2023 Sobey Art Award Short List Unveiled
Kablusiak, an Inuvialuk artist based in Calgary, and Gabrielle L'Hirondelle Hill, a Métis artist based in Vancouver, are among the five finalists for this year's Sobey Art Award.
The other three finalists, selected from a long list of 25 artists, are Toronto-based Michèle Pearson Clarke, Montreal-based Anahita Norouzi and Halifax-based Séamus Gallagher.
The winner, who takes home $100,000, will be announced in November. The other four finalists each receive $25,000.
The short list was announced Wednesday by the Sobey Art Foundation and the National Gallery of Canada, which hosts an exhibition by the five finalists from Oct. 13 to March 3.
Jonathan Shaughnessy, the gallery's director of curatorial initiatives and chair of the award's jury, cited the breadth of artistic practices, saying it represents the strength of Canada's contemporary art scene.
"The five finalists present views on many urgent matters of our time, including 2SLGBTQ+ solidarities and representation, as well as critical questions regarding diasporic experience and Canadian identity," he said.
Kablusiak, representing the Prairies and the North, is a multidisciplinary artist and curator who creates work in media ranging from lingerie and white flour to soapstone and acrylic paint. Born in Yellowknife and raised in Edmonton, Kablusiak explores family and community ties within the Inuit diaspora, as well as colonization's impact on gender, sexuality and health.
L’Hirondelle Hill, representing the West Coast and Yukon, is a Métis artist and writer who was born in Comox, B.C. Her sculptural practice uses found materials to consider concepts of land, property and economy.
Clarke, representing Ontario, is a Trinidadian-born artist and educator who works in photography, video and installation. Clarke’s work positions grief as a site of possibility for social engagement and political connection, with a focus on Black and queer experiences of longing and loss.
Originally from Iran, Norouzi, representing Quebec, is a research-driven multidisciplinary artist who works with sculpture, installation, photography and video. Her work focuses on marginalized histories and the legacies of botanical explorations and archaeological excavations.
Gallagher, representing the Atlantic, is a lens-based artist who infuses queer aesthetics with self-portraiture, video game engines and set construction. Originally from Moncton, N.B., Gallagher explores the limits of representation and failure as a form of liberation.
This year's jury members are Pamela Edmonds, director and curator of the Dalhousie Art Gallery in Halifax; Eve-Lyne Beaudry, curator of contemporary art at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec; Wanda Nanibush, curator of Indigenous art at the Art Gallery of Ontario; Haema Sivanesan, director of the Leighton Studios and program partnerships at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity; Matthew Hyland, executive director of the Contemporary Art Gallery in Vancouver; and Cecilia Alemani, curator of the 2022 Venice Biennale's international exhibition.
Winnipeg artist Divya Mehra won the Sobey award last year.
