Vancouver artist Kriss Munsya wins Salt Spring National Art Prize
Dreams Tonite. Highway Reflection - The Eraser speaks to his personal experiences with discrimination and trauma as a Black man
Kriss Munsya, Dreams Tonite. Highway Reflection - The Eraser, 2020.
KRISS MUNSYA HAS been named the 2021 recipient of the Salt Spring Prize – The Joan McConnell Award for Dream Tonite. Highway Reflection, The Eraser, Edition 3 of 3 (2020). The work speaks to the trials and tribulations of race, gender, and identity and to his personal experiences with discrimination and trauma as a Black man.
Originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Munsya is a graphic designer, photographer, and film maker who was raised in Brussels and now lives in Vancouver.
“I’ve been doing my art practice for a few years and I lost a lot of friends because I was approaching some topics about racism,” Munsya says in a release. “Being someone that is discriminated against and making art makes me a kind of activist. People may not understand that being an activist is not always about being on the front lines. Sometimes, being an activist can be about buying art or producing art or making art possible, or organizing art exhibitions. So in fact, we can all be activists.”
Munsya’s first solo exhibition was at Pendulum Gallery earlier this year. The Eraser—Escaping the Future is currently running until November 14 at Mónica Reyes Gallery, which now represents him.
As one of Canada’s largest visual arts competitions, SSNAP is open to emerging and established artists who submit works directly into a national juried art show where only their art and a short artist statement are judged. In taking home the top prize, Munsya receives $20,000 ($15,000 and a $5,000 Salt Spring artist residency), donated by Joan McConnell.
The 2021 competition received more than 2,750 works submitted from across the country, a 40 percent increase for the biennial event, now in its fourth edition. This year, 10 awards totalling $41,000 were given out.
The Salt Spring Island National Art Prize Award Winners Exhibition will take place January 12 to February 12 at the Victoria Arts Council and February 14 to March 11 at Vancouver’s Pendulum Gallery.
For the complete list of winners, see SSNAP.
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