October 2 – October 28, 2012
BMO 1st Art! Invitational Student Art Competition
BMO 1st Art! celebrates the best of Canada’s recent visual arts graduates, from coast to coast. Congratulations to this year’s national and regional winners, who demonstrate the excellence and promise of our newest generation of artists. The remarkable works produced by the 2012 winners cover a range of themes in a variety of media. They include:
- A diptych revealing a glimpse into the lives of Québécois retirees in Florida, as part of an in-depth visual exploration of identity and culture;
- A self-portrait in charcoal, capturing vivid dream imagery and a sense of falling that expresses time as frozen yet eternal;
- Three snarling coyote heads in the form of a headpiece representing the fierce side of the artist and functioning as a healing, emotional prosthetic;
- A series of metallic c-prints investigating the ideas of knowledge creation and the archaeology of the universe based on man-made and naturally occurring mounds;
- And oil-based mono-prints of faceless military soldiers falling in battle that provoke conversation about the aesthetic desensitization in video gamer culture.
- A sculpture of cinder blocks made of plaster, plywood and sawdust that raises questions about the purpose of boundaries and how they define space.
2012 Winners BMO 1st Art! 2012 National Winner: Mika Goodfriend, Concordia University BMO 1st Art! 2012 Regional Winners: Alberta: Noor ul Ain, Alberta College of Art & Design British Columbia: Yi Xin Tong, Simon Fraser University Manitoba: Agnes Neufeld, University of Manitoba New Brunswick: Nathan Cann, Mount Allison University Newfoundland & Labrador: Diana Chisholm, Sir Wilfred Grenfell College, Memorial University Nova Scotia: Jessie Babin, Nova Scotia College of Art & Design Nunavut: Lavinia Van Heuvelen, Nunavut Arctic College Ontario: Sarah Beattie, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, Brock University Prince Edward Island: Adnan Saciragic, Holland College Quebec: Jean-Michel Leclerc, Université du Québec à Montréal Saskatchewan: Anita Miles, University of Regina Yukon Territory: Kristen Poenn, Yukon School of Visual Arts
Presented by BMO Financial Group
Opening Reception
Tuesday October 2, 7 – 10 pm
Sponsors
