"2004 Sobey Art Award Exhibition"
2004-10-15 until 2004-12-30
Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
Halfax, NS, CA Canada

The much awaited exhibition of works by the five artists shortlisted for the 2004 Sobey Art Award is now on view at the Art Galley of Nova Scotia. "The five nominees represent the richness of Canadian art, not exclusively, of course, but exceedingly well,” said Ray Cronin, chair of the 2004 curatorial panel. “Selecting the winner from this group of artists on October 14 should be impossible, but it will be done.”

The exhibition includes A Memory Lasts Forever (Reese) a new video installation/collaboration by Althea Thauberger (West Coast/Yukon); there are 50 selections from his More Famous Drawings series, as well as four new drawings from Marcel Dzama (Prairies/North); Germaine Koh (Ontario) offers up Knitwork - ongoing since 1992 and Fair-weather forces: windspeed, 2002; second-time nominee Jean-Pierre Gauthier (Quebec) presents visitors with two new sound/sculpture installations, STAR - Cross Country Skiing and The Race; Greg Forest's (Atlantic Canada) presentation includes two new sculptural works The Cup and Chain.

Visiors to the 2004 exhibition and www.sobeyartaward.ca are invited to cast their vote for their favorite artist on the 2004 shortlist. Ballots/votes can be cast through info@sobeyartaward.ca or at the admissions desk at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia in the lobby of Gallery South. The winner of the viewers choice will be announced on the website in the week following October 14, 2004.

THE NOMINATION & SELECTION PROCESS

In 2002, the Sobey Art Foundation inaugurated the largest art award in Canadian history for a young Canadian artist. The Sobey Art Award is a biennial award to be given to an artist under 40 who has had a show in a public or commercial art gallery in the past 18 months. The 5 panelists met as a group in Halifax, during the spring of 2004 and, reduced the national long list of 25 artists to a short list of five. The curatorial advisors will choose the winner. The announcement will be made during a reception at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia on October 14th, 2004. The winner will receive a prize of $50,000.

Nominations were submitted for each of the five regions from recognized agents and institutions. The curatorial advisors are charged with developing a regional list based on the nominated artists and their professional knowledge of their regions and of the national arts scene. The curatorial advisors represent major regional galleries and have broad knowledge of the arts regionally, nationally and internationally.

THE CURATORIAL PANEL 2004:

The panel of curatorial advisors includes for the West Coast: Lisa Baldissera, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria; The Prairies and the North: Catherine Crowston, Edmonton Art Gallery; Ontario: David Liss, Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art; Quebec: Stéphane Aquin, Musée des Beaux-arts de Montréal; and the Atlantic: Ray Cronin, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia Image:
Althea Thauberger
A Memory Lasts Forever, 2004
in collaboration with:
Jessica Griffiths
Gemma Isaac
Natalie Needham, and
Kaoru Matsushita

Related Links:

Indepth Arts Resources for Canada

Other Important Exhibitions in Canada