Diane Morin, recipient of Contemporary Art Award | Photo credit: Diane Morin
The Contemporary Art Award comes with a $10,000 grant, while the MNBAQ will purchase up to $50,000 of Morin’s work and feature it in a solo exhibit. A publication of her works will be issued after the exhibition, placing the total value of her award at $100,000.
“Not only am I the award’s first winner, the combination of the grant, solo exhibition and publication make it a truly unique prize,” says Morin. “This is a big achievement for me. I don’t make art with the intent of winning awards, but when it happens it’s great.”
On her technology-themed installations, Morin says: “I’m interested in understanding technology better and putting technology in connection with a variety of different things to enhance that understanding.”
Morin fondly recalls her Concordia education. “It was amazing — all the teachers were really supportive. I produced a lot of artwork while I was there,” says Morin.
Morin is also winner of the Canada Council for the Arts 2011 Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award for extraordinary achievement by a mid-career artist.
Also in February, Morin was awarded the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec's work of the year for the Montreal region for her piece Imbrication (machine à reduire le temps). The prize came with a $5,000 award.
Morin’s solo exhibition will appear at the MNBAQ in spring 2015; the publication will soon follow.