Vancouver School

The Vancouver School of conceptual [ [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/09/DDV3U9I6U.DTL Photography with an eye for social relevance ] ] or post-conceptual [ [http://www.akimbo.biz/akimblog/?id=68 AKIMBO [Akimblog ] ] photography (often referred to as photoconceptualism [Sarah Milroy "Is Arden our next greatest photographer?" "Globe and Mail" (Oct. 27, 2007): R1.] )is a loose term applied to a grouping of artists from Vancouver starting in the 1980s. [ [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/09/DDV3U9I6U.DTL Photography with an eye for social relevance ] ] Critics and curators began writing about artists reacting to both older conceptual art practices and mass media by countering with "photographs of high intensity and complex content that probed, obliquely or directly, the social force of imagery." [ [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/09/DDV3U9I6U.DTL Photography with an eye for social relevance ] ] No formal "school" exists and the grouping remains both informal and often controversial [Marsha Lederman "Behind the Lens: The Vancouver School Debate" "Globe and Mail" (Oct. 20, 2007): R13.] even amongst the artists themselves, who often resist the term. [Marsha Lederman "Behind the Lens: The Vancouver School Debate" "Globe and Mail" (Oct. 20, 2007): R13.] Artists associated with the term include Jeff Wall, Ian Wallace, Ken Lum, Roy Arden [Sarah Milroy "Is Arden our next greatest photographer?" "Globe and Mail" (Oct. 27, 2007): R1.] , Stan Douglas and Rodney Graham. [ [http://www.e-flux.com/shows/view/2452 Intertidal: Vancouver Art & Artists / E-Flux ] ]

History

In the early 1980s an attempt at what William Wood refers to as a "re-branding" of Vancouver [# "The Insufficiency of the World." "INTERTIDAL: Vancouver Art and Artists". Eds. Dieter Roelstrate and Scott Watson. Antwerp: Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen, 2005. 66.] and a desire for a larger recognition within Canada and internationally. [Melanie O'Brian. "Introduction: Specious Speculation." "Vancouver Art & Economies". Ed. Melanie O'Brian. Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2007. 21.] This re-branding culminated in Expo '86 in Vancouver. [Melanie O'Brian. "Introduction: Specious Speculation." "Vancouver Art & Economies". Ed. Melanie O'Brian. Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2007. 21.] Within this period of growth and international recognition, a number of artists have been critically positioned within a context of a style specific to Vancouver [Melanie O'Brian. "Introduction: Specious Speculation." "Vancouver Art & Economies". Ed. Melanie O'Brian. Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2007. 22.] and under the Vancouver School label. Coined by French art historian Jean-François Chevrier [Melanie O'Brian. "Introduction: Specious Speculation." "Vancouver Art & Economies". Ed. Melanie O'Brian. Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2007. 22.] [http://www.canadianarchitect.com/issues/ISarticle.asp?id=74408&issue=09272007&ref=rss "Canadian Architect." (Sept. 2007)] , the Vancouver School designation functioned to present Vancouver art to the larger international market. [Melanie O'Brian. "Introduction: Specious Speculation." "Vancouver Art & Economies". Ed. Melanie O'Brian. Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2007. 22.]

Key works

References

Further reading

*O'Brian, Melanie, ed. "Vancouver Art & Economies". Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2007. ISBN 978-1551522142
*Rhodes, Richard. "Newsmakers: The Vancouver School." "Canadian Art" Vol. 21, No. 3 (Fall 2004): 49.
*Roelstrate, Dieter and Scott Watson, eds."INTERTIDAL: Vancouver Art and Artists". Antwerp: Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen, 2005. ISBN 0-88865-785-4

External links

* [http://www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/collection_and_research/permanent_collection.html The Vancouver School in the permanent collection at Vancouver Art Gallery]
* [http://www.muhka.be/toont_beeldende_kunst_detail.php?la=en&id=250&subbase=archief&jaartal=2005 Vancouver artists at Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen Antwerp, Belgium]
* [http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/2007/jeffwall/ Jeff Wall at Museum of Modern Art]
* [http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/jeffwall/ Jeff Wall at Tate Modern]