Ian Wallace (photo by Lincoln Clarkes)
Ian Wallace has been awarded this year's $100,000 Audain Prize for Visual Art, one of British Columbia's top art awards.
The Vancouver-based artist and educator is one of the founders of the Vancouver school of photo-conceptualism and has exhibited internationally. His work investigates the relationship between photography and painting, with a focus on cinematic and literary narratives.
In announcing the award, Michael Audain, chairman of the Audain Foundation, called Wallace "one of B.C.'s greatest living artists."
"It’s really great to be on the list," said Wallace. "To follow in the footsteps of the artists that have already received the prize."
Wallace, born in Britain in 1943, taught at what is now Emily Carr University from 1972 to 1998 after earning a master’s degree in art history from the University of British Columbia.
He has received numerous honours, including a 2004 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts. In 2013, he was appointed Officer of the Order of Canada and received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. The following year, he was awarded the Chevalier de L’Ordre des Artes et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture.
He has had solo shows at numerous Canadian institutions, including the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, the Vancouver Art Gallery and the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery in Toronto.
The Audain Foundation also announced five $7,500 travel grants for visual arts students in university programs:
Nasim Pirhadi – University of British Columbia Okanagan
Kosar Movahedi – University of Victoria
Khim Hipol – Emily Carr University of Art and Design
Lauren Crazybull – Simon Fraser University
Sarvenaz Iraji – University of British Columbia
The Audain Prize, established in 2004, is managed by the Audain Art Museum in Whistler, B.C. Winners are selected by an independent jury of curators and artists.
Previous recipients are Ann Kipling, Edward J. Hughes, Eric Metcalfe, Gordon Smith, Jeff Wall, Liz Magor, Robert Davidson, Rodney Graham, Marian Penner Bancroft, Takao Tanabe, Gathie Falk, Fred Herzog, Michael Morris, Paul Wong, Carole Itter, Susan Point, Stan Douglas and Jim Hart.
The Audain Foundation was set up in 1997 to support the visual arts, mainly in British Columbia, and has provided some $140 million in grants.
Source: Audain Foundation, Catriona Jeffries, Vancouver Sun