Nico Williams Wins Canada’s Most Coveted Art Prize

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Montreal-based Anishinaabe artist Nico Williams was announced the winner of the 2024 Sobey Art Award in a ceremony held at the National Gallery of Canada in Ontario on Saturday.

Williams said, ‘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!’

Jonathan Shaughnessy, who chaired the Award’s jury, said they ‘felt compelled to recognise 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,’ Shaughnessy continued. ‘Working with and through community, Williams’ practice challenges the persistence of colonial legacies through the surfacing of collective memory and shared nostalgias.’

Also on the jury were six former Sobey Art Award nominees from different regions of Canada—asinnajaq, Jeremy Shaw, Divya Mehra, Stephanie Comilang, Caroline Monnet, and Mario Doucette—along with Zoé Whitley, Director of Chisenhale Gallery.

Williams will receive CAD $100,000, while the other five shortlisted artists—Taqralik Partridge, Judy Chartrand, Rhayne Vermette, June Clark, and Mathieu Léger—will each receive $25,000.

Works by all six finalists are on view in the 2024 Sobey Art Award Exhibition, which continues at the National Gallery of Canada through 6 April, 2025. —[O]

Main image: Nico Williams. Courtesy NGC, Ottawa.