Meet Chantal Khoury, Winner of the 2023 Joseph Plaskett Award, at Art Toronto

The award recipient will display recent works at booths #A03 and #B72 and will be present on Opening Night

Two Marys, 2023, Oil on canvas, 14″ x 11″, (custom stone by Rafaël Khoury). Showing at Art Toronto (image by Jean Michael Seminaro, courtesy of TAP Art Space)

Joe Plaskett Foundation Booth (#A03) and TAP Art Space Booth (#B72)
October 26 – 29, 2023
Opening Night: Thursday, October 26, 2023
Metro Toronto Convention Centre
255 Front Street West, Toronto

From October 26 to 29 at Art Toronto 2023, The Joe Plaskett Foundation is showcasing recent works from painter Chantal Khoury, the 2023 recipient of the $65,000 Joseph Plaskett postgraduate award in painting. In the works shown at both the Joe Plaskett Foundation (#A03) and TAP Art Space (#B72) booths, Khoury offers insights into cultural loss and presence through the lens of abstract painting, showing connections to and simultaneous withdrawals from culture, heritage, and homeland.

Inspired by inherited objects, Khoury’s images convey ‘transformation’ from her ongoing explorations into methodical painting techniques. Her upbringing steeped in Catholic and Greek Orthodox traditions is evident in her artwork. Themes such as Aphrodite’s birth in Cyprus, serpents, sacred lambs, and folklore dancers illuminate the diverse cultural landscapes and migration narratives that inform her works.

Painter Chantal Khoury in her studio. Photo: Ryan Park.

Khoury was selected for the 2023 Joseph Plaskett Award in Painting earlier this year by a coast-coast jury formed by Jordan Bennett, a Mi’kmaw visual artist currently based in Halifax, Nova Scotia; Meera Sethi, a contemporary Canadian visual artist established in Toronto, Ontario; and M.E. Sparks, an artist and educator currently living in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The award will allow her to spend one year abroad, which she plans to divide equally across London, Paris, and Lebanon.

About the Artist

Chantal Khoury is of Lebanese descent and born on the unceded territory of the Wolastoqiyik and Mi’kmaq First Nations (New Brunswick). She lives and works between Tiohtià:ke (Montreal) and Tkaronto (Toronto) and completed her MFA (2021) at the University of Guelph. Solo exhibitions include Nicodim Gallery (Los Angeles and New York, 2023), Michael Gibson Gallery (London, ON, 2022), Birch Contemporary (Toronto, 2021). Collections include the Royal Bank of Canada, the Art Gallery of Guelph, and the University of New Brunswick.

Six Lambs of God, 2023, Oil on canvas, 84″ x 72″. Showing at Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles (image courtesy of the artist)

Also On View:

Les plus beaux cauchemars/Cruel To Be Kind
September 14 – October 27, 2023
Group exhibition at Livart, as part of Pictura Festival 2nd edition.

I TIE THEM LOOSELY
September 16 – October 28, 2023
Solo exhibition at Nicodim Los Angeles.

F e e l i n g W i t h o u t T o u c h i n g
October 19 – November 22, 2023
Group exhibition at Nicodim New York with Stanley Edmondson, Vika Prokopaviciute, Moffat Takadiwa and Wang Xinyan.

About the Joe Plaskett Foundation

Canadian artist Joseph Plaskett, who wished to give young Canadian painters the opportunity to discover Europe, created the Joe Plaskett Foundation in 2004. The award recipients are exceptional emerging Canadian artists in the field of painting who are admitted in a graduate program. As the Joseph Plaskett Award transitions to a biennial schedule, the next call for applications is set to open in February 2025.

Joe Plaskett Foundation logo