From a Purple Pope to Iron Mike - John Scott has a new show opening Thursday night, King Street Toronto 6pm

Media Alert: The official opening of the DARK COMMANDER – THE ART OF JOHN SCOTT.  Thursday night, 6pm. Nicholas Metivier Gallery. King St

From a purple pope to Iron Mike - an exhibition of new works by Governor General Award winning artist John Scott.

The media are invited to join Toronto’s art community for the opening of this important Canadian art exhibition. Opening runs 6-8pm. The artist will attend. Blog followers welcome too.

What & When:

Opening reception – Thursday September 11 - with artist, Canadian art buyers, Toronto’s art community, musicians and actors. Scott’s new work to be unveiled. Brief speeches at 7.00pm. Event 6-8pm.  The show will continue through to October 11.

Where:

N I C H O L A S  M E T I V I E R  G A L L E R Y  

451 King Street West, Toronto, Ontario, M5V 1K4 T 416 205 9000

Why:

This fall marks two important milestones in Scott’s distinguished career; his fifth solo exhibition opens in September at Nicholas Metivier Gallery and his first comprehensive survey exhibition, Dark Commander – The Art of John Scott, opens in October at the Faulconer Gallery in Iowa.

The title of the exhibition, Dark Star - an object composed of dark energy that outwardly resembles a black hole – is a nod to Scott’s long-time fascination with space and science. The oxymoron also references the sinister side of our notions about heroes. In his drawing and canvas of Iron Mike, (Mike Tyson), Scott highlights the vulnerability of this fallen athletic giant. Tyson’s boxing gloves are lowered and he dons bunny ears, (a trademark symbol of Scotts’ representing humans’ likeness to scared animals). These, as with many other works in this exhibition, are poignant examples of Scott’s everlasting creativity and timeless voice.

The exhibition will also include two recently released lithographs. The prints were published by Scott and Nicholas Metivier Gallery and printed at Open Studio in Toronto.

Scott was born in Windsor, Ontario in 1950. In 2000, Scott was awarded the inaugural Governor General’s Award in Visual Arts and Media. He has exhibited extensively across Canada for the past 30 years and is collected by almost every major institution in the country including the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto and the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Scott’s work is also held in numerous museum and private collections outside of Canada including the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Scott is currently an instructor at OCAD University where he has taught for the last 15 years.

How:  

      

All media are welcome to cover the event

Media Contacts

Stephen Weir

Phone 416-489-5868

Cell: 416-801-3101

Email: Stephen@stephenweir.com

Scotiabank makes CONTACT with the photography world -- the Toronto press conference

We are all photographers says Burtynsky
SCOTIABANK NOW HAS PICTURE PERFECT RELATIONSHIP WITH COUNTRY'S LARGEST PHOTO FESTIVAL

Scotiabank has upped the ante for the support of the arts ... again. On the last day of March, Scotiabank's public affairs department took over the uber-cool Nicholas Metivier Gallery on King Street in Toronto, to announce their title sponsorship of CONTACT, the World's Largest Photography festival and their creation of a yearly $50,000 cash and publishing award to a Canadian photographer.
"We are all photographers," said renowned Canadian photographer (and Ryerson Polytechnical Institute grad) Ed Burtynsky. " Canada is a nation of picture takers and CONTACT is a festival for all Canadians."
CONTACT, a not-for-profit organization based in Toronto has been celebrating the art of photography for 13-years. The association stages an annual month-long festival in May holding photography exhibitions at galleries and cafes throughout the city.
The Festival attracts both established photographers like Burtynsky and emerging photographers. Long on fans the Festival has traditionally been financially challenged, until now.
The Globe and Mail, one of the few media covering the press conference, reported that Scotiabank has long been a supporter, but now as the name sponsor its annual commitment to the Festival will be $150,000 a year beginning immediately. An additional annual $50,000 cash prize and a pre-negotiated book publishing deal (Steidl)will be handed out annually beginning in 2011.
The addition of the CONTACT Festival gives Scotiabank name recognition in the arts throughout the spring, summer and fall here in Toronto. Other festivals here in Toronto that have name sponsorship from the bank include: Scotiabank United Way Rat Race (June) Scotiabank Caribana (July 15 to August 2), Scotiabank Buskerfest (August), Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon (September), the all night Nuit Blanc (October),the Scotiabank Giller Prize (October/November) and the Christmas Cavalcade of Lights (November / December).
The creation of a $50,000 annual prize for a photographer immediately vaults the award into the same class as the $50,000 Giller, the $80,000 Griffin Trust For Excellence In Poetry, the $25,000 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction and the Royal Bank's $25,000 Canadian Painting Competition.
"Canadian photography has reached a level that deserves to be recognized here in Canada, after all, photography - like all visual art -- is about communication," said Jane Nokes, Scotiabank Director of Corporate Archives and Fine Art. "Through the establishment of this Scotiabank Photography Award, we are helping engage Canadians in the photographic art scene and reward outstanding photographers for their contributions, a further support to their careers."
In announcing the new Photography Award, Burtynsky admitted that the details about the $50,000 prize are not available. "This is the framework" he said. "Stay tuned (for the small print)."
Burtynsky told the press conference attendees that in the first 20-years of his career he didn't have a published book of his work. Even though he didn't realize it then, the lack of a book hurt his career ... people upon seeing his work were suprised that they had never heard of him. After his first book was published, his fame spread around the world.
The power of the published book on the career of a photographer is one of the reason's that Burtynsky has gotten involved in the Photography Award. He will be one of three judges to hand out the yearly prize of $50,000 and the book deal with his European publisher.
The funding that Scotiabank is providing has allowed CONTACT to expand the content and the look of its website. For a preview of the first festival that is to bear the Scotiabank name visit www.contactphoto.com

CUTLINE: TOP: Ed Burtynsky,one of Canada's most successful landscape photographers, speaks at a morning press conference held inside the Nicholas Metivier Gallery, in Toronto.
BELOW:Scotiabank's Jane Nokes, watches from the wings as artist Ed Burtynsky speaks to the media.