This morning at the AGO, it was announced that Ian Carr-Harris, Aganetha Dyck, R. Bruce Elder, Murray Favro, Fernand Leduc and Daphne Odjig will all recieve the Governor General’s 2007 Award for artistic achievement.

Ian Carr-Harris

IAN CARR-HARRIS is well known in artistic circles for his sculptures, site-specific installations, photography and more recently, illuminated books. Carr-Harris represented Canada at the 1984 Venice Biennale, at Documenta 8 in Kassel in 1987, and at the Sydney Biennale in 1990. Since 1975, he has taught sculpture and installation at the Ontario College of Art and Design.
His work is represented by the Susan Hobbs Gallery in Toronto.

Aganetha Dyck

VoCA first encountered AGANETHA DYCK’s marvellous photographs of the insides of beehives at DeLeon White Gallery in Toronto a few summers ago. Born in Winnipeg and raised in a rural Manitoba community, her sculptural installation and mixed media work is rooted in her Mennonite background, her interest in everyday objects and the notion of women’s work.
The Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts is her second major award this year: she was recently named the fifth recipient of the Manitoba Arts Council’s annual Arts Award of Distinction. Aganetha Dyck lives in Winnipeg.
Her work is represented by the Michael Gibson Gallery in London, Ontario.

Bruce Elder

BRUCE ELDER has been described by New York filmmaker and critic Jonas Meklas as “the most important North American avant-garde filmmaker to emerge during the 1980s.” Elder combines images, music and text to create works that reflect his interest in philosophy, technology, science, spirituality and the human body. His first major film cycle (20 films), The Book of All the Dead, inspired by Dante Alighieri’s Commedia and Ezra Pound’s Cantos, grew out of his preoccupation with the horrors of modernity, its faith in progress and the loss of a sense of what is good and evil. His current film cycle, The Book of Praise, makes extensive use of computer-image generation, highlighting his fascination with mathematics and digital technology.
More information on Elder is available at The Film Reference Library

Murray Favro

MURRAY FAVRO’s multi-disciplinary practice has yielded a significant body of work that includes including drawing, sculpture, performance and installation, often incorporating slide and film projections, lighting effects, computer and electronic technology. Favro is also well known as a founding member of the Nihilist Spasm Band, which was crucial to the development of his artistic approach.
Murray Favro’s work is represented by the Christopher Cutts Gallery in Toronto.

Fernand Leduc

Abstract painter FERNAND LEDUC has been a major figure in Quebec’s contemporary art scene since the 1940s, when he played a major role in the formation of the group of dissident artists known as the Automatistes. In 1988, he was awarded the Prix Paul-Emile Borduas, Quebec’s highest honour in the visual arts.
Read more about Fernand Leduc here.

Daphne Odjig

DAPHNE ODJIG is one of Canada’s most celebrated Aboriginal painters and printmakers. Odjig’s style, which underwent several developments and adaptations from decade to decade, mixes traditional Aboriginal styles and imagery with Cubist and Surrealist influences. Her work has addressed issues of colonization, the displacement of Aboriginal peoples, and the status of Aboriginal women and children, bringing Aboriginal political issues to the forefront of contemporary art practices and theory.
Read more about Daphne Odjig here.