Nick Cave, Soundsuit, 2015, mixed media including gramophone horn, ceramic birds, metal flowers, strung beads, fabric, metal and mannequin, 284.5 x 150 x 122 cm. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. © Nick Cave, courtesy of Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. Photo: NGC

2017 Canadian Biennial

The fourth edition of the Canadian Biennial brings together a comprehensive selection of works acquired since 2014 by the Gallery’s departments of Contemporary Art, Indigenous Art, and the Canadian Photography Institute, and is the first to date to feature artists working both in Canada and internationally. The exhibition reveals the dynamic ways in which artists engage with the increasingly globalized world of contemporary art through a wide range of media including painting, sculpture, photography, drawing, printmaking, video and installation-based practices. Migration, the impact and interpretation of history and belief systems on contemporary art and culture, stereotypes of identity and nationhood, and the emancipatory potential of the imagination and creativity, are some of the themes and subjects addressed in the Biennial that reflects the Gallery’s pursuits in building an outstanding and pertinent collection of art today. 
 

Featured Artists

Barry Ace
John Akomfrah*
Benoit Aquin
Shuvinai Ashoona & Shary Boyle
BGL
Valérie Blass
Shannon Bool
Mark Bradford*
Anthony Burnham
Nick Cave
Patrick Coutu
Chris Curreri
Beau Dick
Stan Douglas
Jessica Eaton
Latifa Echakhch
Tracey Emin

Cynthia Girard-Renard
Andreas Gursky
Thomas Houseago
Christian Jankowski
Brian Jungen
Shelagh Keeley
Ruben Komangapik
Jonathan Lasker
lessLIE
Maya Lin
Elaine Ling
Angela Marston
Julie Mehretu*
Kent Monkman
Wangechi Mutu
Nadia Myre
Chris Ofili*

Jamasee Padluq Pitseolak
Susan Point
Mika Rottenberg
Collier Schorr
Ursula Schulz-Dornburg
Wael Shawky
Steven Shearer
Taryn Simon
Kiki Smith
Monika Sosnowska
Zin Taylor
Mickalene Thomas
Wolfgang Tillmans
Jutai Toonoo
Renée Van Halm
Hajra Waheed*
Daniel Young & Christian Giroux

 
* Featured exclusively in Turbulent Landings: The NGC 2017 Canadian Biennial presented at the Art Gallery of Alberta

Date

Thursday, October 19, 2017 Sunday, March 18, 2018

Location

National Gallery of Canada Special Exhibitions Galleries
380 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, ON K1N 9N4
Canada

Artwork

Featured Videos

Hear Stan Douglas, Mika Rottenberg, Chris Curreri, Shuvinai Ashoona and the three members of the BGL collective talk about their work on view in the 2017 Canadian Biennial.

2017 Canadian Biennial: Stan Douglas

2017 Canadian Biennial: Mika Rottenberg

 

2017 Canadian Biennial - Chris Curreri

2017 Canadian Biennial: Shuvinai Ashoona

Biennial: Meet the artists BGL

Related Content

Get to know the artists featured in the 2017 Canadian Biennial