Release party: Thursday, November 19, 2015, 7–10pm
Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art
401 Richmond Street West,
Suite 124
Toronto, Ontario
Canada M5V 3A8
Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art is pleased to announce the release of the 32nd issue of Prefix Photo magazine. On the subject of occupying forces, editor Jayne Wilkinson writes: “Occupation has been used as a strategy of resistance for centuries; at the same time, it has been used to uphold colonial power and subjugate entire peoples and territories. By offering multiple interpretive possibilities, the artists here engaged provide a visual language for countering the politics of occupation with a politics of resistance.”
Contributors to the magazine include the following:
Gabrielle Moser examines the film and photographic works of Richard Mosse. Since its first public exhibition at the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013, Mosse’s installation, The Enclave, has received wide critical attention for its stunning depiction of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in vivid hues of pink—the effect of using Aerochrome, a discontinued form of surveillance film, to document the ongoing conflict in the region. By providing a close reading of his installation and the accompanying photographs, Moser considers the critical function of colour in the work and analyzes the ways in which The Enclave draws on, and diverges from, historical precedents for picturing racialized bodies and colonial violence.
In “Signs of Success?,” Richard William Hill recognizes the work of indigenous photographic artists since the 1980s. Critically examining a variety of works by artists such as Jeff Thomas, Greg Staats, Richard Ray Whitman, Terrance Houle, Dana Claxton and KC Adams, he elaborates a subtle, nuanced and complex argument about class mobility and consumer capitalism. He ponders, with sensitivity and insight, the significance and the social, political and economic implications, as well as the cost of this “success” for indigenous cultures and communities, as well as for the broader society.
Carmen Victor explores a recent film installation by multidisciplinary artist Charles Stankievech. Titled The Soniferous Æther of the Land Beyond the Land Beyond, the work was produced at the Canadian Forces Station Alert, an active military surveillance outpost located on the northeastern tip of Ellesmere Island in the Qikiqtaaluk region of Nunavut, 817 kilometres from the geographic North Pole. In her essay, Victor contemplates the darkness that lies at the core of the work, exploring the temporal ambiguity that arises in conditions of 24-hour darkness. She further situates the work in relation to the politics of the circumpolar Arctic region and climate change.
In her literary feature, Aisha Sasha John investigates a photograph of two televisions facing one another, their convex screens meeting in illumination. Using playfully metaphoric language, she explores the physicality of these familiar if outmoded objects, drawing on their inherent anthropomorphism to probe the nature of love and relationships.
Other contributors include Christos Dikeakos, Matthew Flintham, Mary Kavanagh, Michael D. McCormack and Jane and Louise Wilson, with book reviews by Eric Cazdyn, Jesse Cumming, Nives Hajdin and Jeff O’Brien.
In conjunction with the release party, Prefix ICA is pleased to host the closing reception of The Soniferous Æther of the Land Beyond the Land Beyond, an exhibition curated by Scott McLeod andfeaturing the work of Charles Stankievech. The release party for the magazine and the closing reception for the exhibition will be held on Thursday, November 19, 2015, from 7 to 10pm at Prefix ICA, located at 401 Richmond Street West, Suite 124, Toronto. Admission is free.
Prefix Photo is published by Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art, Inc., a registered charitable organization that fosters the appreciation and understanding of contemporary photographic, media and digital arts. Prefix Photo is available by subscription and in fine bookstores and newsstands in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Spain, Greece, Switzerland, Ireland, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Prefix Photo gratefully acknowledges its Supporting Sponsor Steam Whistle Brewing, its Official Catering Sponsor à la Carte Kitchen and its Official Hotel Sponsor Le Germain Hotel for their assistance with the release party held for Prefix Photo 32 in Toronto.
Prefix Photo gratefully acknowledges the assistance of its staff, volunteers and patrons, as well as the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts. The Ontario Arts Council is an agency of the Government of Ontario.
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