Installation view of Georgia Dickie: Agouti Sky at Oakville Galleries, 2019. Photo: Laura Findlay.
Two OCAD University graduates – Georgia Dickie and Tsēmā Igharas – are among the 25 recipients of the 2020 Sobey Art Award– one of most distinguished awards in contemporary Canadian art.
The winners, selected by a jury of Canadian and international curators and gallery directors, reflect the remarkable richness and range of contemporary art practices from Canada's five geographical regions.
“On behalf of the OCAD University, we congratulate Georgia and Tsēmā on receiving this prestigious award,” said Dr. Sara Diamond, president and vice-chancellor. “This award celebrates the exceptional work of these artists and highlights the important contribution of contemporary art within our society. The arts and creativity are beacons of hope in the current COVID-19 crisis.”
The $100,000 annual award is usually given to one established artist who is 40 years or younger and has exhibited work in a public or commercial art gallery within 18 months of being nominated.
However, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, changes were made to this year’s award program so that each of the 25 artists on the jury-selected longlist will receive $25,000. The Sobey Art Foundation and National Gallery of Canada also announced it was cancelling the selection of a five artist shortlist, annual shortlist exhibition, final winner announcement gala and International Residencies Program.
“As is often the case with the work I make, the components are destined to be disassembled, re-entered into inventory and then discarded or reused following the exhibition,” explains Dickie who earned her BFA in Sculpture and Installation. “The very idea of context is put into question in my work. I try to push the boundaries of my material inventory, broadening what can be considered usable material. Nothing is off limits and anything will do.”
"I am truly honoured to be alongside 24 other artists who I share this prestigious award with. In a time of precarity and uncertainty, this award is a lifeline, a ray of light and an affirmation of the work that I (we) do and that our art matters," says Igharas. "It is a radical act of care by the Sobey Art Foundation and National Gallery of Canada to have the long listers recognized like this and change their structure to support as many artists as possible. It is truly a blessing to be included in that list."
Meet the OCAD U winners
Georgia Dickie
Dickie earned her BFA in Sculpture and Installation from OCAD U in 2011. The Toronto-resident makes sculptural work out of found objects that she collects in her studio. Her process of reassembling these materials into new arrangements is based on a logic of eschewing and rebalancing their assigned functions. By staging these intricate assemblages, she not only reveals the inherent limitations of material value and meaning, but also imagines alternative potentials.
She has participated in solo and group exhibitions internationally including Oakville Galleries, Oakville (2019); Rolando Anselmi, Berlin (2018); Jeffrey Stark, New York (2017); Night Gallery, Los Angeles (2017); Cooper Cole (2017); Springsteen Gallery, Baltimore (2016); Art Museum of U of T, Toronto (2016); The Power Plant, Toronto (2013); and the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto (2012). In February 2015, she was the Canada Council for the Arts artist in residence at Acme Studios in London, UK.
Tsēmā Igharas
Tsēmā Igharas is an interdisciplinary artist and a member of the Tahltan First Nation. She uses Potlatch methodology to create conceptual artwork and teachings influenced by her mentorship in Northwest Coast Formline Design at K’saan (2005-06), her studies in visual culture and time in the mountains.
She has a BA from Emily Carr University of Art and Design (2011) and graduated from the Interdisciplinary Master's in Art, Media and Design program at OCAD U showing her thesis work, LAND|MINE that connects materials to mine sites and bodies to the land.
She is currently a contributing member and representative for ReMatriate Collective. Igharas won the 2018 Emily Award for outstanding ECUAD alumni; has shown and performed in various places in Canada including 2016 and 2018 Montreal Contemporary Native Art Biennial; and internationally in Mexico, USA and Chile.