Ottawa, October 8, 2008 – The Canada Council for the Arts announced today that the Beaverbrook Art Gallery is the recipient of the 2008 York Wilson Endowment Award. The Gallery will use the award to purchase The Barn, including the animation Romancing the Farm, by contemporary artist Graeme Patterson.
Through the York Wilson Endowment Award, the Beaverbrook Art Gallery located in Fredericton, New Brunswick, receives $20,000 towards the acquisition.
"The Beaverbrook Art Gallery is indeed honoured to be the recipient of this most prestigious award," noted Bernard Riordon, Director and CEO of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery. "Such recognition by the Canada Council for the Arts is reassuring and positive for the Gallery. Our thanks are extended to both the Council and to Lela Wilson for their foresight and support."
About Mr. Patterson's work, the Gallery said, "By combining sculpture and animation in this work, Mr. Patterson recognizes and asserts one essential feature of Canadian mythology: in many ways the landscape that defines us is no longer under our feet, but resides in our heads." From three sides, the barn looks stereotypical: a weathered grey structure, seemingly ready to fall down, a common sight in rural Canada. On its own, the film that plays is a cyclical evocation of farm life, with animals, farmers, children, recreation and work. The piece ends with the "wheat" shrinking back into the ground, at which point the video loops, repeating ad infinitum, like the seasons.
Photos of Mr. Patterson's artwork can be downloaded from the Canada Council image gallery.
The members of the peer assessment committee for this year's award were Catherine Crowston, deputy director and chief curator of the Art Gallery of Alberta (Edmonton); Viviane Gray, manager of the Indian and Inuit Art Centre at Indian and Northern Affairs (Gatineau, Quebec); and Jon Tupper, director of the Confederation Centre Art Gallery (Charlottetown).
Since its creation in 1997, the York Wilson Endowment Award has been given annually to an eligible Canadian art museum or public gallery to assist with the purchase of an original artwork by a Canadian artist that will significantly enhance its collection. The award, which is the result of gifts of more than $600,000 from Lela Wilson and the late Maxwell Henderson, honours the contribution of Canadian painter York Wilson by assisting Canadian institutions to acquire works by living Canadian painters and sculptors.
The Beaverbrook Art Gallery was gifted to the people of New Brunswick by Lord Beaverbrook and opened to the public on September 16, 1959. The Gallery brings art and community together in a dynamic cultural environment dedicated to the highest standards in exhibitions, programming, education and stewardship. As the art gallery of New Brunswick, the Beaverbrook Art Gallery's mission includes embracing and advancing New Brunswick's two official language communities, its First Nations Peoples and its diverse social, economic and cultural fabric and maintaining artistic excellence in the care, research and development of the Gallery's widely recognized collections.
The Gallery's permanent collection has grown from 300 in 1959 to approximately 3,000 at present. It comprises three major categories: the Canadian, British, and International Collections. The past few years has seen a growing focus on acquiring art from the Atlantic Canadian artists.
Graeme Patterson was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in 1980. He studied at Dundas Valley School of Art (Ontario), the University of Saskatchewan and NSCAD University. His solo exhibition history started in 2002 at the Anna Leonowens Gallery (Halifax). In 2004 he had a sculpture/video installation at the Owens Art Gallery and at the William Turner Gallery, Santa Monica, California, followed in 2005 by a sculpture/video installation at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. A national touring multimedia installation entitled Woodrow began in 2007. He has been included in many group exhibitions at prominent Canadian galleries, such as the Beaverbrook, the Rooms Provincial Art Gallery, and the Owens Art Gallery.
Mr. Patterson's animated video works have been given many screenings in North American film festivals where they have earned a number of prizes among which are the Atlantic Film Festival (2003) Direct Joy Award and the Garden State Film Festival (2003) First Place for Short Animation Award.
His work is in the public collections of the National Gallery of Canada; the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia; the Mendel Art Gallery; the Rooms Provincial Art Gallery and the Saskatchewan Arts Board. Mr. Patterson currently lives in Halifax.
In addition to its principal role of promoting and fostering the arts, the Canada Council for the Arts administers and awards many prizes and fellowships in the arts, humanities, social sciences, natural and health sciences, engineering, and arts management. These prizes and fellowships recognize the achievements of outstanding Canadian artists, scholars, and administrators. The Canada Council for the Arts is committed to raising public awareness and celebration of these exceptional people and organizations on both a national and international level.
Please visit our website for a complete listing of these awards.
Carole Breton
Public Relations Officer
1-800-263-5588 or (613) 566-4414, ext. 4523
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Grace Thrasher
Arts Promotion Coordinator
1-800-263-5588 or (613) 566-4414, ext. 5145
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Beaverbrook Art Gallery
Laurie Glenn Norris
506-458-2024
lglenn@beaverbrookartgallery.org
