Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art is a public art gallery and an arts publishing house with a focus on contemporary

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employe ...

new media New media describes communication technologies that enable or enhance interaction between users as well as interaction between users and content. In the middle of the 1990s, the phrase "new media" became widely used as part of a sales pitch for ...

and digital arts. It is located in the 401

Richmond Street Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

arts centre in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. ''Prefix Photo'' magazine was founded by Canadian curator Scott McLeod in 1999 and has since expanded to include a programme of visual and audio art exhibitions, an international lecture series (the Urban Field Speaker Series), and a publicly accessible reference library. Prefix ICA is a registered Canadian charitable organization supported by its sponsors, donors, and funding bodies at all levels of government. Prefix is also a member of the

Ontario Association of Art Galleries The Galeries Ontario / Ontario Galleries (GOG), formerly Ontario Association of Art Galleries / Association Ontarienne des Galeries d’Art (OAAG/AOGA), was established in 1968 to encourage development of public art galleries, art museums, community ...

, the Canadian Museums Association and Magazines Canada.

Prefix ICA Galleries

Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art consists of three galleries: a main gallery, a surround gallery and an audio art gallery. Both the staff curator and guest curators program exhibitions year-round.

Selected exhibitions

Rodney Graham William Rodney Graham (January 16, 1949 – October 22, 2022) was a Canadian visual artist and musician. He was closely associated with the Vancouver School. Early life Graham was born in Abbotsford, British Columbia, on January 16, 1949. ...

: ''Jack of All Trades''. Curated by Scott McLeod, 2016. *

Susanne Kriemann Susanne Kriemann (born 1972 in Erlangen) is a German artist, photographer and professor at Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design. Life and career Susanne Kriemann graduated from the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart in 1997, where she ...

: ''Pechblende (Prologue)''. Curated by Jayne Wilkinson, 2016. *

Charles Stankievech Charles Stankievech (born 1978) is a Canadian artist, writer, publisher and curator. Biography As a result of the wide spectrum of strategies and the conceptual drive behind the production, his work has been located in the Conceptual Art Co ...

: ''The Soniferous Æther of the Land Beyond the Land Beyond''. Curated by Scott McLeod, 2015. *

Yto Barrada Yto Barrada (born 1971) is a Franco-Moroccan multimedia visual artist living and working in Tangier, Morocco and New York City. Barrada cofounded the Cinémathèque de Tanger in 2006, leading a group of artists and filmmakers. Barrada also wor ...

: ''Beaux Gestes''. Curated by Scott McLeod and Vicky Moufawad-Paul, 2015. *

Los Carpinteros ''Los Carpinteros'' is a Cuban artist collective founded in Havana in 1992 by Marco Antonio Castillo Valdes, Dagoberto Rodriguez Sanchez, and Alexandre Arrechea (who left the group in 2003). In 1994 they decided "to renounce the notion of individua ...

: ''Pellejo''. Curated by Scott McLeod, 2014. *

Susan Hiller Susan Hiller (March 7, 1940 – January 28, 2019) was an American-born artist who lived in London, United Kingdom. Her art practice included installation, video, photography, performance and writing. Early life and education Born in Tallah ...

: ''The Last Silent Movie''. Curated by Scott McLeod, 2011. * David Lamelas: ''Time as Activity (Buenos Aires)''. Curated by Andréa Picard, 2011. *

Rabih Mroué Rabih Mroué ( ar, ربيع مروة, born 1967) is a Lebanese stage and film actor, playwright, and visual artist. Rooted in theater, his work includes videos and installation art; the latter sometimes incorporates photography, text and sculptur ...

: ''The Inhabitants of Images''. Curated by Scott McLeod, 2011. *

Guido van der Werve Guido van der Werve (born 1977) is a Dutch filmmaker and visual artist. Personal details Van der Werve was born in Papendrecht, the Netherlands and currently lives and works in Finland and Berlin. He pursued studies in industrial design, archae ...

: ''The King’s Gambit''. Curated by Scott McLeod, 2010. *

Willie Doherty Willie Doherty (born 1959) is an artist from Northern Ireland, who has mainly worked in photography and video. He has twice been a Turner Prize nominee. Life and work Doherty was born in Derry, Northern Ireland, and from 1978 to 1981 studied a ...

