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Features / February 15, 2013

Ian Wallace Provides First-Hand Perspective On His Life & Career

Vancouver Art Gallery January 15, 2013
Artist Ian Wallace at the opening of his Vancouver Art Gallery survey / photo Bake Photography for the VAG Artist Ian Wallace at the opening of his Vancouver Art Gallery survey / photo Bake Photography for the VAG

On January 15, 2013, prominent Canadian artist Ian Wallace presented a lecture at the Vancouver Art Gallery about his life and work. This lecture is now viewable in its entirety by clicking on the Vimeo window below.

Wallace is best known as a founding member of what has come to be recognized as the Vancouver school of photoconceptualism. Through his teaching at the University of British Columbia and other institutions, Wallace was a teacher and mentor to such younger artists as Jeff Wall, Ken Lum, Stan Douglas and Rodney Graham. His work set precedents by blowing up photographs to scales typically associated with history painting, and by uniting these images—documents from the news or the everyday—with minimalist, monochrome painting.

Wallace’s January 15 lecture provided the kickoff to a talks series entitled “Reading Ian Wallace: An International Perspective,” which also consists of conversations between Wallace and art-world figures including Victor Burgin (February 19), Stan Douglas (February 5) and Christine Poggi (January 29). The series has been held in conjunction with the exhibition “Ian Wallace: At the Intersection of Painting and Photography,” on view at the Vancouver Art Gallery until February 24.

Reading Ian Wallace: An International Perspective is a partnership between the Vancouver Art Gallery and the Canadian Art Foundation International Speaker Series. The series is sponsored by BMO Financial Group.