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Theodore Wan, Bridine Scrub (For General Surgery) (1977), silver gelatin print [Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton AB, Jun 25-Sep 25] Collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver Art Gallery Acquisition Fund
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Traffic: Conceptual Art in Canada examines the practice of conceptual artists from coast to coast between 1965-1980, including noted American artists who came to Canada to make work. Aptly described in Canadian Art, the exhibit “schools attendees in our nation’s diverse approaches to this pervasive international art movement.”
This major undertaking presents artwork in a range of media by over 70 artists. Many of them – like Vito Acconci, Ian Carr-Harris, Greg Curnoe, Rodney Graham, Donald Judd, Sol LeWitt, N.E. Thing Co., Dennis Oppenheim, Michael Snow and Jeff Wall – have been internationally recognized. Traffic also highlights the work of many of the movement’s most energetic institutions, the artist-run centres.
The conceptual art movement was spawned by the activist changes of the 1960s and supported by rapid developments in technology. Practitioners eschew notions of art as a skill, talent, or a vehicle for formalist concerns, and propose that the expression of an idea about art is sufficient for art to have taken place. In many cases, conceptual art takes the form of writing about art practice or theory, rather than a visual product.
Traffic is jointly curated by Grant Arnold (Vancouver Art Gallery), Catherine Crowston (Art Gallery of Alberta), Barbara Fischer (Justina M. Barnicke Gallery), Michèle Thériault with Vincent Bonin (Concordia, Montréal), and Jayne Wark (NSCAD). It is being organized and circulated by the Art Gallery of Alberta, the Justina M. Barnicke Gallery and the Vancouver Art Gallery in partnership with the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery (Concordia University) and Halifax, Ink.
www.youraga.ca
