Assistant Professor Charles Stankievech, director of the Daniels Faculty's Visual Studies program, has been short-listed for the 2016 Sobey Art Award.

From the Sobey Art Award Juror’s Statement given by Barbara Fischer:

“Charles Stankievech is an internationally recognized artist whose award-winning exhibitions include Counterintelligence (2014) and Monument as Ruin (2015). He often refers to his interests as “fieldwork” – a temporary form of architectural installation that combines a diverse array of physical and immaterial elements, from photography to film, light and sonic materials, as well as writings, archival documents and works by other artists. Concerned with the transformation of the physical landscape and immaterial spaces as effected by military, industrial and colonial interests, and the history of technology, his work manifests ambitious and intensely rich essays on contemporary social and technological upheaval.”

The Sobey Art Award is an annual art prize given to Canadian artists under the age of 40. It distributes $100,000 among the finalists: $50,000 to the winner, $10,000 to each of the four finalists, and $500 each to other long-listed artists. Last year, Abbas Akhavan took home the award for his work on the “domestic sphere, as a forked space between hospitality and hostility,” and his more recent work on “spaces and species just outside the home – the garden, the backyard, and other domesticated landscapes.”

Stankievech is joined by four other finalists, representing different Canadian regions: Jeremy Shaw, Brenda Draney, Hajra Waheed, and William Robinson.

“The jury chose five artists whose approaches are characteristic of the frequently transdisciplinary practice of the upcoming generation of artists,” writes Nicolaus Schafhausen, International Juror for the Sobey Art Award. “They all reflect the broad intellectual spectrum of the Canadian art world.”

The winner of the Sobey Art Award will be announced later this year. A group exhibition showcasing the work of the winner and four finalists will be presented at the National Gallery of Canada from October 6, 2016 to February 5, 2017.

Photo: Monument as Ruin (2011-2014), Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen’s University. Photo by Charles Stankievech.

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