TORONTO.- Today, The Image Centre at Toronto Metropolitan University and the Art Gallery of Ontario announce the acquisition and exhibition of new artworks, made possible by the Canada Now Photography Acquisition Initiative. Conceived in the spring of 2020 by photographer Edward Burtynsky and Nicholas Metivier Gallery and generously supported by proceeds from the sale of Burtynsky’s 2020 photography portfolio Natural Order, the Canada Now initiative is a response to the difficult economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on artists and the art market in Canada. Support from Canada Now has enabled Sophie Hackett, Curator, Photography, AGO and Denise Birkhofer, Collections Curator, The Image Centre, to each acquire artworks by 10 emerging and mid-career artists for their respective institution’s collections.

“There is no question that our arts sector was hit incredibly hard as a result of the pandemic and the two challenging years that followed, but we saw the resiliency and ingenuity of our artists during that time. Now the focus is on revitalizing the Canadian arts scene, breathing life back into our cities and ensuring resources and opportunities are close at hand for our artists. I am honoured to have contributed in this small way to help shine a light on the immense talent across this country, and I cannot wait for the public to experience the work of the Canada Now artists,” says Edward Burtynsky, Canadian photographer and filmmaker.

“This initiative, which enables us to acquire artworks from emerging and mid-career Canadian photographers, allows us to introduce audiences to innovative artists who are challenging the definition and future of photography in Canada,” say Denise Birkhofer, Collections Curator, The Image Centre and Sophie Hackett, Curator of Photography, AGO.

New to The Image Centre Collection, courtesy of the Canada Now Photography Acquisition Initiative, are 60 works by ten Canadian artists: Zachary Ayotte (b. 1981, lives in Edmonton); Rebecca Bair (b. 1995, lives in Vancouver); Alyssa Bistonath (b. 1982, lives in Toronto); Séamus Gallagher (b. 1995, lives in Halifax); Kablusiak (b. 1993, lives Calgary); Luther Konadu (b. 1991, lives in Winnipeg); JJ Levine (b. 1984, lives in Montreal); Morris Lum (b. 1983, lives in Toronto); Isabel M. Martínez (b. 1977, lives in Toronto); and Kali Spitzer (b. 1987, lives in Vancouver). Among the acquisitions are two newly-commissioned works by Gallagher, whose elaborate photo-sculptural sets and costumes serve as a backdrop for their performative self-portrait series, A Slippery Place; and by Bair, whose mural-sized photographic work Reach and Coil placed her among the finalists for the Philip B. Lind Emerging Artist Prize in 2021.

A selection of these artworks will be featured in the exhibition CANADA NOW: New Photography Acquisitions, opening at The Image Centre on Sept. 14, 2022.

Proceeds from the Canada Now Photography Acquisition Initiative have supported the acquisition of works by ten artists for the AGO Collection. Opening in early 2023, the AGO will present Canada Now, an exhibition featuring select acquisitions. Details about the exhibition and acquisitions will be announced this fall.