CASV Emerging Artist's Prize

Opening Reception: Thursday May 31, 2012, 8pm; winner announced at 8:30pm

The Contemporary Art Society of Vancouver (CASV) presents an exhibition of artwork by the five finalists selected for the 2012 CASV Emerging Artist’s Prize, a competition open to artists in the Lower Mainland. This inaugural prize was established to encourage and support artists within the first five years of their careers, and is the only one of its kind in Vancouver selected through an open competition.

The CASV is a not-for-profit membership-based organization founded in 1977 that focuses on promoting an appreciation and understanding of Contemporary Art. Members enjoy studio visits, art trips, and lectures by prominent artists,critics, collectors, designers, architects and fine art professionals from North America and abroad. The $3000 prize is entirely funded by CASV memberships and donations.

Chosen from among 147 applicants, Scott Billings, Jordy Hamilton, Jeremy Hof, Nicole Ondre, and Natalie Purschwitz were selected by a distinguished jury of art professionals: Patrik Andersson (art critic, curator, and Associate Professor,Critical + Cultural Studies, Emily Carr University of Art + Design); Monte Clark (Monte Clark Gallery, Vancouver & Toronto); Makiko Hara (Curator, Centre A); Nigel Prince (Director, Contemporary Art Gallery); and Marina Roy (artist and Associate Professor of Visual Arts, University of British Columbia).

Most of the artists have created new work for the exhibition. Scott Billings’s two-channel video of footage from the television show Law & Order examines the portrayal of criminality and victimhood within crime dramas; Jordy Hamilton’s painting and sculptural furniture question class, cultural capital and avant-garde ambitions; Jeremy Hof’s paintings investigate the objective materiality of the medium and the laboured process of creation; Nicole Ondre’s wall paintings are made from marks printed or transferred between paper and wall; and Natalie Purschwitz’s multi-part installation combines diversematerials to explore notions of shelter, survival, display, and desire.

Scott Billings received his Bachelors of Applied Science from University of Waterloo (2002), a BFA from Emily Carr University (2007), and an MFA from the University of British Columbia (2009). He has had solo exhibitions at TopDown BottomUp, Vancouver (2012) and Communication Space Školská 28 Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic (2010), and has participated in group exhibitions in Vancouver, Seattle, New York, Winnipeg, and China. In 2010 he received a Canada Council Film and Video Creation grant and a British Columbia Arts Council Media Arts Project Assistance Grant.

Jordy Hamilton received a BFA from the University of British Columbia and Emily Carr University (2006) and an MFA from the University of British Columbia (2011). He has had solo exhibitions at The Riddington Room, IKB Learning Centre, Vancouver (2011) and at Board of Directors, Toronto (2010), and has participated in many group exhibitions in Vancouver, including those at the Or Gallery, the Belkin Gallery, the Equinox Gallery, and Black and Yellow.

Jeremy Hof received a BFA from Emily Carr University (2007), a diploma in Fine Arts from Langara College (2005) as well as Diplomas in Digital/Analog Recording Arts and Music. He has had solo exhibitions in Vancouver at Blanket Gallery (2012 & 2009) Eugene Choo (2008), and Helen Pitt Gallery (2006), and has participated in many group exhibitions in Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver. In 2008, he was the national winner of the RBC Canadian Painting Competition and his work included in the exhibition that traveled to galleries across Canada.

Nicole Ondre studied at the Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles (2003), the University of British Columbia (2005-2007), and received a BFA from Emily Carr University (2010). She has had solo exhibitions in Vancouver at CSA Space (2012) and Helen Pitt Gallery (2010), Hunter and Cook Projects, Toronto (2011), and the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, New York (2011). She has participated in group exhibitions in Vancouver, Istanbul, and Los Angeles. In 2011 Ondre and Vanessa Disler opened Exercise, an independent artist-run project space in Vancouver.

Natalie Purschwitz received a BA in Archaeology from the University of Calgary (1993), a BFA from Emily Carr University (2001), and also studied at the Cooper Union, New York. She has created installations for the MacMichael Gallery, Kleinburg, Ontario (2012), WE: Vancouver at the Vancouver Art Gallery (2011), Centre A, Vancouver (2011), and the Japanese Canadian National Museum in Burnaby (2010). She has designed costumes for live productions and art performances in Canada and around the world. She participated in a Canada Council funded international residency in Paris (2012) and was awarded a Carter Wosk BC Creative Achievement Award (2010).