The Robert McLaughlin Gallery (RMG), in collaboration with the City of Oshawa, will commission a site-specific sculpture by a Canadian artist in celebration of the City’s participation in the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games.
The sculpture will be installed in the spring of 2015, adjacent to the General Motors Centre (GM Centre), Durham Region’s premier sports and recreation facility, and the venue of the boxing and weightlifting events at next year’s TORONTO 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games.
In this two-stage competition, interested artists or artists’ teams first submitted an Expression of Interest, consisting of a resume, artist’s statement as well as detailed relevant work and experience. From the submissions, the Selection Committee choose four candidates, in early September 2014, who each received a $1,500 honorarium for the production of a project proposal.
The final commission will consist of a $150,000 production budget, which includes all fees, materials, fabrication and installation costs. The cost of the commission will be provided through the gallery’s restricted Acquisitions Endowment. The commission will be awarded by November 10, 2014 with installation set to take place by May 15, 2015.
Short-listed Artists
The selection committee short-listed the following four artists to submit proposals for the commission.
Jaime Angelopoulos
Jaime Angelopoulos received her MFA from York University (2010), and BFA from NSCAD University (2005). She was awarded the Hazelton Sculpture Prize in 2013, as well as artist residencies at Meadows School of the Arts (Dallas, TX) and the Banff Centre for the Arts (Alberta). Angelopoulos has presented solo exhibitions across Canada and in the United States, notably at PARISIAN LAUNDRY (Montreal, QC), YYZ Artist Outlet (Toronto, ON), Cambridge Galleries (Ontario), Stride Gallery (Calgary, AB), among many others. In 2015 Angelopoulos will present two-person exhibitions in Finland and Chicago, as well as an artist residency at KulttuuriKauppila Art Centre in Finland. Visit artist’s website.
Marman & Borins
Jennifer Marman and Daniel Borins have practised sculpture, installation and media art in Toronto since 2000. Jennifer Marman is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario. Daniel Borins is a graduate of McGill University. Both Marman and Borins are also graduates of the Ontario College of Art and Design.
The work of Marman and Borins is often intervention based – situating the visual arts within the context of everyday life, while simultaneously referring to aspects of the history of twentieth century art. Their projects identify tensions that arise in the politicization, historicization, and visuality of the artwork, often within the context of mass visual language, mass media, consumerism, and with an eye toward revisionism upon certain issues pertaining to the historicization of twentieth century art. Visit the artists’ website.
Noel Harding
As an artist, Noel Harding produced video art in the 70’s, video projection and installation in the 80’s, kinetic installations and sculpture as theatre in the 90’s. His work for the last 20 years is in public art where landscape and environment are paramount. In general, his work is an engagement in public urban realities: planning, envisioning, and mapping. He has exhibited and lectured internationally and his work is included in collections at the Vancouver Art Gallery, the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the City of Amsterdam and the Hara Museum, Tokyo.
Maha Mustafa
Maha Mustafa is a Swedish-Iraqi sculptor and installation artist living and working between Sweden and Canada. She has exhibited internationally and engages various audiences and contexts of contemporary art. She has participated in numerous exhibitions and projects in museums and art galleries throughout Europe, North America, and Asia – including Mori Art Museum in Tokyo Japan, Al Sharjah Biennial of UAE, Malmoe Museum in Sweden, and MAI (Montreal Arts Intercultural) Gallery in Montreal, Canada. With her commissioned public art works, she pushes the relationship between public spaces and art.
