Brian Jungen

2025 Audain Prize for the Visual Arts

Born in 1970 to a farming family north of Fort St. John, British Columbia, and a graduate of Emily Carr College of Art and Design, Brian Jungen is a contemporary sculptural artist living in the traditional territory of the Dane-Zaa Nation. Jungen’s mother was a member of the Dane-zaa Nation, and his father was of Swiss origin. He has lived in prominent international cities including Montreal, New York City, and Vancouver, and now resides within Treaty 8 in northern B.C.

A pivotal moment in his international career was the development of Prototypes for New Understanding (1998-2005), a series of sculptures which began during Jungen’s residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Alberta. Through the series, Jungen introduced the manipulation of Nike Air Jordan sneakers, evoking an exceptional similarity to visual identities of Northwest Coast Indigenous artistry, including masks and drums. While disassembling and reassembling commodified objects, Jungen endeavours to preserve some of the structural integrity of the source material to inspire thoughtful consideration of the social constructs behind these objects.

Recent solo-exhibitions include Prospect New Orleans (2024); Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2021); Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville (2022, 2018); Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto (2019, 2011); Henry Art Gallery, Seattle (2017); Kunstverein Hannover, Germany (2013); Bonner Kunstverein, Germany (2013); dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel, (2012); National Museum of the American Indian, Washington (2009); Museum Villa Stuck, Munich (2007); Tate Modern, London (2006); Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (2006); Vancouver Art Gallery (2006); Witte de With, Rotterdam (2006); and New Museum, New York (2005).

Jungen’s work has been included in recent group exhibitions at SFMOMA, San Francisco (2024); Toronto Biennial of Art (2022); Manif d’Art Quebec City Biennial (2022); National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (2022, 2017, 2013); FOR-SITE Foundation, San Francisco (2021); Copenhagen Contemporary (2021); Remai Modern, Saskatoon (2020); Liverpool Biennial (2018); Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe (2017); De Paul Art Museum, Chicago (2016); La Biennale de Montréal (2016); and the 9th Shanghai Biennale (2012). In 2002, he won the inaugural Sobey Art Award and the Gershon Iskowitz Prize in 2010.

His large-scale bronze sculpture, Couch Monster: Sadzěʔ yaaghęhch’ill (2022), is the first-ever public art commission by the Art Gallery of Ontario.