The RBC Canadian Painting Competition 2008

Helping to discover Canada’s next generation of painting talents.

In 2008, the RBC Canadian Painting Competition celebrated its 10th anniversary with the patronage of Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada.

The national winner and two honourable mentions were announced by the Governor General at a reception at the National Gallery, in Ottawa. The paintings of the 15 finalists were then featured in public exhibitions across the country; Montreal, St. John’s, London, Toronto, Saskatoon, Edmonton and Vancouver.

The national winner and two honourable mentions for 2008 were:

National Winner

Jeremy Hof, Vancouver

LAYER PAINTING RED
Acrylic/latex paint and plaster on panel
30” x 30”
April 2008

Jeremy Hof aims to produce fresh alternatives to traditional paintings, informed by his own understanding and observation of contemporary art. In particular, he is interested in painting’s relationship with minimalist sculpture and o-art. His structured, labour intensive process often incorporates a mathematical or algorithmic approach and use of layering. In layer painting red, optical sensations or effects draw the viewer in, but the detail it possesses can only be understood by close inspection and it is only at close range that the painting reveals its depth. What appeared to be a two-dimensional surface reveals itself to be a three-dimensional, layered structure, confounding our understanding of what a traditional painting is. “I believe it is very important,” Hof writes, “to be challenging traditions in the pursuit of unfamiliar approaches and outcomes for painting.”

Honourable Mentions

Amanda Reeves, Toronto

UNTITLED 03 2008
Acrylic on board
48”x48”
April 2008

Through her painting, Amanda Reeves aims to create an immersive colour experience using controlled shape elements on a solid matte ground. In Untitled 03, colours are mixed and layered intuitively, with each circle painted in response to the others. Tonal shifts and varying sizes create overlapping layers of space, and the circles appear to both emerge from and recede into the picture plane. An interesting perceptual phenomenon results – as the eye moves around the painting, the circles appear as echoes or shadows of one another and after-images begin to multiply, creating a dynamic sense of movement. “Ghost circles slide in and out of the peripheral vision of the viewer,” Reeves explains, “increasing the layering and complexity of the painting, and intensifying the perceptual experience.”

Wil Murray, Montreal

SEXE MANIAC MANIAC MANIAC MANIAC MANIAC
Acrylic & Foam on board
66” x 52
February 2008

Will Murray’s practice addresses the intersection of accidents and chance with what he calls the staggeringly intentional process of painting. His inventory of marks is vast, comprising a myriad of traditional brushstrokes and marks that escape from the picture plane, including accretions of foam and draped skins of paint. Sexe Maniac Maniac Maniac Maniac Maniac, with its built up sculptural elements, threatens to explode into space. Yet it maintains a tenuous link with what we would normally call a painting, clinging to the defining and “seductive flat back, pressed against a wall.” Murray expresses a desire to “confuse the creation narrative” of his paintings. Here, he has re-painted the green masking tape where it was applied to mask the blue foam balls, so that the work reflexively acknowledges its own making.

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Painting image in the web banner is courtesy of Ben Reeves. 2001 Winner