The long list for the 2017 Sobey Art Award has been announced. The award is presented annually to a Canadian artist 40 and under who has exhibited in a public or commercial art gallery within 18 months of being nominated. The names of the 25 artists vying for the top prize of $50,000 are:
ATLANTIC
Eleanor King
Graeme Patterson
Lisa Lipton
Melanie Colosimo
Ursula Johnson
QUÉBEC
Annie Baillargeon
Dan Brault
Jacynthe Carrier
Kim Waldron
Ludovic Boney
ONTARIO
Bridget Moser
Erika DeFreitas
Jean-Paul Kelly
Nadia Belerique
Sameer Farooq
PRAIRIES AND THE NORTH
Amy Malbeuf
Divya Mehra
Erica Eyres
Kara Uzelman
The Ephemerals
WEST COAST AND YUKON
Babak Golkar
James Nizam
Jeneen Frei Njootli
Raymond Boisjoly
Rebecca Brewer
The 2017 curatorial panel is chaired by the National Gallery’s Senior Curator of Contemporary Art, Josée Drouin-Brisebois. The rest of the jury includes: Sarah Fillmore, chief curator at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (Atlantic); Claude Bélanger, general and artistic director, Manif d’art de Québec; Sarah Robayo Sheridan, curator of the Art Museum at the University of Toronto; Jenifer Papararo, executive director at the Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art of Winnipeg; Reid Shier, director and curator of the Presentation House Gallery in Vancouver, B.C.; and Adam Budak, chief curator of Collections and Exhibitions at the National Gallery in Prague, Czech Republic.
“In its 15th year, the Sobey Art Award continues to play a vital role in supporting both emerging and established Canadian artists, celebrating the variety of the Canadian visual arts scenes and showcasing talent from the country,” said Drouin-Brisebois in a media release. “Working closely with prominent curators from both Canada and abroad, the Sobey Art Award curatorial panel offers a unique and wonderful opportunity to deepen the conversation on how we continue to recognise and connect with artists from across Canada.”
A shortlist of five artists will be announced on June 6. The short-listed artists will exhibit their work at the Art Museum at the University of Toronto from Oct. 24 to Dec. 9, 2017.
The winner will be announced Oct. 25 at the Hart House Great Hall at the University of Toronto.
