The distinguished Sobey Art Award is one of the most celebrated art prizes in Canada, recognized around the world.
Since its creation in 2002, the annual award has had “an undeniable impact on the careers of Canadian contemporary artists,” according to the Sobey Art Foundation. Finalists are selected from five regions across Canada. The top prize is $100,000 CAD, short-listed artists each get $25,000, and $10,000 goes to each of the remaining long-listed artists.
In late 2022, after the award ceremony IDEAS producer Mary Lynk spoke to the recent winner and finalists at the National Gallery of Canada where works from each artist are exhibited.
The acclaimed art ranges from an exploration of what it means to be a Maroon; to reimagining the iconic and controversial Hudson Bay Blanket; to influences of the Egyptian sun god’s regeneneration from death to rebirth; to the compelling power of tombstones when representing exclusion and finally the meaning behind turning the iconic Taj Mahal into a bouncy castle.
Winner: Divya Mehra, representing Prairies and the North
Divya Mehra‘s work highlights the difficult realities of displacement, loss, neutrality and oppression among diasporic communities.
Finalist: Azza El Siddique, representing Ontario
Azza El Siddique is informed by the ancient history of present-day Sudan, including Egyptian and Nubian mythology.
Finalist: Stanley Février, representing Quebec
Stanley Février is a multidisciplinary artist who was a social worker before becoming a full-time artist — two practices that have become inextricably linked in his work. His art uses strategies of institutional critique to expose discrimination and cultural erasure in the art world.
