OTTAWA.- The Sobey Art Foundation and the National Gallery of Canada today announced the five artists who have been shortlisted for the 2016 Sobey Art Award, Canada's prestigious contemporary art prize. It is presented annually to an outstanding Canadian artist under 40 who has exhibited in a public or private gallery in the 18 months preceding their application. The selection was made from a long-list of 25 artists, announced earlier this year. The short-listed artists are:

• From the West Coast and the Yukon: Jeremy Shaw (Vancouver, BC, and Berlin, Germany)

• From the Prairies and the North: Brenda Draney (Edmonton, Alberta)

• From Ontario: Charles Stankievech (Toronto)

• From Québec: Hajra Waheed (Montréal)

• From the Atlantic: William Robinson (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

The short-list was selected by a jury composed of noted curators from each of Canada's five regions. In 2016 it is chaired by the National Gallery of Canada's Senior Curator of Contemporary Art, Josée Drouin-Brisebois and for the first time includes an international juror, Nicolas Schafhausen, Artistic Director at the Kunsthalle in Vienna, Austria. The 2016 jury is: Jonathan Middleton, Director and Curator of the Or Gallery, Vancouver, British-Columbia; Naomi Potter, Director and Curator of the Esker Foundation, Calgary, Alberta; Barbara Fischer, Executive Director and Chief Curator of the Art Museum at the University of Toronto, Ontario; Marie-Justine Snider, Curator of the collection at the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, in Montréal, Québec and Pan Wendt, Curator at the Confederation Centre Art Gallery in Prince Edward Island.

Josée Drouin-Brisebois, Sobey Art Award Chair and National Gallery of Canada Senior Curator of Contemporary Art, said: "It is an honour to chair such an inspiring jury. I would like to thank the six jurors for the engaging conversations and for their professionalism and dedication. The work being produced in Canada these days is outstanding. This year's long-list featured a surprising number of multidisciplinary and conceptual artists, as well as artists working in traditional mediums in new and innovative ways. The artists on the long-list were all strong contenders, and it was challenging to narrow them down to these five finalists. I look forward to working with the artists and the jurors to mount an exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada this fall."

Nicolas Schafhausen, Sobey Art Award International Juror and Artistic Director, Kunsthalle, Vienna, said: "The jury chose five artistic approaches whose work is characteristic of the frequently transdisciplinary practice of the upcoming generation of artists. In their work, these artists all link the questioning of their own artistic production with the reflection of social contexts."

The Sobey Art Award was initiated in 2002 by the Sobey Art Foundation to enhance the recognition of excellence in Canadian contemporary art. In 2016 the National Gallery of Canada became the Award's organizing institution, signifying an ambitious new national and global profile for Contemporary Canadian art. The Sobey has profiled 300 artists since the first award in 2002 and has become a mark of distinction that has steered artists towards national and international recognition. Previous Award winners have included David Altmejd, Nadia Myre and Abbas Akhavan, among many others, all of whom have gone on to internationally established careers.

In 2016 a total of $100,000 CAD will be awarded including a top award of $50,000, $10,000 to each of the other short-listed artists, and $500 to each of the other long-listed artists. The five short-listed artists' work will be featured in a special exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada from 6 October 2016 to 5 February 2017. The 2016 Sobey Art Award winner will be announced during a gala event, taking place at the Gallery in November 2016.