Jin-me Yoon
Vancouver artist Jin-me Yoon has won this year's $50,000 Scotiabank Photography Award.
The prize includes a solo exhibition during next year's Contact Photography Festival in Toronto and a book publishing deal with Steidl, a respected German art book publisher.
Yoon, who was born in Korea, examines the construction of self and other in relation to her history and larger geopolitical contexts.
"Unpacking stereotypical assumptions and dominant discourses, Yoon’s work has examined gender and sexuality, culture and ethnicity, citizenship and nationhood," the award's site notes. "Adopting a wider and wider lens over time, her practice has become a deep investigation into entangled local and global histories existing at specific sites within the context of transnationalism and environmentalism."
Yoon has participated in more than 200 solo and group exhibitions in North America, Asia and Australia. Her work is held in 17 public collections, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Vancouver Art Gallery and the Seoul Museum of Art. She is a visual arts professor at Simon Fraser University and a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, a council of distinguished scholars.
The award, which recognizes the achievements of established artists, was co-founded by Scotiabank and Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky.
"It is an immense pleasure to recognize such important art at a time when, collectively, our relationships to the land and our histories have never mattered more," said Burtynsky, who served as chair of the jury.
The jury also included Sophie Hackett, photography curator at the Art Gallery of Ontario; Toronto art collector Kenneth Montague; and Gaëlle Morel, exhibition curator at the Ryerson Image Centre in Toronto.
The two other finalists were Shannon Bool, of Comox, B.C., and Barbara Astman, of Toronto. They will each receive $10,000.
The long list of nominees included Adrian Stimson, Sara Cwynar, Sara Angelucci, Rosalie Favell, Phil Bergerson, Morris Lum, Kelly Jazvac and Julie Forgues.
Source: Scotiabank Photography Award
