Sobey Art Award – Artists 2020

2020 Sobey Art Award Increases Cash Prize for Longlist Artists

25 exceptional Canadian artists will be awarded $25,000 (CAD) each

In the spirit of providing financial support to visual artists in Canada at a time when they need it the most, and when opportunities to generate income are limited, the overall 2020 Sobey Art Award program fund has been divided equally among 25 finalists.

Selected from one of the longest nomination lists to date, the 2020 Sobey Art Award’s 25 winners reflect the remarkable richness and range of contemporary art practices across Canada. Distinctly dynamic, resonant, and compelling, these artists’ works bring to view meaningful approaches to their materials and gestures. They create new relationships and vocabularies that value specificity with regard to personal, geographic, cultural, or socio-historical perspectives, yet open themselves onto broader forms of connection.

In this unprecedented moment, we welcomed the award committee’s decision to reconceive the award process so as to champion and support the practices of 25 artists. Selecting among so many candidates of exceptional quality was no simple task, but in working through an array of considerations, our conversations led us to recognize artists at different moments in their careers whose works we feel invigorate, innovate, and reframe wide-spanning areas of practice and discourse.

2020 Sobey Art Award Jury