Scott Conarroe Jialing River, Lueyang, Shaanxi 2012 Courtesy Stephen Bulger Gallery
Canadian residents and artists Kim Adams and Scott Conarroe have been named as 2013 Guggenheim Fellows.
Adams, based in Toronto, is known for sculptural works that can create sprawling, fantastical worlds out of off-the-shelf train-set accessories. He has also made sculptures out of actual cars and trucks, including one that was recently parked on the lawn of Museum London during his survey exhibition there. He was also the winner of the 2012 Gershon Iskowitz Prize.
Conarroe, currently based in British Columbia and teaching at ECUAD, has become known for large-format photographs that often bring a romantic sensibility to industrial or post-industrial landscapes. One of his recent projects, By Rail, focused on train travel and infrastructure worldwide. A feature article on his photographs made last year in China can be found in the current issue of Canadian Art.
Two other visual artists with connections to Canada were also named as Guggenheim Fellows.
Brooklyn painter Susan Wanklyn, who creates colourful abstract works, was born and raised in Montreal.
Los Angeles sculptor David McDonald—whose works are inspired in part by psychology and Buddhist philosophy—was born in England and was raised, in part, in Canada.
Exact award amounts were not disclosed, but in 2011, the foundation distributed $12.3 million in award funds to 213 fellows for an average of $58,000 per fellow.
According to the Guggenheim Foundation website, the fellowships are often characterized as “midcareer” awards, and “are intended for men and women who have already demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts.”
The foundation receives between 3,500 and 4,000 applications each year, from which approximately 200 fellowships are awarded.
