42nd Annual Juried Art Show
Artists: Austin Andru, Noah Bagshaw, Renate Belzing, Micheil Berry, Alex Bray, Mei Chan-Long, Sujesh Chitty, Katelynn Clarey, Alex Close, Lillian Cooke, Samantha David, Sabrina Ebenreth, Holly Edwards, Tommy Feiler, Carlos Fentanes, Aaliyah Frederick, Cindy Gauley, Lisa Graziotto, Isabelle Halmos, Judith Kreps Hawkins, Natalja Heybroek, Janet Hinkle, Shaheer Hoda, Shameer Hoda, Brendan Hodge, Haseung Jung, Norb Lisinski, Liv Lobo, Gladys Lou, Ben Maloney, Moya Mcphail, Kyle Medeiros, Natalie Miller, Jihee Min, Joan Moss, Khadija Oriakhel, Paige Rayne, Laura Recalla, Sharon Recalla, Shammah Salwa, Leequette Santiago, Travis Stedmond, Jacquie Sullivan, Eddie Taylor, Emma Taylor, Caitlin Therrien, Claire Timmins, Olivia Turner, Julija Valdmanis, Sashinisri Venkatachalam, Maryam Zaraimajin
February 3 - May 14, 2024
For over 45 years, the VAC has produced a variety of locally engaged exhibitions and public programmes that offer our community members an opportunity to learn and create through contemporary art. Our Juried Art Exhibition returns this winter, bringing together a collection of artwork from a growing circle of creators from across the Durham Region and Greater Toronto Area.
Following our call to artists in Fall 2023, the VAC received over 190 individual submissions. Narrowing selections from the incredible variety and quality of entries was a great challenge. Originality, artistic ability, and technique were the primary—but not sole—criteria for selecting the final 51 artists. The resulting exhibition showcases numerous artmaking techniques and subject matter from painting, photography, drawing, sculpture, and video art creators. They experiment with our perceptual boundaries and play with material uses of colour, form, and subject matter. The artists’ exciting contributions suspend us in varied states of joy and otherworldly tension—they inspire new horizons for artmaking in Southern Ontario.
The selections are divided into two categories—Adults and Youth. Eight cash prizes will be awarded between these age groups, including six Excellence Prizes selected by jurors and two People’s Choice Awards voted on by the visiting public. All are welcome to attend the exhibition for in-person voting before the Award Reception on Saturday, March 23—at which time all winners will be announced during the evening’s event.
Organized by the Visual Arts Centre of Clarington with the support of Ontario Power Generation.
Awards Reception: March 23, 6 — 9 PM
Adult Awards
Best in Show: $600.00
Excellence Awards: $200.00 x 2
People’s Choice Award: $100.00
Awards:
Youth Awards
Youth Excellence Awards: $200.00 x 3
Youth People’s Choice Award: $100.00
Jurors
From left to right:
Vicky Talwar (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist who draws upon her personal experience as a Hindu Canadian to produce painting, mixed media, performance, and installation artworks. Talwar holds a BFA and MFA in Art, Media, & Design from the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCADU) and a Bachelor of Education from York University. She has exhibited her work nationally and internationally, including Toronto, Canmore, Los Angeles, New York, the United Kingdom, and more. In completing her MFA at OCADU, Talwar exhibited her solo thesis exhibition, Inward Identities, at Latcham Arts Centre. Vicky recently had her solo exhibition, A Path to Totality at Aurora Cultural Centre. She exhibited her solo exhibition, Enlightened Mind at Station Gallery and has also participated in multiple group and solo exhibitions, including Hashtag Gallery (Toronto), Elevation Gallery (Canmore, AB), and The Elaine Fleck Gallery (Toronto). In 2017, she was awarded the Juror’s Award for the Annual Juried Exhibition by Latcham Art Centre. Her work has been acquired in a permanent collection for international display by the Global Affairs Canada Visual Art Collection.
Sean McQuay (he/him) is a graduate of the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design (Halifax) and the student exchange program at the Cooper Union (New York). He is an interdisciplinary artist currently living and working in the Durham Region.As an educator, McQuay was integral in developing Durham College’s first Fine Arts Advanced program—which he currently coordinates. As an artist, he has received various Ontario and Canada Arts Council awards and his works are found in many public and private art collections. McQuay has an abiding interest in pareidolic observation, often manipulating photographic transparencies by flipping, merging and layering to reveal the underlying phantasms hidden within. He takes inspiration from long-distance walks through natural and urban environments in Britain and locally, inspiring new plans to single out and reference these ambiguous ‘found’ images by applying varied paint mediums.
Erin Szikora (she/her) is an emerging curator of Cayuga, Scottish, and Hungarian ancestry. Born and raised in Guelph and currently based in Toronto, she holds a Bachelor of Arts in Art History and Visual Studies from the University of Toronto and a Master of Arts in Contemporary Art, Design, and New Media Art Histories from OCAD University. In 2022, she was awarded the Middlebrook Prize for Young Canadian Curators for her exhibition Homecoming and the Galeries Ontario Galleries Public Program Award for the project Mamanaw Pekiskwewina | Mother Tongues Dish With One Spoon Territory, co-curated by Missy LeBlanc. She currently holds the position of Associate Curator, Exhibitions at The Robert McLaughlin Gallery.
Installation View of Rah Eleh, "Spoiled Milk," Visual Arts Centre of Clarington, 2023.
