The RBC Canadian Painting Competition 2004

Helping Canadian professional visual artists paint their own picture of success

Thanks to the participation of the many artists across Canada, the 2004 competition was a resounding success! The quality of the over 900 entries vividly illustrates the exceptional skill of Canada’s emerging professional artists.

The 15 finalists had their work featured in public exhibitions at The Edmonton Art Gallery, Hamilton’s McMaster Museum of Art, Saint John’s New Brunswick Museum and Toronto’s Museum of Contemporary Canadian of Art. The national winner and two honourable mentions for 2004 were:

National winner:

Central Canada
Dionne Simpson, Toronto, ON
Urban e_Scape 13, 2004
48” x 48”, mixed media on de-woven canvas

In this series, Dionne Simpson explores the conflict between diversity and conformity in Canadian society through her depictions of city living. Employing the canvas as metaphor for the underlying fabric of Canadian society, Simpson combines tradition with contemporary content. The square is a re-occuring element in her work and is used as symbol of order and assimilation that exists in stark contrast to the reality of daily life for most Canadians.

Honourable mentions:

Eastern Canada

Laurel Smith, Montreal, Qc
Sjalso, 2004
16” x 18”, Diptych, Acrylic on canvas

Inspired by the sunsets in Gotland, Sweden, Laurel Smith works with luminous, translucent light set against an opaque horizon or even cloud forms. A dense surface is used first, which is then contrasted against a transient, ephemeral colour that defines itself as painting or light. For Laurel, the end result is a very simplified, but complex, representation of what makes painting so evocative or magical and saturated with narrative.

Western Canada

Brad Phillips, Vancouver, BC
der zauberer, 2003
14” x 18”, oil on canvas

This work is based on Brad Phillips’ continued interest in the landscape as a site of “memorialization” and violence. Phillips uses these paintings to convey the implicit tension in the landscape in which he grew up – suburban Toronto. He paints the places, people and architecture that at first glance appear innocuous, but in fact, whether from the moonlight or from a sniper’s distance, are actually sites and emblems of suburban dislocation.

Central Canada Jury

Will Gorlitz, Senior Artists and Associate Professor, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON
Jan Allen, Curator, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen University, Kingston, ON
Olga Korper, Director, Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto, ON

Starting from left to right:
Jan Allen, Olga Korper, Will Gorlitz

Eastern Canada Jury

Gemey Kelly, Curator, Owens Art Gallery, Sackville, NB
Pierre Dorion, Senior Artist, Montreal, Qc
Gordon Laurin, Director, Art Gallery of Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John’s, NF

Starting from left to right:
Gemey Kelly (Juror), Pierre Dorion (Juror), Melony Ward (Executive Director, Canadian Art Foundation), Gordon Laurin (Juror)

Western Canada Jury

Kent Archer, Director and Curator, Kenderdine Art Gallery, Saskatoon, SK
Jane Ash Poitras, Senior Artist, Edmonton, AB
Riko Nakasone, Director, Bau-Xi Gallery, Vancouver, BC

Starting from left to right:
Riko Nakasone (Juror), Mark Mullin, John Eisler, Jim Park, Monique Blom, Brad Phillips, Jane Ask Poitras (Juror), Kent Archer (Juror), Tony Lippino (Executive Director, The Edmonton Art Gallery), Cal Malhiot (Edmonton Branch Manager and Vice-President, RBC Dominion Securities Inc.)

National Jury

Gordon Laurin, Director, Art Gallery of Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John’s, NF
Kent Archer, Director and Curator, Kenderdine Art Gallery, University of Saskatoon, Saskatoon, SK
Olga Korper, Director, Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto, ON
Father Daniel Donovan, Art Collector, Toronto, ON
David Moos, Curator, Contemporary Art, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, ON

Starting from left to right:
Gordon Laurin (Juror), Robin Anthony (Curator, RBC Financial Group), Jaime Harper (Metro Toronto Regional Vice President, RBC Financial Planning), Melony Ward (Executive Director, Canadian Art Foundation), Brad Phillips, Kent Archer (Juror), Laurel Smith, Dionne Simpson, Father Daniel Donovan (Juror), Olga Korper (Juror)

	2007
	2006
	2005
	2003

Painting image in the web banner is courtesy of Ben Reeves. 2001 Winner