WINNIPEG, MAN.- The Curatorial Panel for the 2014 Sobey Art Award announced that Nadia Myre, of Québec, is the recipient of the $50,000 award.

The announcement was made last week during a gala event held at the Winnipeg Art Gallery in Winnipeg, Manitoba, hosted by Paul Kennedy of CBC Ideas.

The Award was presented to the winning artist by the 2013 Sobey winner, Duane Linklater.

Nadia Myre was chosen from a shortlist that included:

• Evan Lee

• Neil Farber and Michael Dumontier

• Chris Curreri

• Graeme Patterson

Each of these outstanding artists receives $10,000 in prize money from the Sobey Art Foundation.

In commenting on Nadia Myre’s achievement, the Jury issued the following statement: “We are pleased to announce Nadia Myre as the winner of the 2014 Sobey Art Award. Myre has built a distinctive visual vocabulary by translating her experience and that of others into works that employ traditional crafts within a contemporary, multidisciplinary practice. Her artwork creates a symbolic image of wounding and resilience that conveys something deeply human while addressing urgent social concerns.”

The 2014 Sobey Art Award Curatorial Panel consists of:

• Jordan Strom, Curator, Exhibitions and Collections, Surrey Art Gallery, British Columbia

• Paul Butler, Curator, Winnipeg, Manitoba

• Srimoyee Mitra, Curator of Contemporary Art, Art Gallery of Windsor, Ontario

• Marie-Eve Beaupré, Conservatrice de l'art québécois et canadien contemporain, Musée des beaux arts de Montréal, Québec

• Pan Wendt, Curator, Confederation Centre Art Gallery, Prince Edward Island

“The Sobey Art Foundation is delighted to congratulate Nadia Myre on winning this year’s top prize along with all of the longlisted and shortlisted artists in the 2014 Sobey Art Award. On behalf of all of us, I would like to congratulate and thank all of you for your hard work and commitment to excellence,” said Rob Sobey, Chair Sobey Art Foundation. “It is has been a wonderful experience for us all to be here at the Winnipeg Art Gallery for the Award’s first exhibition in Western Canada, we look forward to many returns,” he added.

Since the inception of the Sobey Art Award in 2002, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia has organized and administered both the Award and its accompanying exhibition. Every other year, the Award is exhibited at a Canadian Gallery or Museum outside of Halifax.

The 2014 Sobey Art Award shortlist exhibition is on view at the Art Gallery of Winnipeg until January 18, 2015.

Nadia Myre (b. 1974) is a visual artist from Quebec and an Algonquin member of the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation. For over a decade, her multi-disciplinary practice has been inspired by participant involvement as well as recurring themes of identity, language, longing and loss. Myre is a graduate of Camosun College (1995), Emily Carr (1997), and Concordia University (MFA, 2002). Myre was longlisted for the Sobey Art Award in 2011, 2012, 2013 and shortlisted for the Powerhouse Art Prize in 2013. Recent solo exhibitions include Needleworks (McLaren Art Centre, Barrie, Ontario), Nadia Myre: Symbology (Carleton University Art Gallery, Ottawa) and Skin Tissue––as part of Hides: Skin as Material and Metaphor (National Museum of the American Indian, New York, NY). Upcoming exhibitions include Formes et Paroles (Musée Dapper, Paris, for an exhibition in Senegal), the 2014 Shanghai Biennale and Orison (Oboro, Montreal). Recent group exhibitions include Before and After the Horizon: Anishinabe Artists of the Great Lakes (Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, ON), Sakahàn (National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, ON), Vantage Point: The Contemporary Native Art Collection (National Museum of the American Indian National Mall, Washington, DC), and It Is What It Is (National Gallery of Canada). Myre’s work is held by corporate and public collections including: MacKenzie Art Gallery, Canada Council Art Bank, National Gallery of Canada, Musée de la civilisation (Québec), Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec, National Museum of the American Indian, and Fonds régional d’art contemporain de Lorraine in France.