Stephanie Comilang wins 2019 Sobey Art Award in Edmonton
'It's Canada's largest art award, it's $100,000 dollar prize'
A 39-year-old artist, representing the Ontario region, has been awarded Canada's most prestigious contemporary art prize.
Stephanie Comilang has taking the Sobey Art Award handed out Friday night at the Art Gallery of Alberta in downtown Edmonton.
Billed as the pre-eminent prize for Canadian artists 40 and under, the honour comes with bragging rights and a $100,000 cash prize.
Comilang's video works follow Paraiso, a Tagalog-speaking "drone" who documents Filipino diasporic experiences.
The other four shortlisted finalists, Nicolas Grenier, Kablusiak, Anne Low and D'Arcy Wilson each receive $25,000.
All five artists are being showcased in a feature exhibition on until January 5, 2020 at the Art Gallery of Alberta.
The range of work on display speaks to the diversity of contemporary art being created in Canada right now, according to Lindsey Sharman, curator at the Art Gallery of Alberta.
"We have paintings, there's a few video projects, there's carving out of soapstone, textiles, sculptures, so there's really a wide range of things," she said.
Catherine Crowston, the executive director of the gallery, is "thrilled" to showcase "the biggest art prize in Canadian" in Edmonton.
"It's an award that celebrates artists from all regions, and it really is an opportunity for us to share with Alberta audiences the great diverse, contemporary art that artists are making," said Crowston.
The Sobey Art Award has been handed out since 2001 and is managed by the National Gallery of Canada.
You can see more from the Art Gallery of Alberta on Our Edmonton Saturday at 10 a.m., Sunday at noon and Monday at 11 a.m. on CBC TV or live on the GEM app.
