A Yellowknife-born, Calgary-based Inuvialuk artist has been named the winner of the Sobey Arts Award, four years after she was first selected for the honor.
Multidisciplinary artist Kablusiak, known professionally under one name, received the $100,000 prize at a gala evening in Ottawa, hosted by the National Gallery of Canada (NGC) and the Sobey Foundation for arts.
Prize jury chair Jonathan Shaughnessy describes Kablusiak’s work as “fearless and uncompromising,” adding that the artist “questions old categories and histories of art” with work that explores “the ‘experience of being looked at without being seen’.
Kablusiak was first shortlisted for the award in 2019.
Four finalists — Gabrielle L’Hirondelle Hill, Seamus Gallagher, Anahita Norouzi and Michele Pearson Clarke — all received $25,000 prizes.
The works of the five artists will be part of an exhibition at the NGC, from October 13 to March 3, 2024.
The shortlist was chosen by an independent jury made up of curators from five regions of Canada, as well as an international juror.
The Sobey Art Award was established in 2002 with funding from the Sobey Arts Foundation, and has been jointly administered by the foundation and the National Gallery of Canada since 2016.
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