on why we are drawn to the ocean 54:08 Share

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Arts icon Joan Jonas on why we are drawn to the ocean