Earlier this month, the National Gallery of Canada (NGC) celebrated the winners of the Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts (GGArts).
The awards are a celebration of Canadian artists, their careers and their visions. Recognizing the vibrant and diverse art community from coast to coast, the awards speak to the prestige and excellence of Canadian artists.
The Canada Council for the Arts delegated eight awards: the Saidye Bronfman Award for excellence in fine crafts, an Outstanding Contribution Award and six awards recognizing artistic achievements.
Brigitte Clavette was the recipient of the Saidye Bronfman Award and Gerald McMaster was the recipient of the Outstanding Contribution Award. Moyra Frances Davey, Jocelyn Robert, David Ruben Piqtoukun, Monique Régimbald-Zeiber, Pierre Bourgault, and Carol Condé in collaboration with Karl Beveridge were recognized for their artistic achievements.
The work of the GGArts awards recipients is currently on display at the NGC.
The artists share their messages through a variety of visual media such as photography, sculptures, paintings and collages.
“For the first time, the GGArts winners’ works have been placed in dialogue with the Gallery’s collection,” Angela Cassie, Interim Director and CEO at the National Gallery of Canada said.
“In this dynamic experience, we invite visitors to explore connections and interconnections and consider different perspectives and points of view.”
Four curators, Greg Hill, Josée Drouin-Brisebois, Stephanie Burdzy and Andrea Kunard, worked closely with the artists to install their art within the gallery.
Burdzy reflected on the placement of Bourgault’s two large-scale photography installations on the first level of the contemporary art gallery.
“We’ve hung photos … of [Bourgault’s] works in public spaces within a contemporary gallery that’s filled with light. It shares space and I think it feels right at home,” she said.
The Saidye Bronfman Award recognizes artists who have made significant contributions to Canadian art and its development. This year, Edmunston, N.B., local Clavette received the award for her creative metal casting. Her work is currently on display on the first floor of the NGC’s contemporary exhibit.
Her innovative work is crafted from metal, and she has created tableaus bringing multiple objects together to provide a different perspective from traditional sterling silver sculptures. She said her intent is to use everyday objects that often go to waste to create feelings of wealth, attraction and even repulsion.
Clavette said she aims to focus on how art makes a viewer feel and the messages it can send rather than on its external features.
“Things don’t have to be pretty to have meaning, especially in the arts,” she said. “I don’t find my work very pretty, but I find it meaningful.”
The bright and spacious Fred and Elizabeth Fountain Garden Court houses two works of art by Condé and Beveridge. The Toronto artists said they use their art and their platform to leave a legacy of a more sustainable, just and ultimately better world.
“Most of our work deals with political issues and social justice,” Beveridge said. “We’ve worked with trade unions over the years in terms of worker’s rights … including things around health and safety and environment unions.”
Clavette said she aims to send a message through her art and leave legacies through her creation.
“I want to continue showing … younger people that your careers are [on a] trajectory,” she said. “It’s about seizing opportunities.”
The eight winners’ works will be on display at the NGC until Jan. 23, 2023.
Featured image by Alexa McGannon.
