REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN.- The Sobey Art Award is Canada’s pre-eminent prize for a young Canadian artist.funded by the Sobey Art Foundation,it is awarded every two years to an artist 39 or younger who has shown their work in a public or commercial art gallery in Canada in the past 18 months. The winner of the award receives $50,000.

A panel of curatorial advisors, consisting of a representative from a major gallery in each of five regions (Atlantic,Quebec,Ontario,Prairies and the North,and West Coast),develops the shortlist.Each advisor creates a list of five artists working in the region.The curatorial panel then meets and chooses one representative from each region to be included on the national shortlist.The panel then chooses the winner.

2004 Winner:Jean-Pierre Gauthier (Quebec) Jean-Pierre Gauthier received the 2004 award for his kinetic sculptures about competition that contain a touch of irony and tenderness. He obtained a Master of Fine Art from the Université du Québec à Montreal in 1995.Jean-Pierre is represented by Jack Shainman Gallery in New York, NY.

2004 Viewers’ Choice: Marcel Dzama (Prairies and the North) Marcel Dzama received a Bachelor of Fine Art with honours in 1997 from the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg. Marcel is represented by David Zwirner, New York, NY.

Althea Thauberger (West Coast) Althea Thauberger completed her Master of Fine Art at the University of Victoria in British Columbia in 2002. Althea has had work represented by Tracey Lawrence Gallery in Vancouver, BC and Susan Hobbs Gallery in Toronto, ON.

Germaine Koh (Ontario) Germaine Koh received a Master of Fine Art degree from Hunter College of City University of New York in 1993.Germaine is represented by Catriona Jeffries Gallery, Vancouver, BC.

Greg Forrest (Atlantic) Greg Forrest received a Master of Fine Art from NSCAD University in 1995.He was one of the founders of the Khyber Arts Society, has taught sculpture at the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design and worked many years at the St. Mary’s University Art Gallery.