Aimia | AGO Photography Prize announces 2015 shortlist
Art Gallery of Ontario
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Toronto, Ontario
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Image: Left to right: (1) Dave Jordano, Lynn, Heidelberg Street, Eastside, Detroit, 2010. Courtesy the artist. (2) Annette Kelm, Untitled, 2013. C-print, 65 x 80 cm. Courtesy the artist. (3) Owen Kydd, Heavy Water, 2015. Video on square digital display with media player. Courtesy the artist. (4) Hito Steyerl, How Not to be Seen: A Fucking Didactic Educational .MOV File (still), 2013. HD video, single screen in architectural environment. Courtesy of the artist and Andrew Krep
Four extraordinary international artists have been shortlisted for the 2015 Aimia | AGO Photography Prize, Canada’s most significant prize for photography. Co-presented by Aimia, a global leader in loyalty management, and the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO),the Prize awards 50,000 CAD to one winner who is chosen by public vote.
The 2015 finalists are:
–Dave Jordano (USA)
–Annette Kelm (Germany)
–Owen Kydd (Canada)
–Hito Steyerl (Germany)
A jury of three experts selected the four finalists (including one Canadian) 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 João Ribas, Deputy Director and Senior Curator of the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art in Porto, and acclaimed Paris-based artist Mohamed Bourouissa.
“This year’s long list was very impressive. It included an exciting range of artists from around the world, highlighting diverse approaches to the photographic image,” said Vlas. “We were drawn to these four finalists for the distinctive visual force and rigour of their work but also for the ways they each address historical and philosophical questions about photography’s role today. We are excited to showcase their work in Toronto this fall for the first time and to award them an opportunity to develop new projects and create new connections through their residencies.”
The four finalists will each be awarded a six-week artist residency in Canada and will present their work in an exhibition opening September 9, 2015, at the AGO. Voting begins in person at the AGO upon the exhibition’s opening, and on the Prize’s website on September 15, 2015, and is open until 11:59pm on November 29, 2015. The winner, who is chosen entirely by public vote, will be announced on December 1, 2015.
The Aimia | AGO Photography Prize has a total annual prize value of more than 100,000 CAD, with 50,000 CAD awarded to the winner, 5,000 CAD awarded to each of the other shortlisted artists, and 25,000 CAD supporting a national scholarship program for students studying photography at select institutions across Canada. The remainder funds six-week residencies across Canada for the four shortlisted artists.
About Aimia
Aimia, a global leader in loyalty management, has adopted two fundamental principles of loyalty, trust and reciprocity, as the pillars of its global social purpose—to create mutually beneficial partnerships that leave a lasting impact in our communities. As an enthusiastic patron of the Arts, Aimia supports many Canadian and international arts and culture initiatives through donations, sponsorships and employee/volunteer activities. Aimia is proud to engage in a dialogue around the arts through the Aimia l AGO Photography Prize and scholarship program, and through our office art installations in Montreal and Toronto. Visit us at www.aimia.com to learn more.
About The AGO
With a collection of more than 90,000 works of art, the Art Gallery of Ontario is among the most distinguished art museums in North America. From the vast body of Group of Seven and signature Canadian works to the African art gallery, from the cutting-edge contemporary art to Peter Paul Rubens’ masterpiece The Massacre of The Innocents, the AGO offers an incredible art experience with each visit. In 2002 Ken Thomson’s generous gift of 2,000 remarkable works of Canadian and European art inspired Transformation AGO, an innovative architectural expansion by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry that in 2008 resulted in one of the most critically acclaimed architectural achievements in North America. Visit ago.net to find out more.
