{"id":57398,"date":"2025-12-09T20:00:38","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T01:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artoronto.ca\/?p=57398"},"modified":"2025-12-09T20:45:40","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T01:45:40","slug":"the-kingston-prize","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artoronto.ca\/?p=57398","title":{"rendered":"The Kingston Prize"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This past month, The Kingston Prize declared Louise Kermode’s Madonna in a Tulip Chair<\/em> this year’s winner. The Kingston Prize is a biennial competition that celebrates contemporary portraiture by Canadian artists. The prize, amounting to $25,000, aims to encourage and reward Canadian artists while building a living historical record of Canadians and showcasing their diverse identities and experiences through real-life encounters.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Installation view of The Kinston Prize exhibition at Arta Gallery, Toronto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During this year’s cycle, 420 artists applied to the competition. The jury consisted of renown Canadian artist, Gordon Shadrach, and scholars, Chloe Pelletier (Curator at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts), and Lauchie Reid (Chair of Illustration at OCAD University). These jurors selected the winners from a pool of applicants before settling on 30 finalists of talented Canadian artist’ portraits for the exhibition. Among others Orlin Mantchev\u2019s and Opeyemi Olukotun\u2019s paintings were outstanding.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Orlin Mantchev in front of his painting, James Baird<\/em> (from the series \u201cThe Cosmos I am\u201d), oil on canvas, 152 x 152 cm<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Opeyemi Olukotun with his painting, A Cup of Silence<\/em>, acrylic on canvas, 150 x 120 cm<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interview with Louise Kermode, the winner of the 2025 Kingston Prize<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Louise Kermode receiving the winning prize of The Kingston Prize from Jason Donville<\/p>\n\n\n\n

APR: As someone who recently transitioned from university work into full-time artistic practice, how has your background influenced your art?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LK: I took several art history courses as a student at U of T and coincidentally ended up working as an admin assistant in the Art History department for 15 years. I think being so exposed to art history for so long has given me a framework for approaching my own work that is almost instinctual. I see art historical references everywhere, which informs the contemporary imagery that I paint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not relying on my art for income gave me the flexibility to paint only what I wanted to paint. Keeping my painting practice in a holding pattern until I retired was a very long exercise in discipline and delayed gratification!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

APR: How did you hear about the Kingston Prize? Could you offer some advice to artists seeking to participate in similar events\/exhibits?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LK: I can\u2019t remember how I became aware of it, but I\u2019ve known about the Kingston Prize for a long time. I had already begun work on the portrait of Donna when the call for submissions for this year\u2019s prize went out.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Louise Kermode and Donna in front of Kermode\u2019s winning portrait of Donna, Madonna in a Tulip Chair<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

APR: Can you share more about your decision to portray Donna in her seventies? How did you first learn about her, and what drew you to her?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LK: I\u2019ve been a fan of Mary and Christopher Pratt\u2019s work for a long time, so I was familiar with the \u201cDonna paintings\u201d. I met Donna when she was working at the Gallery Grill at Hart House on U of T\u2019s St. George campus. I\u2019d gone there for lunch with Dr. Elizabeth Legge who was Chair of the Art History Department at the time. Donna and Elizabeth knew each other and when Donna left the table, Elizabeth said, \u201cyou should paint Donna!\u201d and I thought it was such a great idea. As someone who has more of my life behind me than ahead of me, I\u2019m a bit preoccupied right now with the passage of time. Painting an artist\u2019s muse 40 years after she came to prominence, I thought would be a perfect way to explore that theme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I began planning this portrait, I knew I wanted to reference my favourite Donna painting Girl in a Wicker Chair<\/em>, but I didn\u2019t want it to be a literal copy of it. I wanted to bring in my favourite elements of Mary Pratt\u2019s painting – the beautiful symmetry and light effects – but interpret them in my own way. By referencing the earlier painting, I wanted to highlight not only the similarities but the differences to show that this is a painting of the same person but with age and experience she presents herself differently to the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was also an opportunity to continue Donna\u2019s story, this time as a portrait subject as opposed to a figure model, and to reflect on her place in Canadian art history.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Mary Pratt: Girl in a wicker chair<\/em>, 1978, oil on canvas (left) and Louise Kemrode: Madonna in a Tulip Chair, oil on aluminum composite panel, 116 x 76 cm (right)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

APR: What artistic choices did you make in terms of composition, medium, or symbolism in this painting, and what do they signify for you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LK: When I was reviewing the photos that I took of Donna as source material for the painting, I was struck by how many of them were vaguely reminiscent of renaissance Madonna imagery. I decided to lean into that because the concept so perfectly captured Donna\u2019s mythic status. I used about 5 or 6 different photos in coming up with the final composition. It was also a conscious choice to have Donna\u2019s bare feet figure prominently. This was partly because it was a way to associate my painting with the earlier paintings of Donna, but also because to me they convey her vulnerability, and that was something I wanted to emphasize as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

APR: What is your most fond memory from participating in this event? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

LK: There isn\u2019t one specific moment I can point to, just overwhelming gratitude for the community of artists and supporters who believe in the work that we do and gave so much to make it happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Antonella Pecora Ruiz<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Images are courtesy of The Kingston Prize, credit Michael Reyes, and the artists. (CNW Group\/The Kingston Prize)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Exhibition information: The Kingston Prize<\/em>, Nov 8 \u2013 14, 2025 Arta Gallery, Toronto, then the exhibition will tour the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Antonella Pecora Ruiz<\/strong>
\nThe Kingston Prize is a biennial competition that celebrates contemporary portraiture by Canadian artists. <\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":57406,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[268,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antonella-pecora-ruiz","category-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=57398"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57398\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57414,"href":"https:\/\/artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57398\/revisions\/57414"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/57406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=57398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=57398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=57398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}