OTTAWA.- A special exhibition featuring the works of the five finalists for the prestigious 2016 Sobey Art Award opens Thursday, October 6 at the National Gallery of Canada. Presented for the first time at the Gallery and organized in collaboration with the Sobey Art Foundation, the group exhibition offers the opportunity to experience the newest developments in contemporary Canadian art. It highlights work by artists from across the country selected from a long list of exceptional nominees: Jeremy Shaw from the West Coast and Yukon region; Brenda Draney from the Prairies and Northern Canada; Charles Stankievech from Ontario; Hajra Waheed from Quebec and William Robinson from the Atlantic Provinces.

The 2016 Sobey Art Award exhibition is organized by Josée Drouin-Brisebois, the Gallery’s Senior Curator of Contemporary Art and chair of the Sobey Art Award selection jury. Jury members include Jonathan Middleton, Director and Curator of the Or Gallery, for the West Coast and Yukon; Naomi Potter, Director and Curator of the Esker Foundation, for the Prairies and the North region; Barbara Fischer, Executive Director and Chief Curator of the Art Museum at the University of Toronto, for the Ontario region; Marie-Justine Snider, Curator of the collection at the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, for the Quebec region; and Pan Wendt, Curator at the Confederation Centre Art Gallery, for the Atlantic Provinces and Nicolaus Schafhausen, International juror, and Artistic Director of Austria’s Kunsthalle Wien and Strategic Director of Fogo Island Arts in Newfoundland.

“The practices of the five nominees cover everything from painting, sculpture and video works to installation, sound, dance and land-based art,” said Mr. Schafhausen. “The final shortlist, therefore, well reflects the rich multiplicity of contemporary Canadian artistic practice across this vast, multicultural land.”

The winner of the 2016 Sobey Art Award will be announced at an invitation only gala on November 1, 2016. The exhibition will be on display until February 5, 2017.

The Gallery, in collaboration with the Sobey Art Foundation, began administering the award in 2016, building on the success generated by the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, the award’s founding partner institution. The Sobey Art Award was inaugurated in 2002.

“The Sobey Art Award has become the single most important prize for Canadian artists under 40,” said NGC Director and CEO Marc Mayer. “The National Gallery of Canada is proud to connect Canadians with some of the most exciting young artists through their work displayed in our galleries. The richness and diversity of the Canadian scene makes it one of the most dynamic in the world. We’re happy to bring that to everyone’s attention.”