U.S.-Canadian artist Tim Whiten, seen in an undated handout photo, is the winner of the $75,000 Gershon Iskowitz Prize at the Art Gallery of Ontario. The annual award recognizes an artist who has made outstanding contribution to Canadian visual arts. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Gershon Iskowitz Foundation, Mehraban Mehrabani, *MANDATORY CREDIT*
TORONTO – U.S.-Canadian artist Tim Whiten has won the $75,000 Gershon Iskowitz Prize at the Art Gallery of Ontario.
As part of the 2022 prize, Whiten will get a solo exhibition at the Toronto gallery in 2025.
The annual award is presented by the Gershon Iskowitz Foundation in partnership with the AGO and recognizes an artist who has made an outstanding contribution to Canadian visual arts.
The foundation lauded Whiten for drawings, sculptures, performances and installations “that unite the spiritual, emotional, intellectual and material realms.”
Born in Michigan in 1941, Whiten moved to Toronto in 1968 after completing military service and taught at York University where he was a founding member of the school’s Department of Visual Arts.
The Gershon Iskowitz Foundation is a private charitable foundation established in 1986 through painter Gershon Iskowitz (1921 ““ 1988).
Organizers say the prize is unique in that candidates don’t apply, nor are they nominated. Winners are chosen by juries composed of trustees of the foundation and invited artists and curators.
Faye HeavyShield received the 2021 Gershom Iskowitz Prize, and the AGO will host a solo exhibition of her work in early 2024.
Whiten retired from full-time teaching at York University in 2007 and currently holds the status of professor emeritus.
Selected solo exhibitions include the Art Gallery of Hamilton (2010), the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, Waterloo (2006), Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts, Montreal (1998), and the Koffler Gallery.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 2, 2023.
