Nico Williams is this year's recipient of Canada's most prestigious contemporary Art award, the Sobey Art Award ). The winner of the prize, worth 100,000 Canadian dollars (67,480 euros), was announced during a ceremony which took place on Saturday evening, November 9, 2024, at the National Gallery of Canada (NGC), in Ottawa , where an exhibition presenting the six preselected artists is on view until April 6, 2025. The other preselected artists – Taqralik Partridge, Judy Chartrand, Rhayne Vermette, June Clark and Mathieu Léger – will each receive 25,000 Canadian dollars (16,868 euros).
“I don’t feel at all comfortable receiving this award”Nico Williams told The Art Newspaper. The 35-year-old Montreal-based Anishinaabe artist is known for his multidisciplinary and often collaborative practice, centered on sculptural beadwork and contemporary found object installations, from bingo cards to lawn chairs.
“Being awarded this prize validates my practice of working with pearlshe declared. It’s a medium that my ancestors have been working with for a long time. Being recognized for having worked with such a material gives new life to this practice. And the fact that curators, peers and the jury accept this practice is wonderful. »
During the ceremony, attended by artists representing regions from coast to coast – including past winners and nominees like 2023 winner Kablusiak, who presented the award to Nico Williams – , the NGC's director of curatorial initiatives, Jonathan Shaughnessy, who chaired the jury for the 2024 Sobey Art Prize, praised the artist's work.
“The jury felt compelled to recognize the undeniable energy and relevance of Nico Williams' approach to contemporary beaded sculpture, which allows us to imagine new possibilities for the mediumsaid Jonathan Shaughnessy. His works of impeccable precision transcend everyday objects to elevate them to a spectacular level and integrate personal experiences into stories that reach as many people as possible. Working with and beyond community, Williams' practice challenges the persistence of colonial legacies by bringing collective memory and shared nostalgia to the surface. »
Nico Williams, Zhi-bindiged guaya (foreground), 2022. Glass beads, wire, plastic, metal and river stones. © Nico Williams. Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid
For the first time, the other jury members were six Canadian artists – all former Sobey Art Award finalists or winners, representing each region – as well as an international juror. The jury, from West to East, was composed of asinnajaq (from the circumpolar region), Jeremy Shaw (Pacific), Divya Mehra (Prairies), Stephanie Comilang (Ontario), Caroline Monnet (Quebec), Mario Doucette (Atlantic) and Zoé Whitley, director of the Chisenhale Gallery in London. The prize amount now stands at 465,000 Canadian dollars (313,733 euros). Funded by the Sobey Art Foundation, it is the most lavishly endowed contemporary art prize in Canada and one of the most generous in the world.
This year, four of the six finalists were Indigenous artists and their works reflect issues of place, identity, community and belonging. “I feel like I’m winning this prize both collectively and ancestrallyconfided Nico Williams to The Art Newspaper. In my workshop, seven to eleven people are working on a project at any given time. Six of them were present this evening [samedi 9 novembre] and I asked them to stand up and be applauded. »
Nico Williams, whose beaded Ikea bag titled Feast (2024) was featured in the “Focus” exhibition at the Toronto Art Fair this year, will soon be exhibiting at the PHI Foundation for Contemporary Art in Montreal. The artist affirms that the prize money “will be of great support to [son] atelier. »
“Ten years ago, one of my most influential role models, Nadia Myre, received this awardhe added. I want to send the same message to all young people in the bush: we will get there! I am extremely grateful to everyone who has supported my practice from the very beginning! Without you, I wouldn't be where I am today! Chi-miigwech ! [mot anishinaabe signifiant « merci »] ».
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