Longlist chosen for $50,000 Sobey Art Award

Three Vancouver artists have been longlisted for the 2014 Sobey Art Award, Canada’s pre-eminent contemporary art award. Vancouver artists Allison Hrabluik, Dan Starling, and Evan Lee, and Victoria artists Farheen HaQ and Peter Morin were chosen to represent the West Coast and Yukon region.

“I was interested in highlighting some of the extraordinary talent that exists both in the Metro Vancouver area and across the province more generally,” says Jordan Strom, the curator for exhibitions and collections at the Surrey Art Gallery, in a phone interview with the Georgia Straight

Strom was the West Coast and Yukon representative on the 2014 curatorial panel, and was in charge of choosing the five artists for the longlist from this region.

“What I looked for were artists that have remained in the community and have been working very uniquely in different ways in the community,” said Strom. “These are artists who I think are somewhat outside of the established scene, so that is what I was also trying to highlight.”

The Sobey Art Award, created in 2002 by the Sobey Art Foundation, awards $100,000 every year to artists age 40 and under who have exhibited in a public or commercial art gallery within 18 months of being nominated. The winner gets $50,000, while $10,000 is given each of the other shortlisted artists, and $500 is given to each longlisted artist.

The short list will be announced on June 4. The winner will be announced at a gala event in Winnipeg on Nov. 19.