: ''Passages''. Curated by Scott McLeod, 2009. *

Harun Farocki Harun Farocki (9 January 1944 – 30 July 2014) was a German filmmaker, author, and lecturer in film. Early life and education Farocki was born as Harun El Usman FaroqhiMargalit Fox (3 August 2014)''New York Times''. in Neutitschein, which is n ...

: ''One image doesn’t take the place of the previous one''. Curated by Michèle Thériault, 2009. *

Laurent Grasso Laurent Grasso (born 1972) is a French conceptual artist living and working in Paris. Biography Laurent Grasso is the recipient of the esteemed Order of Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture and the prestigious Marcel Duchamp P ...

: ''Projection''. Curated by Scott McLeod, 2008. * Andrew Wright: ''Survey''. Curated by Chantal Rousseau, 2008. * Spring Hurlbut: ''Deuil''. Curated by Scott McLeod, 2007. *

Lida Abdul Lida Abdul is a video artist and performance artist from Afghanistan. She was born as Lida Abdullah in Kabul in 1979, fled the country as a child during the Soviet Invasion, and went on to live in India and Germany then the United States. Her mos ...

: ''War Games''. Curated by Scott McLeod, 2007. * Robert Bean: ''Metamorphosis''. Curated by Scott McLeod, 2007. *

Annika Larsson Annika Larsson (born 1972 Stockholm, Sweden) is a photographer and video artist. Larsson received a Master of Fine Arts from the Royal University College of Fine Arts, Stockholm. In 2002 she had a solo exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary A ...

: ''Power Plays''. Curated by Scott McLeod, 2006. * Chris Marker: ''The Hollow Men''. Curated by Sarah Robayo Sheridan, 2006. *

Lorna Simpson Lorna Simpson (born August 13, 1960) is an American photographer and multimedia artist. She came to prominence in the 1980s and 1990s with artworks such as ''Guarded Conditions'' and ''Square Deal''. Simpson is most well-known for her work in c ...

: ''31''. Curated by Betty Julian, 2005. *

Runa Islam Runa Islam ( bn, রুনা ইসলাম; born 10 December 1970) is a Bangladeshi-born British visual artist and filmmaker based in London. She was a nominee for the 2008 Turner Prize. She is principally known for her film works. Early lif ...

: ''Scale (1/16 Inch = 1 Foot)''. Curated by Kenneth Hayes, 2005. *

Walid Raad Walid Raad (Ra'ad) (Arabic: وليد رعد) (born 1967 in Chbanieh, Lebanon) is a contemporary media artist. The Atlas Group is a fictional collective, the work of which is produced by Walid Raad. He lives and works in New York, where he is curr ...

: ''The Truth Will Be Known When the Last Witness Is Dead: Documents from the Fakhouri File in the Atlas Group Archive''. Curated by Philip Monk, 2004. * Stan Douglas: ''Every Building on 100 West Hastings''. Curated by Scott McLeod, 2004. *

Yael Bartana Yael Bartana ( he, יעל ברתנא; born 1970) is an Israeli artist, filmmaker and photographer, whose past works have encompassed multiple mediums, including photography, film, video, sound, and installation. Many of her pieces feature polit ...

: ''Trembling Time''. Curated by Scott McLeod, 2004.

''Prefix Photo''

''Prefix Photo'' magazine debuted in 2000 and was named Best New Magazine at the

National Magazine Awards The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...

in 2002. The magazine presents the work of emerging and established Canadian and international artists with a strong focus on the photographic arts. The magazine and the institute's other print materials are designed by Underline Studio. ''Prefix Photo'' is released twice annually, in May and November, and is distributed internationally.

Issue structure

*Editorial *Essays *Literary Feature *Portfolios *Book Reviews *Profile *Newsbriefs *Contributors *Epilogue

Notable contributors

''Prefix Photo'' has featured essays and creative writing by many international critics, curators and other writers, including: *

Ariella Azoulay Ariella Aïsha Azoulay ( he, אריאלה עאישה אזולאי; born Tel Aviv, 1962) is an author, art curator, filmmaker, and theorist of photography and visual culture. She is a professor of Modern Culture and Media and the Department of ...

