Sophie Sabet, I Almost Didn’t Feel You Leave. Installation at the Bradley Museum, May 11-June 16, 2019. Photo: Darren Rigo.
Featured Exhibitions are eligible for The Gattuso Prize, a $5,000 award that acknowledges an outstanding exhibition in the Festival. Selected by a jury, the award decision is based on the calibre and concept of the work, the curatorial vision, and the overall impact and presentation of the exhibition.
The 2019 jury, Maegan Broadhurst (curator, The Shell Projects) and Geneviève Wallen (independent curator and writer), awarded the prize to Sophie Sabet’s I Almost Didn’t Feel You Leave at the Bradley Musem, curated by Noa Bronstein.
“Against the backdrop of the Bradley Museum, I Almost Didn’t Feel You Leave complicates colonial narratives of the homestead by using the autobiographical to delve into experiences of migration and its affects on familial structures. Sophie Sabet uses domestic objects as signifiers of expectation, whether economic or social, and demonstrates a desire for the continuity of a past life, but also contemplates present possibilities and constraints.” – The Jury
CONTACT’s Featured Exhibitions, selected to be part of the Festival through a juried submission process, are independently organized by artists, venues, and organizations across the city.
CONTACT gratefully acknowledges the generous support and contributions of La Fondation Emmanuelle Gattuso. The Foundation demonstrates strong leadership and influences innovation across all charitable sectors in Canada including health care, culture and the arts.
Past Winners
2018
Shadi Harouni and Elise Rasmussen, With an instinct for justice, Doris McCarthy Gallery
2017
Sandra Brewster, It’s all a blur…, Georgia Scherman Projects
2016
Lee Henderson, Never Letting Us Take Breath, Zalucky Contemporary
2015
Jimmy Limit, Surplus, Clint Roenisch Gallery
2014
Nadia Belerique, Have You Seen This Man, Daniel Faria Gallery
2013
Marlene Creates, selected works from 30 years, 1982-2012, Paul Petro Contemporary Art
2012
Lise Beaudry, Sur la glace / Walking on Ice, Art Gallery Of Mississauga
2011
Andrew Wright, CORONAE, at Peak Gallery
The Burtynsky Grant
Teresa Eng, Junction, from China Dream
The 2019 Burtynsky Grant goes to Teresa Eng for her book project “China Dream”
Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky and CONTACT established the Burtynsky Grant in 2016—a $5,000 annual grant to support Canadian artists and photographers who are at the advanced stages of developing a photobook for publication.
The jury—Edward Burtynsky, Sarah Allen (Assistant Curator, Tate Modern), Maxine Proctor (Managing Editor, BlackFlash; director and co-founder, Toronto Art Book Fair) and Marcus Schubert (Director of Media, Publications & Exhibits, Burtynsky Studios)—considered many original and absorbing book projects from across Canada.
“Teresa Eng’s China Dream explores the fractured identities that second-generation diaspora experience as they straddle their birth country and their motherland. The jury was impressed by Eng’s striking, moody images, expertly sequenced to contrast memories of a place where she has never lived with a China in flux.”
The jury would like to acknowledge the following Honourable Mentions:
Valerian Mazataud, Liwa Mairin
Luis Mora, Say it With Flowers
Heather Rattray, 98 Ways to Say Very Good
Past Winners
2018 – Birthe Piontek, Abendlied / Honourable Mentions: Eve Tagny, Lost Love; Ian Willms, We Shall See
2017 – The Broadbent Sisters, A Telepathic Book
2016 – Aaron Friend Lettner, Doorways
Installation view of Ravine by Seth Stevenson and Ryan Louis. A 2019 Open Call Exhibition at Allan Gardens Conservatory. Photo courtesy of the artists.