2018 Sobey Art Award Finalists Announced
Work by the five finalists for the 2018 Sobey Art Award will be featured in a group exhibition opening Oct. 3 at the National Gallery of Canada. One artist will take home the $100,000 top prize, to be awarded Nov. 14 in Ottawa.
The five finalists are:
• Joi T. Arcand (Prairies and the North)
• Jeneen Frei Njootli (West Coast and the Yukon)
• Jordan Bennett (Atlantic)
• Jon Rafman (Quebec)
• Kapwani Kiwanga (Ontario)
One of the world’s most prestigious contemporary art prizes, the Sobey is presented annually to a visual artist age 40 and under who has exhibited in a public or commercial art gallery within 18 months of being nominated. By choosing one nominee from each of the five regions of Canada, the award provides visibility and financial support to young Canadian artists, while also offering an opportunity to exchange ideas and to learn about different artistic and curatorial practices from across the country.
The finalists were selected from a long list of 25 nominees by an international jury. The 2018 jury, chaired by Josée Drouin-Brisebois, senior curator of contemporary art at the National Gallery of Canada, is composed of Heather Igloliorte, independent curator and Concordia University research chair in Indigenous art history and community engagement, for the Atlantic Provinces; Jean-François Bélisle, executive director and chief curator, Musée d’art de Joliette, for the Quebec region; November Paynter, director of programs, Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto, for the Ontario region; Kristy Trinier, executive director at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery, for the Prairies and the North region; Melanie O’Brian, director, Simon Fraser University Galleries, for the West Coast and Yukon; and international juror, Séamus Kealy, director, Salzburger Kunstverein.
“I’d like to thank the jury members for their dedication and openness during the selection process,” said Drouin-Brisebois. “This year’s jury really took the time to thoughtfully exchange and learn about all of the artists’ practices. I am very proud of the shortlisted artists selected and inspired by the criticality and potent interactivity of their work. Many of this year’s artists use performance and public space, and it will be an interesting challenge to reflect these aspects of their practice in the exhibition this fall.”
Drouin-Brisebois will organize the exhibition, on view from Oct. 3 to Feb. 10.
Each of the four runners-up receive $25,000. The remaining 20 artists on the longlist each get $2,000.
About the Finalists:
Jordan Bennett
Born in Stephenville Crossing Ktaqamkuk and of Mi’kmaq descent, Jordan Bennett’s ongoing practice utilizes painting, sculpture, video, installation and sound to explore land, language, the act of visiting and familial histories. His work challenges colonial perceptions of Indigenous histories, stereotypes and presence, with a focus on exploring Mi’kmaq and Beothuk visual culture of Ktaqamkuk.
Jon Rafman
The work of Jon Rafman explores the impact of technology on contemporary consciousness, incorporating the rich vocabulary of virtual worlds to create poetic narratives that critically engage with the present. Born in Montreal, he studied philosophy and literature at McGill University and received an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Kapwani Kiwanga
Hamilton-born Kapwani Kiwanga creates works across installation, sound, performance, sculpture and video that marry her training in anthropology, comparative religion and documentary film with her interests in history, memory and storytelling. Presenting rigorous research in imaginative ways, Kiwanga intentionally confuses truth and fiction in her art to allow marginalized narratives to flourish. Exploring different pockets of knowledge, she has tackled subjects as far-ranging as space travel, anti-colonial struggles, geology and disciplinary architectures.
Joi T. Arcand
Joi T. Arcand is an artist from Muskeg Lake Cree Nation in central Saskatchewan, (Treaty 6 Territory), currently based in Ottawa. Her early work in photography and digital collage images was informed by her interest in graphic and typographic arts. Arcand's practice imagined what an Indigenized public space could be by rendering streetscapes and communities with typographic inclusions of nehiyawēwin, or Plains Cree (Y dialect) language. Her work has evolved to placing site-specific neon signage in Cree syllabics throughout the interiors and exteriors of buildings, expressing phrases which provide hope and encouragement for Indigenous peoples.
Jeneen Frei Njootli
Jeneen Frei Njootli is an artist (Vuntut Gwitchin) and co-creator of the ReMatriate Collective, who has been living and working as an uninvited guest on unceded Musqueam, Squamish, Sto:lo and Tsleil¬Waututh territories for a decade. In her interdisciplinary practice, she uses media such as performance, sound, textiles, collaboration and workshops. She graduated from the Emily Carr University of Art and Design in 2012, and completed her MFA at the University of British Columbia in 2017.
Additional information is available at gallery.ca/sobey and by following @PrixSobeyAward.
Source: National Gallery of Canada
