The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and the Sobey Art Foundation have announced the five artists who have been shortlisted for the 2014 Sobey Art Award, the pre-eminent award for contemporary Canadian Art.
The 2014 short list:
West Coast and the Yukon: Evan Lee
Prairies and the North: Neil Farber and Michael Dumontier
Ontario: Chris Curreri
Quebec: Nadia Myre
Atlantic: Graeme Patterson
“The Curatorial Panel is proud to announce the 2014 Sobey Art Award shortlist. We would like to extend our gratitude on receiving a record number of nominations, demonstrating the vitality of the Canadian contemporary art scene. The five selected artists present a spectrum of practices that emerge from personal experience, ultimately addressing specific social and cultural concerns. We are confident that the work of these five compelling and engaged artists will leave a lasting impact on Canadian art.”
The Sobey Art Award has a prize value of 100,000 CAD with 50,000 CAD going to the winner, 10,000 CAD awarded to each of the other shortlisted artists, and 500 CAD to each of the remaining longlisted artists. The Sobey Art Award, established in 2002, is awarded to a Canadian artist age 40 and under who has exhibited in a public or commercial gallery within 18 months of being nominated. It was conceived to further the national conversation about contemporary art and is widely recognized as the most significant award for contemporary art in Canada.
Work by the shortlisted artists will be shown in an exhibition at the Winnipeg Art Gallery opening on November 1, with the winner being announced at a Gala event on November 19.
The members of the 2014 Curatorial Panel are:
Jordan Strom, Curator, Exhibitions and Collections, Surrey Art Gallery, British Columbia
Paul Butler, Curator of Contemporary Art, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Manitoba
Srimoyee Mitra, Curator of Contemporary Art, Art Gallery of Windsor, Ontario
Marie-Eve Beaupré, Conservatrice de l’art contemporain, Musée national des beaux arts, Québec
Pan Wendt, Curator, Confederation Centre Art Gallery, Prince Edward Island
More information about the nominees is available at www.sobeyartaward.ca.