SEPTEMBER 2010 AT THE POWER PLANT
features two special exhibitions

• Otolith III by The Otolith Group, in collaboration with the Toronto International Film Festival
• 12th Annual RBC Canadian Painting Competition

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Otolith III by The Otolith Group
4–19 September
FREE

Working with moving images, sound, text, and curatorial practice, London-based artists The Otolith Group explore media archives, histories of futurity and the ongoing legacies of 1960s anti-imperialist struggles, such as the Non-Aligned and tricontinentalist movements. The Otolith Group was represented in The Power Plant’s Summer 2009 exhibition ‘Universal Code: Art and Cosmology in the Information Age’ with the first two parts of their eponymous trilogy. In collaboration with the Toronto International Film Festival’s Future Projections program, the gallery is very excited to present the North American premiere of Otolith III (2009, HD Video, 48 min.)

Otolith III takes The Alien, the unrealized screenplay by legendary Bengali director Satyajit Ray (Pather Panchali, The World of Apu), as its point of departure. Written in 1967, The Alien would have been the first science-fiction film to be set in contemporary India. Otolith III returns to 1967 to propose an alternative trajectory in which the fictional protagonists of The Alien attempt to seize the means of production in order to create the conditions for their existence as images. The result is a rigorous, intellectually and visually dazzling treatise on cinematic representation, past, present and future.

The Otolith Group was founded in 2000 in London by its core members Anjalika Sagar and Kodwo Eshun. Their works and curatorial projects have been presented internationally, including at documenta 12 (2007) and the 7th Shanghai Biennial (2009). The Otolith Trilogy (2003–09) was presented in the solo exhibition ‘A Long Time Between Suns Parts I and II’ at Gasworks and The Showroom, London (2009). The Otolith Group is nominated for the Turner Prize 2010.

This 48-minute video will be projected in a specially built cinema located at The Power Plant. Screenings will begin on the hour throughout gallery’s regular opening hours.

The 35th Toronto International Film Festival and Future Projections, TIFF’s program of contemporary art projects, run 9–19 September 2010. TIFF Bell Lightbox opens to the public on 12 September.


12th Annual RBC Canadian Painting Competition
25 September–3 October 2010
FREE

Established in 1999, the RBC Canadian Painting Competition, with the support of the Canadian Art Foundation, is a unique initiative that helps to nurture and support promising new artists in the early stages of their careers; a time when they need both recognition and financial support. The Power Plant is pleased to host this special exhibition.

One national winner and two honourable mentions will be selected by a jury panel of distinguished members of the arts community. The national winner and honourable mentions will be awarded $25,000 and $15,000 respectively. With a total of $55,000 in prizes, the RBC Canadian Painting Competition offers the highest total award of any painting competition in Canada.

Semi-finalists of this year’s RBC Painting Competition are:

Western Canada: Eli Bornowsky (Vancouver), Aaron Carpenter (Vancouver), Megan Hepburn (Vancouver), Laura Piasta (Coquitlam), Melanie Rocan (Winnipeg)

Central Canada: Sarah Cale (Toronto), Scott Everingham (Toronto), Jon Reed (Toronto), Mark Stebbins (Toronto), Beth Stuart (Toronto)

Eastern Canada: Hugo Bergeron (Montréal), Scott Bertram (Halifax), Benjamin Klein (Montréal), Alexis Lavoie (Montréal), Rick Leong (Montréal)
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Coming this Fall 2010
9 October, 2010 – 2 January, 2011

Ian Wallace: The Economy of the Image
A major new project featuring the commissioned series
Abstract Paintings I - XII (The Financial District)

Pae White: Material Mutters
A survey of recent work featuring the commissioned tapestry Sea Beast.

Both exhibitions open 9 October, 2010, with the Fall Exhibitions Opening Party on Friday, 8 October, 8 – 11 PM. 

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Institutional Donor: Nancy McCain & Bill Morneau
Primary Education Sponsor: CIBC Wood Gundy
Corporate Leaders: BMO Financial Group, Manulife Financial, Morneau Sobeco, Rogers
Government Funding: Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council

GALLERY ADMISSION:
ALL SUMMER, ALL FREE
Thanks to the support of the Hal Jackman Foundation and NOW Magazine

GALLERY HOURS:
Tuesday to Sunday / 12–6 PM
Saturday / 12–8 PM
Open Labour Day Monday

Image Credit: The Otolith Group, Otolith III, 2009. Courtesy the artists. 

Media Contact: Robin Boyko, 416.973.4927, rboyko@harbourfrontcentre.com

The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery
231 Queens Quay West
Toronto, ON Canada M5J 2G8
416.973.4949 // thepowerplant@harbourfrontcentre.com
www.thepowerplant.org