Anique Jordan – Artist Prize 2020
Anique is one of five artists chosen for the 2021 RBC Emerging Artist Project – With the Art Gallery of Ontario as a signature partner since 2017, the award recognizes Canada’s emerging talent. The award was established to recognize new talent and the role of the arts in building vibrant communities and strong economies. Bridging the gap between emerging and established artists, the RBC award is intended to strengthen artists’ access to professional networks, mentorship and training, and to provide exposure to new and diverse audiences. This year, RBC has developed an exciting new video series entitled From Within, which profiles five of Canada’s notable emerging visual artists. In the video, Anique shares her sense of purpose as an artist; her perspective on the sacredness of her cultural influences and the importance of archiving and documenting. In her new piece, she brings to life a forgotten story of murder, race and heroism in Toronto’s history.
Click here to view Anique’s video.
Still Max – Project Support 2021
Site Media’s film, Still Max, directed and produced by Katherine Knight, will premiere at Hot Docs 2021. The film is part of the Canadian Spectrum and is in competition for the Best Canadian Documentary. The film is also eligible for the Audience Award which is determined by audience votes. Tickets go on sale March 30.
Click here for details and tickets.
Nia Centre – Project Support 2021
The Nia Centre presents its newest public art exhibit Here Again at the Crossroads. Using Toronto’s Union Station as a site of constant movement and change, artists Andre Wagner, Jayda Marley and Jordan Sook examine the conditions which impact black lives. Asking more questions than it answers, the work serves as a catalyst for self-reflection.
Click here to explore this exhibit virtually.
Sandra Brewster – Artist Prize 2018, Tau Lewis – Artist Prize Finalist 2019
Two of our artists have been featured in the Art Gallery of Ontario’s ‘Art in the Spotlight’ series and we include links to each of the videos created for this program.
Sandra Brewster directed the music video for Anishinaabe writer and musician Leanne Betasamosake Simpson’s latest single, Viscosity. Sandra is well-knownfor her stunning work featuring photo-based gel transfers. Both her videography and editing in Viscosity create a slow-moving, contemplative portrait of nature – set in black and white. Armed with only a smartphone, Brewster captured all the principal footage in her own backyard and during nature walks along Toronto’s Leslie Street Spit. Recently both Sandra and Leanne connected with Wanda Nanibush, AGO Curator, Indigenous Art, for a virtual ‘Art in the Spotlight’ discussion about their project.
Tau Lewis was in conversation with Hammer Museum curator Erin Christovale about her work. Tau employs arduous methods such as hand-sewing, carving and assemblage to build intricate sculptural portraits and quilts made out of found, gathered and recycled materials from Toronto, New York and her family home, Negril, Jamaica. A self-taught artist, Tau’s practice is rooted in healing personal, collective, and historical traumas through labour. Her work will be included in 2021 exhibitions at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; the Grinnell College Museum of Art, Grinnell, Iowa; Prospect 5, New Orleans; Haus der Kunst, Munich; and the National Gallery of Canada.
Click here for a video of Sandra’s talk.
Click here for a video of Tau’s talk.
Michele Pearson – Clarke Artist Prize Finalist 2019
Insight, Sotheby’s spring/summer 2021 Canadian edition, contains an article, “Progressive Lens,” describing Michele’s work. Through her practice in photography, film and video, Michele provokes conversation by shedding light on marginalized groups.
Click here to read the article.
Nadia Bellerique – Artist Prize 2015, Laurie Kang – Artist Prize Finalist 2015
Nadia Bellerique and Laurie Kang are included in The New Museum’s 2021 Triennial, Soft Water, Hard Stone. From October 2021 through January 2022, this fifth iteration of the Triennial will bring together forty artists and collectives who are living and working in twenty-three countries. In this moment of profound change, where structures that were once thought to be stable are precarious, broken, or on the verge of collapse, the 2021 Triennial focuses on artists’ reimagining of traditional models, materials and techniques beyond established institutional paradigms. The New Museum is in New York City.
Georgia Dickie – Artist Prize 2014
Georgia’s current exhibition, Jerky Out, Gnar In, is at the Cooper Cole Gallery. Read the review of her show in the Toronto Star, Saturday, April 10.
