Sculptor Brian Jungen wins top Canadian art prize

"In the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver's historic Pacific ballroom on Friday (26 September), the C$100,00 ($71,700) prize-one of Canada's highest honours in the arts-was awarded to Jungen in a ceremony that managed to be at once both colonial and decolonial. A bagpiper ushered in the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, Wendy Cocchia, to the tune of Jerusalem. As guests dined on Pacific salmon under ornate chandeliers, a Native elder performed a traditional Coast Salish welcome."

"Jungen, an artist of mixed Dane-Zaa First Nations and Swiss ancestry, creates inventive sculptural amalgamations of Nike sneakers, sports uniforms, plastic furniture and containers, and other mass-produced objects. Often evoking visceral connections to traditional Indigenous artistry, including masks, drums and animals, his multidisciplinary practice challenges, explores and creates dialogue between Indigenous and settler cultures, examining the complexities of appropriation and cultural identity in a globalised world. He previously won the inaugural edition of the Sobey Art Award (in 2002) and the 2010 Gershon Iskowitz Prize."

The 2025 Audain Prize for the Visual Arts (C$100,000) was awarded on 26 September at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver's Pacific ballroom. The ceremony combined colonial and decolonial elements: a bagpiper ushered in the Lieutenant Governor to the tune of Jerusalem, guests dined on Pacific salmon under ornate chandeliers, and a Native elder performed a traditional Coast Salish welcome. Brian Jungen, of mixed Dane-Zaa First Nations and Swiss ancestry, creates sculptural amalgamations from Nike sneakers, sports uniforms, plastic furniture and other mass-produced objects. His work evokes traditional Indigenous forms while interrogating appropriation and cultural identity. The prize is presented annually by the Audain Art Museum and was selected by an independent committee. The ballroom included many past winners, and jury praise called his work imaginative, unpredictable and hauntingly evocative.

Read at The Art Newspaper - International art news and events