Art in Print Award Winner
Briar Craig (b. 1961, Toronto; lives in Kelowna, British Columbia) has a BFA from Queen’s University, Kensington, Canada and an MFA from University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. He is Professor in Visual Arts at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan, Canada. He has exhibited extensively at venues in Asia, Europe and North America, including but not limited to the Opalka Gallery, Sage College of Albany and Highpoint Center for Printmaking, Minneapolis as well as the Alberta Printmakers’ Society, Calgary; FAB Gallery, University of Alberta; Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax, Nova Scotia; The Print Studio, Hamilton, Ontario; Malaspina Printmakers Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia; and Vernon Public Art Gallery, British Columbia, all Canada as well as International Centre for Graphic Arts, Krakow, Poland; Museu de Lamego, Portugal; and Vedant Art Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria. He was a Semifinalist and BOMB Magazine Award Winner in the 91st ANNUAL International Competition at The Print Center, Philadelphia. His work is in the collection at the Burnaby Art Gallery, British Columbia, Canada; University of Canterbury, New Zealand; Art Museum of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj, Romania; Shaghaf Group, Dubai, UAE; Alberta Foundation for the Arts and the Art Gallery of Alberta, both Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Guanlan International Print Biennial, China; Kelowna Art Gallery, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada; Istanbul Museum of Graphic Arts, Turkey; International Print Triennial Association, Krakow, Poland; Penang State Art Gallery, Malaysia; Museum of Kozara, Prijedor, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Museum of Contemporary Art, Split, Croatia; NBC Inc., Tokyo, Japan; Japan Print Association, Yokoham; and Purdue University Galleries, West Lafayette, IN.
Statement from the Artist:
My role as an artist is largely that of an editor. I choose, edit, juxtapose and present images and texts, which are compilations of the things I see and record in my daily life. Taking as my starting point Roland Barthes’ ideas of the death of the author, I play with the theory that we are all the authors of the works we see. As a foundational form of mass communication, printmaking is ideally suited as a means to further explore the idea of messages and messaging in 21st century society.