Power Ball XVIII: Pleasure Principle, The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto, 2016.
One of Toronto’s most anticipated art parties returns. On September 17, Power Ball: The 7-Year Itch will take over The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery for the first time in seven years, transforming the waterfront gallery into an entirely new artistic environment for one night only. Power Ball is The Power Plant’s signature fundraising event, with proceeds directly supporting the gallery’s ambitious contemporary art exhibitions and public programs. Tickets start at $250.
At the centre of this year’s return are three major artist commissions by Rah Eleh, Ella Gonzales, and Sami Tsang, each responding to ideas of renewal, transition and what we choose to carry with us into a new chapter. Together, the works will transform The Power Plant through projection mapping, large-scale installation, painting, ceramics, and immersive environments.
After a seven-year hiatus, The 7-Year Itch celebrates renewed beginnings for both Power Ball and The Power Plant itself. The theme takes inspiration from the symbolism of the seven-year cycle, completion, transformation, and renewal, while marking a new chapter for the 39-year-old gallery following its recent independence.
“As we imagine the possibilities our new status brings, we embrace the spirit of renewal that the seven-year cycle brings, and we look forward with anticipation and exhilaration to the next stage of our journey,” said Adelina Vlas, Artistic Director, The Power Plant, who is leading the creative direction for Power Ball 2026.
THE POWER PLANT TRANSFORMED FOR ONE NIGHT
For Power Ball, three Toronto-based artists have been commissioned to create ambitious works that respond to the gallery, its waterfront setting and this year’s theme of renewal. Together, the projects create a temporary artistic landscape that audiences can experience for one night only.
From left to right: Rah Eleh, Ella Gonzales, and Sami Tsang.
Rah Eleh — Aesthetics of Ruin. Framed by Toronto’s waterfront, multimedia artist Rah Eleh creates a projection-mapping experience inspired by invasive species that quietly threaten the local aquatic ecosystem. Dog-strangling vines, Siberian squill and the emerald ash borer become seductive symbols of deterioration and transformation. Connecting environmental decay with the drifting and erosion that can occur within relationships, Eleh uses The 7-Year Itch as a starting point to consider how destruction can also become the beginning of something new.
Ella Gonzales — A Room’s Proportion, above or below. Ella Gonzales transforms the gallery through layers of painted, translucent fabric based on the proportions of domestic interiors from memory. As one remembered space is superimposed onto another, visitors move through overlapping rooms, histories and perspectives. Responding to the idea of the threshold, Gonzales considers what happens when one condition slips into another, and how traces of what came before remain visible in what follows.
Sami Tsang — What We Carry Forward. Ceramic and mixed-media artist Sami Tsang creates a large-scale ink mural inspired by childhood shadow puppetry and populated by tiny porcelain girls. Some climb, rest and wander, while others carry silver butterfly wings that double as armour. Through this imagined world of play, protection and collective movement, Tsang considers the quieter inheritances passed between generations, memory, resilience and care, and what each generation chooses to preserve, transform or leave behind.
THE P(ART)Y
Power Ball will unfold across the galleries and outdoor waterfront spaces of The Power Plant, with music, live performance, and unexpected encounters continuing throughout the night.
The evening begins with the VIP Reception hosted by RBC Wealth Management from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., featuring performances by Imaginary Percussion Ensemble and Shaghayegh Bagheri & Kasra Faridi.
At 8:30 p.m., Power Ball: The 7-Year Itch begins, with music and performance curated by Power Ball committee member Malcolm Levy & Standard Time and two distinct programs running inside and outside The Power Plant until 1:00 a.m.
From left to right: Colin Fisher, Kieran Adams, EGYPTRIXX, Invisible City, Karim Olen Ash, Milch, Phillippe, TEENO, Tony Price, and Vjollca.
INSIDE THE GALLERY
The night begins with EGYPTRIXX at 8:30 PM, followed by Tony Price at 9:30 PM, Karim Olen Ash & Phillippe at 10 PM, and TEENO at 11:30 PM.
DRESS CODE: RE(NEW)ED
In keeping with the evening’s celebration of reinvention, guests are encouraged to rethink rather than replace. The dress code, Re(new)ed, invites guests to get creative with what they already own: rediscover something forgotten, mix and match pieces from their closet, re-style a favourite cocktail piece or give something a completely new life.
Purchase tickets: Power Ball 2026.
Power Ball is made possible with the generous support of its sponsors, event partners, committee members and participating artists.
