Nico Williams wins Sobey Art Award $100,000 grand prize

Posted November 13, 2024

Canada’s preeminent contemporary arts award recognizes Williams for his undeniable energy and pertinent approach to contemporary sculptural beadwork

Nico Williams is the winner of the $100,000 2024 Sobey Art Award, Photo: NGC, Ottawa.
 

OTTAWA, Saturday, November 9, 2024 – Nico Williams is the winner of the $100,000 2024 Sobey Art Award, Canada’s richest prize for contemporary visual arts. The announcement was made this evening during an online broadcast of the celebration held at the National Gallery of Canada. The remaining shortlisted artists – Taqralik Partridge, Judy Chartrand, Rhayne Vermette, June Clark, and Mathieu Léger – will each receive $25,000.

The Sobey Art Award recognizes Canadian visual artists at a critical juncture in their careers and whose work reflects upon and speaks of our contemporary moment nationally and globally. Nico Williams ᐅᑌᒥᐣ (Québec) has a multidisciplinary and often collaborative practice that is centred around sculptural beadwork. Williams lives and works in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal, Québec, and is a member of Aamjiwnaang First Nation (Anishinaabe).

“On behalf of the Sobey Art Foundation, our warmest congratulations to Nico Williams, the winner of the 2024 Sobey Art Award,” said Bernard Doucet, Executive Director, The Sobey Art Foundation (SAF). “We would also like thank and congratulate all shortlisted and all longlisted artists from across the country who, for the first year ever, were selected by an all-artist jury, in addition to an international juror. With the addition of Circumpolar as a sixth region, this has been an incredible year for the Sobey Art Award to be able to engage with artists from across the country. With this evolution in our structure, our partner, the NGC has been able to increase representation, and support more incredible Canadian artists in attracting national and international acclaim. Our gratitude goes to the team at the National Gallery of Canada for again providing an important platform to discover Canada’s leading contemporary art voices.”

“The jury felt compelled to recognize the undeniable energy and pertinence of Nico Williams’ approach to contemporary sculptural beadwork that allows us to imagine new possibilities for the medium. His impeccably precise artworks transform everyday objects to the level of the spectacular and weave personal experiences into broadly relatable narratives. Working with and through community, Williams’ practice challenges the persistence of colonial legacies through the surfacing of collective memory and shared nostalgias,” said Jonathan Shaughnessy, Director, Curatorial Initiatives, National Gallery of Canada; and Chair, 2024 Sobey Award Jury.

“It’s with immense gratitude to receive the 2024 Sobey Award. Ten years ago, one of the most influential role models, Nadia Myre, received this prize. I want to send out the same message to all the bush kids out there, we are doing it! Also, I am extremely grateful to all the people who have stood behind my practice since the very beginning! I wouldn’t be where I am today without you! Chi-miigwech!,” said Nico Williams.

This year, Circumpolar was added as a sixth nomination region. Prize money now totals $465,000. Funded by the Sobey Art Foundation, this is the richest award in contemporary visual arts in the country and one of the most generous in the world.

Nico Williams was selected as the winner of the 2024 Sobey Art Award by an independent jury. For the first time ever, the jury was comprised of six Canadian artists, all former Sobey Art Award finalists or winners, with representation from each of the regions, as well as an international juror. They reviewed all nominations and established the long and short lists as well as the winner based on the artists’ respective careers to date.

The 2024 Sobey Art Award jury from West to East: asinnajaq (Circumpolar); Jeremy Shaw (Pacific); Divya Mehra (Prairies); Stephanie Comilang (Ontario); Caroline Monnet (Québec); Mario Doucette (Atlantic); and Zoé Whitley, Director, Chisenhale Gallery, UK (international).

Powerful works by all six finalists are currently on view at the Gallery. Organized by the National Gallery of Canada and the Sobey Art Foundation, the 2024 Sobey Art Award Exhibition runs until April 6, 2025.

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About the Sobey Art Award

The Sobey Art Award (SAA) is Canada’s preeminent prize for Canadian contemporary visual artists. Created in 2002 with funding from the Sobey Art Foundation (SAF), the SAA has helped to propel the careers of artists through financial support and recognition in Canada and beyond. The SAA has been jointly administered by the National Gallery of Canada (NGC) and SAF since 2016.

The past winners of the Sobey Art Award are: Brian Jungen (2002), Jean-Pierre Gauthier (2004), Annie Pootoogook (2006), Michel de Broin (2007), Tim Lee (2008), David Altmejd (2009), Daniel Barrow (2010), Daniel Young and Christian Giroux (2011), Raphaëlle de Groot (2012), Duane Linklater (2013), Nadia Myre (2014), Abbas Akhavan (2015), Jeremy Shaw (2016), Ursula Johnson (2017), Kapwani Kiwanga (2018), Stephanie Comilang (2019), Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory (2021), Divya Mehra (2022) and Kablusiak (2023).

About the Sobey Art Foundation

The Sobey Art Foundation was established in 1981 by the late Frank H. Sobey who was a dedicated collector of Canadian art. The Sobey Art Award was founded in 2002 as privately funded prizes for Canadian contemporary visual artists. The award aims to promote new developments in contemporary visual art and attract national and international attention to Canadian artists.

About the National Gallery of Canada

Ankosé – Everything is Connected – Tout est relié

The National Gallery of Canada (NGC) is dedicated to amplifying voices through art and extending the reach and breadth of its collection, exhibitions program, and public activities to represent all Canadians, while centring Indigenous ways of knowing and being. Ankosé—an Anishinaabemowin word that means “everything is connected”—reflects the Gallery’s mission to create dynamic experiences that open hearts and minds, and allow for new ways of seeing ourselves, one another, and our diverse histories, through the visual arts. NGC is home to a rich contemporary Indigenous international art collection, as well as important collections of historical and contemporary Canadian and European art from the 14th to the 21st century. Founded in 1880, NGC has played a key role in Canadian culture for more than 140 years. For more information, visit gallery.ca.