Andi Icaza-Largaespada wins 2017 CAG Prize
Congratulations to BFA grad Andi Icaza-Largaespada for winning the second CAG Prize. Icaza-Largaespada won for her work uninvited-guest (photographic installation, sourced image, performance). Here's how the project is introduced in the exhibition brochure for Lazy Susan, the BFA graduating exhibition:
What does it mean to be able to sit down and read? To sit comfortably, and to occupy space leisurely?
In the lobby of a building that hosts the headquarters of B2Gold Corporation on unceded Coast Salish Territories, sits a masked woman reading a book about borderlands. The balaclava made of sequins shines golden on some parts, while reflecting light and its surroundings on others. The woman wonders if it’s possible to individually embody (a resistance towards) a global context of expansion, resource extraction, and occupation.
Andi Icaza-Largaespada mobilizes a photographic practice—of image-reading and image-making—to suggest a continuation between symbolic and subversive acts of resistance. The project incorporates a process of surveying, learning, and material elaboration. This results in the spatial distribution of illuminating visual interventions within the Audain Gallery and Goldcorp Centre for the Arts. Through her work, Icaza-Largaespada seeks to honour the emancipating labour of the women of Mina El Limon, Rancho Grande, and Nueva Guinea in Nicaragua; instances of growing localized efforts working on alternative community-building. The photographic and performative operation is indebted to many, amongst them Gloria Anzaldúa, Andi’s mother, and Rachelle.
And here's how the CAG describe the prize: "Generously sponsored by the Peter Szeto Investment Group | BMO Nesbitt Burns, the CAG prize includes an award of $2,500, a solo presentation at CAG, career advice and a gift certificate from the CAG bookshop."
Check out Icaza-Largaespada's work in Lazy Susan: BFA Graduating Exhibition in the Audain Gallery now. But hurry: the exhibition closes April 22! Also check our her website: andicaza.com.
