The Contemporary Art Society of Vancouver (CASV) presents an exhibition of artwork by the five finalists selected for the 2012 CASV Emerging Artist’s Prize, a competition open to artists in the Lower Mainland. This inaugural prize was established to encourage and support artists within the first five years of their careers, and is the only one of its kind in Vancouver selected through an open competition.
The CASV is a not-for-profit membership-based organization founded in 1977 that focuses on promoting an appreciation and understanding of Contemporary Art. Members enjoy studio visits, art trips, and lectures by prominent artists,critics, collectors, designers, architects and fine art professionals from North America and abroad. The $3000 prize is entirely funded by CASV memberships and donations.
Chosen from among 147 applicants, Scott Billings, Jordy Hamilton, Jeremy Hof, Nicole Ondre, and Natalie Purschwitz were selected by a distinguished jury of art professionals: Patrik Andersson (art critic, curator, and Associate Professor,Critical + Cultural Studies, Emily Carr University of Art + Design); Monte Clark (Monte Clark Gallery, Vancouver & Toronto); Makiko Hara (Curator, Centre A); Nigel Prince (Director, Contemporary Art Gallery); and Marina Roy (artist and Associate Professor of Visual Arts, University of British Columbia).
Most of the artists have created new work for the exhibition. Scott Billings’s two-channel video of footage from the television show Law & Order examines the portrayal of criminality and victimhood within crime dramas; Jordy Hamilton’s painting and sculptural furniture question class, cultural capital and avant-garde ambitions; Jeremy Hof’s paintings investigate the objective materiality of the medium and the laboured process of creation; Nicole Ondre’s wall paintings are made from marks printed or transferred between paper and wall; and Natalie Purschwitz’s multi-part installation combines diversematerials to explore notions of shelter, survival, display, and desire.
