This is an update to these previous blogs:
Top – Left to Right: Dave Jordano, Glemie Playing the Blues, Westside, Detroit, 2011. Courtesy of the artist. Annette Kelm, Arles, 2012. Courtesy of the artist, KÖNIG GALERIE, Berlin and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York. Bottom – Left to Right: Owen Kydd, Knife, Sole, Feather, Scrubbers, 2015. Image courtesy the artist. Hito Steyerl, How Not to Be Seen: Image courtesy the artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York.
2015 Aimia | AGO Photography Prize Exhibition Opening
FREE admissions
Wednesday, September 9
6:30 – 8:30 pm | Remarks 7 pm
Walker Court, The Art Gallery of Ontario
317 Dundas St. West
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Email: AimiaAGOPhotographyPrize@ago.net
All Four Shortlisted Artists in Attendance
Preceded by a Free Artists’ Talk: Reserve Your FREE Tickets to the Talk
Wednesday, September 9
5:30 – 6:30 pm
The 2015 Aimia | AGO Photography Prize exhibition will open at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) on September 9.
- The AIMIA | AGO Photography Prize recognizes four shortlisted artists — Dave Jordano, Annette Kelm, Owen Kydd and Hito Steyerl – “working in photography whose work has exhibited extraordinary potential over the preceding five years.”
To celebrate the opening of the exhibition, the AGO is hosting a FREE panel discussion on Sept. 9, 2015 featuring all four shortlisted artists in conversation with exhibition curator Adelina Vlas at the Art Gallery of Ontario in the Dr. Anne Tanenbaum Gallery School, Weston Family Learning Centre.
- Following the discussion, you are also invited to attend a FREE reception in Walker Court and be amongst the first to cast your vote in the exhibition.
Voting for the winner of the $50,000 Prize begins in person at the AGO upon the exhibition’s opening on September 9 and on the Prize’s website at AimiaAGOPhotographyPrize.com on September 15 and closes at 11:59 p.m. on Nov. 29, 2015.
- You are invited to vote only once for the artist whose work most appeals to you.
- The winner, who will be announced at the AGO on Dec. 1, 2015, receives C$50,000.
Important information regarding tickets to the talk:
- Please note that tickets to this event are FREE, subject to availability and can be booked online at www.ago.net/artists-talk-aimia-ago-photography-prize-finalists.
- Unclaimed reservations will be released to standby customers ten minutes prior to the start of the program.
- It is recommended that you arrive early.
*TICKET HOLDERS: Your FREE ticket will guarantee admission if you arrive before 5:20 pm. After 5:20 pm, unclaimed reservations will be released to standby customers.
RUSH SEATS: Any unclaimed seats, 10 minutes prior to the start of the program will be made available to guests in the rush line.
The Aimia | AGO Photography Prize is Canada’s most significant award for contemporary photography…
Established in 2007, the Aimia | AGO Photography Prize was the first major art prize to allow the public to choose its winner. The Prize has a total annual value of $130,000 with $50,000 awarded to the winner, $5,000 awarded to each of the other shortlisted artists and $25,000 supporting a national scholarship program for students studying photography at select institutions across Canada. The remainder funds six-week residencies for all four short-listed artists in partnership with cultural institutions across Canada.
Aimia has a longstanding commitment to the arts and supports many Canadian arts and culture initiatives through partnership, donations, sponsorships and employee volunteer activities. This focus on the arts reflects the organization’s commitment to supporting its communities.
Good Luck! / Bonne Chance!
PRESS RELEASE
AIMIA | AGO PHOTOGRAPHY PRIZE EXHIBITION OPENS SEPTEMBER 9, 2015
Four international artists shortlisted for $50,000 prize; Voting begins in person Sept. 9 and online Sept. 15
August 28, 2015 (Toronto, ON) — The Aimia | AGO Photography Prize, Canada’s most significant prize for photography, announces the opening of its 2015 exhibition on Sept. 9, 2015 at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO). Featuring over 35 works by this year’s shortlisted artists — Dave Jordano, Annette Kelm, Owen Kydd and Hito Steyerl — the Aimia | AGO Photography Prize 2015 Exhibition is curated by lead juror Adelina Vlas, the AGO’s associate curator of contemporary art.
