The nominees for the 10th AIMIA | AGO Photography Prize reveal the distinct and compelling ways in which artists are using photography today. From political to personal, documentary to conceptual, these artworks prompt us to think about the nature of photographic images. What information do photographs convey? How is this information transmitted to us, and how does the transmission influence our relationships to one another? Each of the four nominees, in their own way, aims to transform our understanding of the world we live in.
The Prize awards $50,000 to one winner, who is chosen by public vote. The four finalists will present their work in an exhibition from September 6, 2017 to January 14, 2018 at the AGO. Voting could happen in person at the AGO upon the exhibition’s opening and on the Prize’s website
The winner 10th AIMIA | AGO Photography Prize is Hank Willis Thomas.
2017 Short List:
Liz Johnson Arthur (b. 1964) is a Russian-Ghanaian photographer based in London. For the last 28 years, Johnson Artur has been working on a photographic representation of people of African descent, capturing compelling nuances of blackness, highlighting family, love and friendships.
Untitled, 1986 to 2010, Black Balloon Archive. Courtesy of the artist
Raymond Boisjoly (b. 1981) is an Indigenous artist of Haida and Québécois descent who lives and works in Vancouver. He has exhibited extensively across Canada and internationally in both solo and group exhibitions. Boisjoly investigates the ways images, objects, materials and language continue to define Indigenous art and artists, with particular attention to colonial contexts.
Station to Station (image detail, 1 of 5 prints), 2014, 5 screen resolution LightJet prints mounted on dibond, each 45.75 x 61 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Catriona Jeffries Gallery, Vancouver
Taisuke Koyama (b. 1978) is a Japanese artist, who explores the possibility of image making in the digital age. His abstract photographs and moving images employ experimental production methods to investigate the relationship between organic processes and phenomena and the technologies that facilitate their visual capture.
Rainbow Variations (Installation view), 2009-ongoing, pigment prints. Courtesy of the artist and G/P Gallery, Tokyo
Hank Willis Thomas (b. 1976) is a multidisciplinary contemporary African-American visual artist, photographer and arts educator, working primarily with themes related to identity, history and popular culture.
Crossroads, 2012, Digital c-print, variable sizes. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
For more information please check 2017 Aimia | AGO Photography Prize.