Steven Shearer wins Audain Prize, one of Canada’s top art awards
The Vancouver-based painter and photoconceptualist will receive $71,000
Steven Shearer, a multi-disciplinary artist based in Vancouver, has been awarded the 2026 Audain Prize, one of Canada's top visual arts honors. The prestigious award, established in 2004 by collector and philanthropist Michael Audain, comes with a C$100,000 ($71,000) cash prize. This is the 23rd year the prize has been awarded.
The Vancouver-based artist is renowned for his otherworldly and fantastical portrait paintings and photoconceptualism-influenced images of Generation X-era youth. Shearer's work combines art historical references with contemporary iconography, creating a unique blend of canonical and youth culture.
At the award ceremony held in the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, Shearer was lauded for his "remarkable career marked by unrelenting artistic achievement." His acceptance speech focused on the importance of painting in his artistic process, viewing it as the culmination of his work and a means of building a world for his subject matter.
Shearer credited his mother and uncle for inspiring his artistic journey, with both having studied at institutions relevant to his early education. With the prize money, Shearer plans to reinvest in his expanding studio where he is currently working on a series of "mystery portraits" created through his imagination and aided by new body-scanning technology.
The Audain Prize aims to elevate artists from British Columbia, with past recipients including notable figures such as Brian Jungen, Rebecca Belmore, Dana Claxton, Ian Wallace, and James Hart. The museum, owned by the Audain Art Museum in Whistler, British Columbia, continues to house works by past prize-winners, including Shearer's own paintings.
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