Established in 2007, the Aimia | AGO Photography Prize was the first major art prize to allow the public to choose its winner. The Prize has a total annual value of $130,000 with $50,000 awarded to the winner, $5,000 awarded to each of the other shortlisted artists and $25,000 supporting a national scholarship program for students studying photography at select institutions across Canada. The remainder funds six-week residencies for all four short-listed artists in partnership with cultural institutions across Canada.
Voting for the 2015 winner begins in person at the AGO upon the exhibition’s opening on Sept. 9, 2015 and on the Prize’s website on Sept. 15, 2015, and closes at 11:59 p.m. on Nov. 29, 2015. Members of the public are invited to vote only once for the artist whose work most appeals to them. The winner, who will be announced at the AGO on Dec. 1, 2015, receives C$50,000.
Highlights of this year’s exhibition, which can also be viewed online at AimiaAGOPhotographyPrize.com as of Sept. 15, 2015, include the international debut of new works by Berlin-based Annette Kelm and Canadian Owen Kydd. Germany’s Hito Steyerl will present her multi-media installation How not to be seen (2013). Detroit native Dave Jordano presents excerpts from his documentary photo series Detroit — Unbroken Down (2012). Once inside the exhibition, visitors will have the opportunity to hear statements about each artist from each finalist’s designated advocate before casting their vote. The advocates, new this year to the prize, will help give voice to the artists and introduce their personal perspectives on these individual practices. Advocating on behalf Owen Kydd is fashion designer Jeremy Laing. Srimoyee Mitra, curator of contemporary art at the Art Gallery of Windsor will advocate for Hito Steyerl. Acclaimed children’s author Kyo Mclear will speak on behalf of Annette Kelm, and American artist and 2013 Aimia | AGO Photography Prize finalist LaToya Ruby Frazier will advocate on behalf of Dave Jordano.
“This year’s shortlist presents artists whose approaches to photography are very unique,” said Adelina Vlas, the AGO’s associate curator of contemporary art. “Visitors to the exhibition will have the opportunity not only to see compelling images, but to consider the distinct ways in which leading contemporary artists are producing them using lens-based media. We are very excited to bring these works and these artists to Toronto, and to be widening the prize’s imprint through the introduction of advocates.”
A jury of three experts selected the four finalists from a long list of 27 artists who each showed extraordinary potential. Headed by Adelina Vlas, Associate Curator, Contemporary Art, Art Gallery of Ontario, the jury included Deputy Director and Senior Curator of the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art in Porto João Ribas and acclaimed Paris-based artist Mohamed Bourouissa.
To celebrate the opening of the exhibition, the AGO is hosting a panel discussion on Sept. 9, 2015 featuring all four shortlisted artists in conversation with exhibition curator Adelina Vlas. Tickets to this event are free, subject to availability and can be booked online at www.ago.net/artists-talk-aimia-ago-photography-prize-finalists. Following the discussion, members of the public are invited to attend a free reception in Walker Court and be amongst the first to cast their vote in the exhibition.
Previous winners of the Aimia | AGO Photography Prize include American Lisa Oppenheim (2014), Canada’s Erin Shirreff (2013), Britain’s Jo Longhurst (2012), Gauri Gill of India (2011), Canadian Kristan Horton (2010), Marco Antonio Cruz of Mexico (2009) and Canadian Sarah Anne Johnson (2008).
For updates on the Prize, further details on the shortlisted artists and additional information, please visit AimiaAGOPhotographyPrize.com and follow @AimiaAGOPrize on Twitter.
View video interviews with the finalists and continue the conversation at AimiaAGOPhotographyPrize.com.
