Toronto, September 9, 2004 — The Magenta Foundation is like nothing we’ve ever seen in Canada. A not-for-profit arts publishing house — the first of its kind within these borders — committed to finding and promoting Canadian photographers in international circles.
Magenta intends to establish itself as a nexus of cooperation among galleries — an agora of the arts, where philosophy beats commerce two times out of three. By publishing books and staging exhibitions, Magenta will promote both established and emerging Canadian artists at the widest possible level. “Canada boasts some of the greatest photographers in the world,” says Martha Hanna, director of the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography in Ottawa, “but their works are yet to be recognized by the public at large.”
Maia-Mari Sutnik, the Art Gallery of Ontario’s associate curator of photography agrees. “There are few opportunities for Canadian visual artists to be featured in publications, unless it is in connection with an exhibition or in association with an art museum or gallery, and often with results of limited distribution,” she says. “An organization dedicated to a sustainable program, such as the one proposed by the Magenta Foundation, will generate more recognition of individual artistic expressions in published form and enhance the standing of artists through greater prominence on the national and international scene,” Sutnik adds.
The driving force behind Magenta is MaryAnn Camilleri, who brings with her a considerable reputation in the photo-book publishing business gained from her years spent in New York. Camilleri has worked closely with the legendary Magnum Photos, started the Inge Morath Estate, and co-published 2/15-the day the world said NO to war last year.
Camilleri has that unique and highly-bankable combination of a discerning photographic eye and a keen sense of what works commercially. Her reputation and the success of the books she has helped publish make her attractive to players in the domestic and international publishing world. Such leadership and positioning will enable Magenta to become a viable force on the international arts scene. She is backed by a Board of Directors, which includes Clare VanderMeersch (Photo Editor, Report on Business) and Doug Wallace (Deputy Editor, Wish magazine).
Given Camilleri’s background, the initial focus will be on publishing photography books, but as Magenta becomes established as an arts brand, it will move into publishing material from other artistic disciplines.
“For Canada, our artists and our arts community, we need an organization such as the Magenta Foundation,” says Andrew Danson Danushevsky, director and curator for BerlinToronto Exhibitions in Toronto. “This could be the glimmer of hope we have all been waiting for.”
Headquartered in Toronto, Magenta will operate as an international entity, working with pre-established connections to publishing houses and distribution networks in Italy, France, Germany, the U.K. and throughout Eastern Europe.
The Magenta Foundation’s opening act is a website launch at www.magentafoundation.org this Wednesday, September 15. The website will host two separate submissions, one for the Canadian Call for Entries for The Magenta Foundation’s initial offering, Carte Blanche, and the other for emerging artists.
Visit the site for the next wave of Magenta info. You don’t want to miss it!
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