Artist Daniel Barrow has just won the $50,000 Sobey Art Award for young contemporary artists, and he’s done it using the outdated technology of the overhead projector. Barrow, who was born in Winnipeg, now lives in Montreal, where he creates surrealist images that he projects and then accompanies with music and storytelling. Barrow uses an overhead projector, a relic of the 1980s high school classroom, to create “virtuoso performances [that] awaken a sense of empathy in the viewer,” according to the award’s judges. He was a finalist for the Sobey Award in 2008, but this is his first win.
Lucky for us, Barrow’s work will be showing here in Toronto starting this Saturday. His exhibition, Good Gets Better, will be on display at Jessica Bradley Art and Projects, from November 20 to December 23. The showcase will include more than 25 drawings and a new projection piece, and there will be an opening reception this Saturday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Any excuse you had for not getting cultured this weekend just flew out the window. You’re welcome.
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