ICC at the ROM Showcases 2008 Sobey Art Award Finalists

Exhibition presenting works by Canada’s top emerging artists, opens Wednesday, August 27, 2008

The Institute for Contemporary Culture (ICC) at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) hosts the Exhibition of the 2008 Sobey Art Award presented by Scotiabank, from August 27 to October 13, 2008 on Level 3 of the Museum’s Centre Block. This exhibition features over 50 contemporary artworks, including paintings, sculptures, performance art, video installations and photography, by the Award’s finalists, five of Canada’s most up-and-coming young artists. The winner, selected by the Sobey Art Award’s curatorial panel, will be announced at a gala held at the ROM on October 1, 2008.

“The ICC at the ROM is pleased to host the Exhibition of the 2008 Sobey Art Award this year in Toronto,” said Francisco Alvarez, Managing Director of the ICC. “This diverse group of talented young artists has created thought-provoking works in various media that demonstrate the vitality of contemporary art in our country today. We look forward to the announcement of this year's winner.”

“The Award exhibition is our opportunity to introduce new audiences to some of the best young Canadian artists working today, and we are thrilled to do so at the Royal Ontario Museum,” said Ray Cronin, Director and CEO, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and Curator of the Sobey Art Award. “Throughout this year's process I have been impressed by the professionalism of the shortlisted artists and the dedication of both the staff of the ROM and of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. They have never stinted to make this exhibition the best possible. Our sponsors, the Sobey Art Foundation and Scotiabank have provided the much-needed financial support to mount what is the most ambitious Award exhibition in our history.”

The Sobey Art Award is Canada's pre-eminent prize for a young Canadian artist and represents the remarkable breadth of practices that make up contemporary Canadian art. The Award, organized and administered by the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, is presented annually to an artist under 40 who has exhibited in a public or commercial art gallery within 18 months of being nominated. A panel of curatorial advisors, consisting of a representative from a major gallery in each of five regions (Atlantic, Quebec, Ontario, Prairies and the North, and West Coast), selects one artist from each region for the national shortlist. Recent works by the five finalists are included in the Award’s annual exhibition. The panel chooses one winner who will be announced this year at a gala ceremony at the ROM on Wednesday, October 1, 2008. For more information about the Sobey Art Award presented by Scotiabank, visit www.sobeyartaward.ca.

2008 Short-listed Artists: Regions and Biographies

Tim Lee – West Coast and Yukon
Tim Lee lives and works in Vancouver, British Columbia. He creates pieces using photography, video, text and sculpture, and his work will be featured at the upcoming Biennale of Sydney, Australia; in a Fall 2008 solo exhibition at the Hayward Gallery in London, UK; and a solo exhibition at the Contemporary Art Museum in Houston, Texas.

Daniel Barrow – Prairies and the North
Daniel Barrow is a Winnipeg-based media artist, working in performance, video and installation through a practice referred to as "graphic performance” or “manual animation". He has exhibited widely in Canada and abroad. Recently, Barrow has exhibited at The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, New Langton Arts in San Francisco, and The Contemporary Art Gallery in Vancouver.

Terence Koh – Ontario
Born in Beijing China, Terence Koh grew up in Canada and calls Mississauga, Ontario home. Terence Koh’s work includes sculptures, installations, performances and artist books. Koh’s work will be featured in 2008 at Peres Projects in Los Angeles, the Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt, Germany, and the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León in León, Spain.

Raphaëlle de Groot – Quebec
Raphaëlle de Groot lives and works in Montreal, Quebec. Her work includes interventions, installations, performance, videos, and artist books. Born in Montreal in 1974, Raphaëlle de Groot began showing her work in Canada and in Europe in 1996. She has been awarded several grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. In 2006, she was awarded the Pierre-Ayot Prix d’excellence by the City of Montreal.

Mario Doucette – Atlantic
Acadian artist Mario Doucette lives and works in Moncton, New Brunswick. Doucette has shown his work professionally since 1998 in various mediums and genres – including drawing, painting, videos and super8 film. He has exhibited widely in Canada and has participated in several international exhibitions, namely in France, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. Doucette is very active in the arts community and is a member of Collectif Taupe.

Other Information

Sobey Art Award finalist, Daniel Barrow, presents a free public performance of his work, Every Time I See Your Picture I Cry, in the ROM’s Signy & Cléophée Eaton Theatre on September 30, 2008 at 4:00 pm. Awarded the 2008 Images Prize at its premiere, Daniel Barrow's newest work combines overhead projection with video, music and live narration to tell the story of a garbage man with a vision to create an independent phone book chronicling the lives of each person in his city. This animation traces his attempts to slow down and creatively reflect, in a process of coming to terms with his own self-loathing and fear. The 50-minute performance features an original score by Amy Linton. Museum admission is not included. Enter via the Loblaws School Entrance, at the south end of the Museum. For more information, call 416.586.5524 or visit www.rom.on.ca/icc/events.php.

Scotiabank Nuit Blanche 2008

The ROM is pleased to offer the Exhibition of the 2008 Sobey Art Award presented by Scotiabank as the Museum’s contribution to Scotiabank Nuit Blanche, a city-wide overnight event showcasing contemporary art. From 7:00 pm on the evening of October 4, 2008 to 7:00 am the following morning, the ROM presents this exhibition free of charge to the public. The rest of the Museum will not be open. More information about the ROM and Scotiabank Nuit Blanche will be released soon.

Institute for Contemporary Culture

The ICC at the ROM plays a vital role in a museum whose collections embrace many civilizations, as well as the record of nature through the ages. In the context of the ROM’s lively documentation of history, the ICC explores current cultural issues through exhibitions of art and architecture, lectures, film series, and informal gatherings. For more information on the ICC, visit www.rom.on.ca/about/icc.

Sobey Art Foundation

The Sobey Art Foundation was established in 1981 with a mandate to carry on the work of entrepreneur and business leader, the late Frank H. Sobey, of collecting and preserving representative examples of 19th and 20th century Canadian art. One of the finest private collections of its kind, the Sobey Art Foundation has assembled exemplary examples from Canadian Masters like Cornelius Krieghoff, Tom Thomson and J.E.H MacDonald. The collection is housed in an intimate setting at Crombie House, the former home of Frank Sobey and his wife Irene in Pictou County, Nova Scotia. Tours are regularly scheduled throughout the summer months and by appointment year round.

Scotiabank

Scotiabank is committed to supporting the communities in which we live and work, both in Canada and abroad. Recognized as a leader internationally and among Canadian corporations for its charitable donations and philanthropic activities, in 2007 the Bank provided more than $43 million in sponsorships and donations to a variety of projects and initiatives, primarily in the areas of healthcare, education, social services and arts and culture. Scotiabank is on the World Wide Web at www.scotiabank.com.

Art Gallery of Nova Scotia

The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia acts as a gateway for the visual arts in Atlantic Canada by bringing the art of the world to Nova Scotia and the art of Nova Scotia to the world. It is an agency of the Province of Nova Scotia responsible for the preservation, exhibition and education of art through its branches in Halifax and Yarmouth. For more information, visit www.agns.gov.ns.ca.