Jo Longhurst The Refusal (Part II) 2008
Tonight at the Art Gallery of Ontario, it was announced that British photographer Jo Longhurst has been selected by public vote as winner of the $50,000 Grange Prize for contemporary photography.
Longhurst was selected over fellow contenders Emmanuelle Léonard of Montreal, Annie MacDonell of Toronto and Jason Evans, also of the UK. These other finalists each receive $5,000.
Born in Essex, UK, Longhurst has gained international recognition for her photographic work, having exhibited at various venues including this summer’s dOCUMENTA (13). Her main bodies of work investigate the ways we strive for perfection and the role photographs play in upholding these ideals, be they in breeding whippet show dogs in The Refusal (2003–2008) or performing classic poses in elite gymnastics in Other Spaces (2008–2012).
Established in 2008, the Grange Prize is an annual award in which two photography-based artists from Canada and two photography-based artists from abroad are featured in an Art Gallery of Ontario exhibition, then left open to a public vote online and in the gallery. This year, a related exhibition also took place at Canada House in London, UK. Both the UK and Canadian exhibition will continue until January 6, 2013.
All four finalists this year will receive an artist residency, another feature of the Grange Prize. Longhurst begins her residency at the AGO on November 4 and will occupy the Anne Lind Artist-in-Residence Studio inside the Weston Family Learning Centre until December 15. Jason Evans will be in residence at the AGO in spring 2013, and Emmanuelle Léonard and Annie MacDonell will travel to the UK to conduct residencies next year.
Previous winners of the Grange Prize include Gauri Gill of India (2011), Canadian photographer Kristan Horton (2010), Marco Antonio Cruz of Mexico (2009) and Canadian photographer Sarah Anne Johnson (2008).
