Jeff Wall
JEFF WALL "SCHOOLYARD, VANCOUVER – SPRING" 2011
Jeff Wall (b.1946) is a Canadian conceptual photographer best known for images that appear spontaneous yet are in fact elaborately staged.
Born in Vancouver, where he still lives today, Wall received his MA from the University of British Columbia (UBC) in 1970. During this era, he was influenced by conceptualism's spirit of experimentation and minimalism's use of industrial materials while focusing on photography.
By the end of the decade, Wall established his signature approach of displaying color transparencies over light-boxes–a method typically used in advertising. He earned international acclaim for this innovative and subversive approach. Presentation aside, Wall was an important early adopter of digital-imaging technology, which has since revolutionized the medium of photography.
Wall's subject matter commonly addressed socio-political issues or referenced feminist critical theory, while exploring both portraiture and narrative. His images combine elements of cinema, painting, and literature into what he refers to as "cinematography".
In this photograph of children playing in a sunlit schoolyard, Wall employs his characteristic method of staging everyday scenes with non-professional actors to produce what he calls "near documentary" images. Though the figures seem caught mid-motion, their crisp shadows betray a moment carefully composed rather than spontaneously captured. Many of his images reference or depict life in British Columbia.
In the foreground of this image, a group of boys of similar age appear absorbed in an indistinct game. Combining the saturated color and compositional depth of painting with the immediacy of photography, Wall constructs a layered image that invites sustained investigation and reflection on the nature and meaning of "documentary" truth.
Due to the complexity of his practice and his international reputation, Jeff Wall's artworks do not frequently come on the secondary market. When they do, they are frequently in the mid six-figure range. This is an iconic image, in a relatively small edition, and thus a rare opportunity to acquire an accessible work by this master of photography.
An example of this photograph can be found in the permanent collection of the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal.
Questions about this piece? Contact us, call +1.416.704.1720, or visit our Toronto Gallery.
"Schoolyard, Vancouver – Spring"
Canada, 2011
Ink-jet print
From an edition of 15
32”H 39.25”W (image)
Framed with museum glass
Very good condition
Note: framed dimensions coming soon
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