2013 Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts

His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, came back just in time from his visit to the Holy See in Rome for the official photo with the 2013 laureates of the Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts.

Mrs. Chantal Pontbriand, exhibitions and events curator, art critic (Outstanding Contribution): She truly does seem to be everywhere at once. The extent of her publications, lectures, seminars, organization of festivals, contemporary art events and exhibitions, in terms of sheer numbers and scope, is astounding. A remarkable art critic and events curator, she has broken new ground in critical discourse, opened the way for new practices and contributed to the advancement of research in the art world. Her expertise is acknowledged internationally in the visual arts, museology and dance.

Mrs. Colette Whiten, sculpture installations artist: For almost 40 years, she has quietly and powerfully challenged gender dynamics, political power and mass media imagery. Her works—whether they are large, cast-wooden sculptures, tiny needlepoints or beaded curtains—reveal the vulnerability and strength of the human body and spirit.

Mr. Gordon Monahan, sound artist and composer: In his hands, everyday objects become instruments, conventional instruments create surprising new sounds, and elements in nature take on the role of the musician. Over his 34-year career, this music and sound art innovator has used his background in science, music and contemporary art to create installations and performances that redefine sounds in ways we may have never heard before: long piano wires resonate using unconventional techniques; speakers are reconstructed to become instruments; and the piano is redefined as a mechanical machine that can emulate synthetic sound ... to name a few.

Mr. William D. MacGillivray, filmmaker and director: He is fiercely independent. His nonconformity finds expression in his eclectic approach to filmmaking, in his extraordinarily intelligent writing, and in the intuitive and sensitive way he directs his actors. Deceptively simple in its complexity, Mr. MacGillivray’s work explores themes of identity in personal, cultural and national terms. His universe defines and enriches the filmmaking of Atlantic Canada. His feature films, series and documentaries have been described as feminist, minimalist and much more. But while his work is open to multiple interpretations, critics are unanimous in considering him one of Canada’s most important filmmakers.

Mrs. Rebecca Bellmore, visual artist: Her disarmingly elegant works represent and engage the resistance of Indigenous peoples. Her performances, sculptures, videos, photographs and installations evoke the connections between bodies, land and language, and the violence that colonialism has enacted upon them. Whether a vigil for missing women in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside or a photograph of a deep scar healed and adorned with beads, her work is imbued with ritual that plays out on the body, on the land and in the elements.

Mr. Marcel Barbeau, painter and sculptor: He personifies the Refus global in his refusal to be categorized and classified. In order to understand where his work is coming from, we must—like the artist himself, who has travelled and created on several continents—be everywhere and nowhere at once, at the juncture where the refusal to conform allows for absolute freedom of creative expression. His paintings and sculptures, along with the music and dance that have accompanied them, are all dictated by the constant of change. They are attuned to the evolution of the culture and society. Highly experimental in its expression, the work of this great artist is a powerful testimony to the necessity and the sheer pleasure of creation. The art of Marcel Barbeau is that of a man in perpetual motion.

Mr. Joseph Rotman, Chair of the Canada Council for the Arts, joined by Mr. Simon Brault, Vice-Chair of the Canada Council for the Arts, delivered a speech on this occasion.

The prizes are funded, administered and promoted by the Canada Council for the Arts. The awards also include the Saidye Bronfman Award for excellence in the fine crafts, as well as a prize for outstanding contributions to the visual and/or media arts in a volunteer or professional capacity. Each laureate receives $25,000 and a bronze medallion.

On behalf of His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, the Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin, Chief Justice of Canada, presented the 2013 Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts, during a ceremony at Rideau Hall, on March 20, 2013.

The Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts are Canada’s foremost awards for excellence in these artistic disciplines. The prizes are awarded annually to visual and media artists for distinguished career achievement in visual arts, architecture, independent film and video, or audio and new media.

Mr. Greg Payce, artist-potter (Saidye Bronfman Award): Alive with history, movement and possibility, his vessels become animated before our eyes. Processions of figures emerge from negative space, projections of vibrant patterns dance across porcelain surfaces, holographic-like photos pulse with dimension. Running through all of his work is an hommage to the craft masters of past eras.