William Lazos Wins the 2011 Kingston Prize People’s Choice Award

Exhibition of 30 Finalists presented by ICC at the ROM Until January 29, 2012

The Institute for Contemporary Culture (ICC) at the ROM and the Kingston Arts Council are pleased to announce William Lazos (Toronto) as the winner of The 2011 Kingston Prize People’s Choice Award at the Toronto exhibition. Thanks to the generous support of Borden Ladner Gervais, this year’s People’s Choice Award is valued at $1000 and is based on votes cast by visitors to the exhibition since its opening on November 10, 2011. The biannual Kingston Prize is Canada’s only portrait competition, featuring contemporary paintings and drawings of Canadians by Canadian artists. An exhibition of the 30 finalists for this year is on view at the ROM until January 29, 2011.

"We are very pleased with the high quality and depth of this year’s submissions, and very grateful to the ROM for putting together such a captivating exhibition. This show demonstrates how compelling good portraiture can be,” says Julian Brown, Co-Founder of the Kingston Prize. “On behalf of the Prize and Jury, we wish all the best to the talented artists who submitted their work.”

The winner of this year’s Kingston Prize as awarded by the jury is Mike Bayne (Kingston, Ontario). Honourable Mentions were awarded to Steven Spazuk (Ville de Léry, Québec) and Tammy Salzl (Montreal, Quebec).

Thanks to the generous support of the W. Garfield Weston Foundation of Toronto, the value of this year’s Kingston Prize has been doubled to $20,000, and Honourable Mention Awards have been doubled to $2,000 each.

The Kingston Prize is a juried competition whereby one grand prize winner and two honourable mention awards are selected from 30 finalists. This year’s jury members were Marina Cutler, gallery owner and curator, Montreal; Robert Enright, art critic, Winnipeg and Guelph; Natalka Husar, artist, Toronto.

2011 Finalists

Pamela Augustino

Daniel Barkley

Michael Bayne

Jeremiah Birnbaum

Brian Boulton

Richard Davis

Christiano De Araujo

Marina Dieul

Francis Fontaine

Sadko Hadzihasanovic

Janine Hall

Roselina Hung

Soraya Hutchinson

Charles Keillor

Gerald Kuehl

William Lazos

Tony Luciani

Eileen MacArthur

Edmund Prior

Steven Rosati

Tammy Salzl

Chantel-Andree Samson

Panagiotis Peter Sarganis

Ewa Scheer

Matthew Schofield

Jay Senetchko

Steven Spazuk

Anna Syperek

Ted Tucker

Sean Yelland

To preview the selected works by each artist, please visit: http://www.kingstonprize.ca/2011-
GALLERY/gallery_2011.html.

About The Kingston Prize

The Kingston Prize is a biannual competition that began in 2005, with an exhibition in Gananoque, near Kingston. To be eligible, an entry must be a painting or drawing of a specific Canadian person, based upon a meeting between artist and subject. The competition is not limited by age or professional status. From the entries submitted by artists, a jury selects 30 finalists for the exhibition, and then selects the winners of the prizes. The main prize of is presented by the W. Garfield Weston Foundation to the winner chosen by the jury. In addition there are two Honourable Mentions and a People’s Choice Prize based on ballots submitted during the exhibition. The Kingston Prize is organized through the Kingston Arts Council. For more information on the prize visit http://www.kingstonprize.ca.

About Institute for Contemporary
Culture

The Institute for Contemporary Culture (ICC) is the Royal Ontario Museum's window on contemporary societies around the globe. Playing a vital role within the historical Museum, the ICC examines current cultural, social and political issues throughout the
modern world in thought-provoking exhibitions of contemporary art,
photography, architecture and design that are presented in the Roloff
Beny Gallery and other galleries of the Museum. Additionally, a roster of public events including lectures, film series, debates and
performances further explore relevant themes addressed in ICC
exhibitions, serving as a catalyst for stimulating public
conversations. The ROM's extensive collections of world cultures and
natural history through the ages add context, meaning and depth to
these engaging discussions of contemporary ideas. More information at: https://www.rom.on.ca/icc.