Vancouver-based artist and photographer Ian Wallace received the Audain Prize for the Visual Arts on September 29. The prize is among the most esteemed awards bestowed on Canadian contemporary artists. The award is given annually to a British Columbia-based artist and comes with a $100,000 cash payment.
Wallace has shown his paintings and photographs in Canada and internationally since 1965. His style is typified by combining monochrome painting and photography, which calls into question the differences between the two mediums. His subject matter reflects social and aesthetic issues.
Wallace taught art history between 1967 and 1970 at the University of British Columbia. He went on to teach at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design (then known as the Vancouver School of Art) from 1972 to 1998, where he taught a course titled Art Now that was one of the first to introduce contemporary art into the school’s art history curriculum.
Known as the originator of the Vancouver School of photo-conceptualism, Wallace was a significant influence on his former students, including Roy Arden, Stan Douglas, Rodney Graham, Ken Lum and Jeff Wall.
“All the previous recipients are excellent artists—and I’m really happy to be on that list,” said Wallace. “My appreciation to Michael Audain and Yoshi Kurosowa (his wife) for their support of the visual arts and to the jury who decided that my lifelong endeavors have been worthy of the prize.”
Wallace received a Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts in 2004. He became an officer of the Order of Canada in 2012. Wallace was inducted into the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 2016.
At age 79, Ian Wallace stays busy working. “I’m at the studio seven days a week taking care of business, trying to get my work out into the world and archiving what I’ve done so far,” he said.
