OTTAWA, Aug. 13, 2014 /CNW/ - The three winners of the National Gallery of Canada's teen contest So You Want to Be an Artist? were announced today. First place goes to Kevin Nguyen, from Toronto, ON, for his artwork titled Woman – Age 47;second place goes to Frédérik Giguère, from Sherbrooke, QC, for his artworkLes vertiges berlinois [Berlin Vertigo]; and third place goes to Anna Weyant, from Calgary, AB, for her artwork entitled Isabelle. The winners were among the 15 finalists whose works were evaluated by a jury of experts. The artworks are on display at the National Gallery of Canada until September 1st 2014 on the Artissimo Gallery wall, next to the Special Exhibition galleries. They are also on view at soyouwantobeanartist.ca. This contest was made possible thanks to the generous support of the RBC Foundation, a longstanding partner of the NGC and the visual arts in Canada.
"The contest attracted 117 teens aged 16 to 19 from across Canada this year," said NGC Chief of Education and Public Programs, Megan Richardson. "Jury members didn't have an easy job, since all the finalists are so talented. We are very pleased to have been able to give them the opportunity to showcase their artistic abilities to a wide audience. We hope that new careers in the visual arts will emerge in the years to come, due in part to this initiative, and are grateful for the generous support of the RBC Foundation through the RBC Emerging Artists Project."
Drawing, painting, photography, digital art: youth exploited diverse media to express their creativity. The three winning artworks were selected by the jury based on their clarity of theme and message, originality, inventiveness and ability to provoke thought and emotion in the viewer.
First-place winner Kevin Nguyen will spend a day at the NGC learning about careers in visual arts and having his portfolio reviewed by an NGC expert, and will also receive a $500 gift certificate for art supplies. As well, she/he will enjoy a studio visit with Jennifer Lefort, the 2007 RBC Canadian Painting Competition finalist and recipient of the prestigious Joseph Plaskett Foundation Award. Second-place winner Frédérik Giguère will receive a $1,000 gift certificate for art supplies; third-place winner Anna Weyant will receive a $500 gift certificate, also for art supplies.
To position themselves among the finalists, all participants of the competition, which was launched on April 22, had to invite as many people as possible to vote online for their respective pieces. To achieve this, contestants promoted their artworks on various social media networks including Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Deviant Art, Reddit, Ning, and Pinterest. As a result, they attracted over 24,000 visitors to view their artworks on the contest website. Their artworks were seen by art lovers across Canada and in places such as the US, UK, South Korea, France, Australia, Germany, New Zealand, and Switzerland.
As well, the Gallery introduced a new component to its contest to ensure that each of the 117 submitted artworks would have an equal chance to be recognized on their artistic merits. It asked one of its experts, Associate Curator of European, American and Asian Prints and Drawings, Sonia Del Re, to select three additional artworks – bringing the total number of finalists to 15 – for the final jury evaluation.
A well-connected jury
Members of the jury included Mélanie Boucher, teacher of museology and heritage at the École multidisciplinaire de l'image of the Université du Québec en Outaouais; Rachelle Dickenson, Curatorial Assistant, Indigenous Art at the National Gallery of Canada; Christine Faucher, teacher at the École des arts visuels et médiatiques of the Université du Québec à Montréal; Jennifer Lefort, recipient of the prestigious Joseph Plaskett Foundation Award, and finalist in the 2007 RBC Canadian Painting Competition; Alex Livingston, Professor in Painting at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD); and Luke Painter, Assistant Professor and Chair of the Contemporary Painting and Printmedia department at the Ontario College of Art and Design University.
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About the National Gallery of Canada
The National Gallery of Canada is home to the most important collections of historical and contemporary Canadian art. The Gallery also maintains Canada's premier collection of European Art from the 14th to the 21st century, as well as important works of American, Asian and Indigenous Art and internationally renowned collections of prints, drawings and photographs. Created in 1880, the National Gallery of Canada has played a key role in Canadian culture for well over a century. Among its principal missions is to increase access to excellent works of art for all Canadians. To do so, it maintains an extensive touring art exhibition programme. For more information: gallery.ca.
SOURCE: National Gallery of Canada
For media only: For further information, please contact: Josée-Britanie Mallet, Senior Media and Public Relations Officer, National Gallery of Canada, 613-990-6835, [email protected]
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