James Hart (courtesy Simon Fraser University)
James Hart, hereditary chief of the Eagle Clan of the Haida Nation, has won the $100,000 Audain Prize for visual art.
“It is a real honour to make this award to one of B.C.’s greatest living artists – Jim Hart,” Michael Audain, chairman of the Audain Foundation, said Monday.
Hart comes from a long line of artists, including his great-great-grandfather Charles Edenshaw. He apprenticed with artist Robert Davidson in the 1970s and worked with Bill Reid from 1980 to 1984. He is a carver, jeweller and printer who also pioneered the use of bronze in Haida sculpture. Hart, whose work can be found internationally, was awarded the Order of British Columbia in 2003.
The Audain Foundation also announced $7,500 travel grants for five B.C. university students in visual arts programs. This year’s recipients are Pip Dryden, from the University of British Columbia Okanagan; Carly Greene, from the University of Victoria; Erick Jantzen, from Emily Carr University of Art and Design; Homa Khosravi, from Simon Fraser University; and Romi Kim, from UBC.
The Audain Prize was established in 2004 to support British Columbian artists. Past prize recipients include Ann Kipling, Edward J. Hughes, Eric Metcalfe, Gordon Smith, Jeff Wall, Liz Magor, Robert Davidson, Rodney Graham, Marian Penner Bancroft, Takao Tanabe, Gathie Falk, Fred Herzog, Michael Morris, Paul Wong, Carole Itter, Susan Point and Stan Douglas.
Source: Audain Prize