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
The winning pieces can also be viewed on BMO Financial Group’s website here.
