Betino Assa Gathering in the forest, 12 am 2011
Last week, RBC and the Canadian Art Foundation announced the 15 finalists in the 2012 RBC Canadian Painting Competition.
“This prestigious competition provides a national showcase for some of our country’s most talented artists during the early stages of their careers,” said Ann Webb, executive director, Canadian Art Foundation and publisher, Canadian Art magazine. “Each year, we see wonderful examples of our country’s vibrant community of visual artists. Narrowing these gifted entrants down to 15 finalists has been a very tough challenge for our jurors—choosing a winner is going to be very difficult.”
“We’re very proud to help discover and promote promising new artists and to provide them with financial support as they continue to develop their careers,” added Robin Anthony, curator, RBC. “Congratulations to our 15 finalists for making this year’s shortlist and we look forward to seeing their works in galleries across the country.”
Each year, the competition is judged by a who’s who of artists, gallery directors and curators from across the country. Two of this year’s jurors—Nigel Prince, executive director of the Contemporary Art Gallery in Vancouver, and Jonathan Shaughnessy, associate curator, contemporary art at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa—recently spoke with Canadian Art about the context surrounding contemporary painting.
By region, the 2012 finalists are:
Western Canada
• Ahbyah Baker, Vancouver, BC
• Thomas Chisholm, Victoria, BC
• Jordy Hamilton, Vancouver, BC
• Andrea Kastner, Edmonton, AB
• Katie Lyle, Vancouver, BC
Central Canada
• Colin Muir Dorward, Ottawa, ON
• Aleksander Hardashnakov, Toronto, ON
• David Hucal, Guelph, ON
• Vanessa Maltese, Toronto, ON
• Jenna Faye Powell, Sarnia, ON
Eastern Canada
• Betino Assa, Montreal, QC
• Philip Delisle, Halifax, NS
• Nicolas Rancellucci, Montreal, QC
• Corri-Lynn Tetz, Montreal, QC
• Julie Trudel, Montreal, QC
To see works from all the finalists, view our related slideshow.