Shannon Bell Shannon Bell (born 5 July 1955) is a Canadian performance philosopher who lives and writes philosophy-in-action, experimental philosophy. Bell is also professor and graduate programme director in the York University Political Science Departme ...

John Berger John Peter Berger (; 5 November 1926 – 2 January 2017) was an English art critic, novelist, painter and poet. His novel '' G.'' won the 1972 Booker Prize, and his essay on art criticism '' Ways of Seeing'', written as an accompaniment to the ...

* Lorna Brown *

Michael Crummey Michael Crummey (born November 18, 1965) is a Canadian poet and a writer of historical fiction. His writing often draws on the history and landscape of Newfoundland and Labrador. Early life and education Crummey was born in Buchans, Newfoundlan ...

Sarindar Dhaliwal Sarindar Dhaliwal (born 1953) is a Canadian multi-media artist, based in Toronto. Biography Dhaliwal was born in the Punjab, and moved with her family to England at the age of four and grew up in Southall, London. At the age of fifteen, she mig ...

Hal Foster Harold Rudolf Foster, FRSA (August 16, 1892 – July 25, 1982) was a Canadian-American comic strip artist and writer best known as the creator of the comic strip '' Prince Valiant''. His drawing style is noted for its high level of draftsmanship ...

Peggy Gale Peggy Gale (born 1944) is an independent Canadian curator, writer, and editor. Gale studied Art History and received her Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History from the University of Toronto in 1967. Gale has published extensively on time ...

Eldon Garnet Eldon Garnet (born 1946) is a multidisciplinary artist and novelist based in Toronto, Ontario and a professor at the Ontario College of Art and Design. From 1975 to 1990 he was the editor of ''Impulse'', a Canadian magazine of art and culture. Ca ...

* Kenneth J. Harvey *

Jamelie Hassan Jamelie Hassan (born 1948) is a Canadian multidisciplinary artist, lecturer, writer and independent curator. Early life and education Hassan was born in London, Ontario, to a Lebanese immigrant family and grew up in an Arabic speaking household ...

Aleksandar Hemon Aleksandar Hemon ( sr-Cyrl, Александар Xeмoн; born September 9, 1964) is a Bosnian-American author, essayist, critic, television writer, and screenwriter. He is best known for the novels '' Nowhere Man'' (2002) and '' The Lazarus Pr ...

Kyo Maclear Kyo Maclear (born 1970) is a Canadian novelist and children's author. Maclear was born in England and moved to Canada at a young age. Her father is the journalist and documentary filmmaker Michael Maclear. She studied fine art and art history ...

* Janine Marchessault *

Hans Ulrich Obrist Hans Ulrich Obrist (born 1968) is a Swiss art curator, critic, and historian of art. He is artistic director at the Serpentine Galleries, London. Obrist is the author of ''The Interview Project'', an extensive ongoing project of interviews. He is ...

Marina Roy Marina Roy is a visual artist, educator and writer based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Life Roy was born in Quebec City, and moved to Vancouver, British Columbia in her youth. She obtained a B.A. in French Literature at Université Laval, a B. ...

* Kim Sawchuk *

Allan Sekula Allan Sekula (January 15, 1951 – August 10, 2013) was an American photographer, writer, filmmaker, theorist and critic. From 1985 until his death in 2013, he taught at California Institute of the Arts. His work frequently focused on large economi ...

Books

In 2008, Prefix Press published its first book, ''Milk and Melancholy'', by Kenneth Hayes, a Canadian curator and contemporary art critic. “Milk and Melancholy looks at milk through the lens of photography and from the angle of art.”

Urban Field Speakers Series

The Urban Field Speakers Series is an international lecture series that is organized and hosted by Prefix ICA and which takes place annually between January and April. The series features lectures, symposia and discussions conducted by artists, architects, designers, curators and scholars. All presentations are centred around the theme of art’s role in the experience of urban life.

References

External links

* {{coord, 43.647801, N, 79.395074, W, region:CA-ON_type:landmark_source:GoogleMaps, format=dms, display=title Art museums and galleries in Ontario Arts centres in Canada Contemporary art galleries in Canada Photography museums and galleries in Canada