Rebecca Brewer's winning work, Beuys painting
Two honourable mentions were given: to Beth Stuart of Toronto for her work entitled 02, from the Doppelbanger series, and to Deirdre McAdams of Vancouver for her work entitled Blotto. Beth and Deirdre were each awarded $15,000 for their work. The RBC Canadian Painting Competition award is one of the largest award disbursements for painting in Canada.
“We would like to congratulate this year’s semifinalists and winners,” said Ann Webb, Executive Director, Canadian Art Foundation and Publisher, Canadian Art magazine. “Each year, we continue to be impressed by the emerging talent in this country and truly appreciate RBC’s commitment to this competition, as it provides much-needed financial support and also offers a tremendous opportunity for artists to exhibit their work at prominent art galleries across the country.”
The national winner and honourable mentions were chosen from 15 semifinalist works painted by talented artists from all across Canada. The paintings were judged by a distinguished jury panel made up of well-respected members of the Canadian visual arts community, ranging from curators and gallery directors to senior artists and professors.
“The RBC Canadian Painting Competition helps discover promising new visual artists and showcase their talent at a national level each year,” said Robin Anthony, curator, RBC. “More than 500 entries were received from across the country, each one a reflection of the talent and passion of the artist behind it. RBC is proud to play an integral role in celebrating Canadian art and culture and help emerging visual artists achieve success.”
All 15 paintings will be on exhibit at the Art Gallery of Alberta in Edmonton until October 10. The exhibit will also stop at the Art Gallery of Hamilton from October 19 to November 3 and the Power Plant in Toronto from November 12 to 19. Admission to this exhibition is free at all three venues. All finalists will be featured on rbc.com/paintingcompetition and canadianart.ca.
About the RBC Canadian Painting Competition
Established in 1999, the RBC Canadian Painting Competition is an annual tribute to Canada’s artistic talent. The goal of the competition is to support and nurture Canadian visual artists early in their careers by providing them with a forum to display their artistic talent to the country and hopefully open doors to future opportunity. An investment in Canadian culture and the visual arts community, the competition awards one national prize of $25,000 and two honourable mentions of $15,000 each.
Along with past winners, the winning paintings of 2011 will become part of RBC’s Canadian art collection comprised of more than 4,000 works of distinguished art collected over the past hundred years. Various paintings from the RBC collection have been exhibited in museums, enabling more Canadians to enjoy these wonderful works.
Media contact: Jackie Braden, RBC Brand Communications, (416) 974-1724, jackie.braden@rbc.com
