Jeff Wall

Artist

• Born: September 29, 1946
• Place of Birth: Vancouver, Canada

• Education: University of British Columbia; Courtauld Institute of Art of the University of London

• Significance: Jeff Wall is a Canadian artist whose work is considered revolutionary within the photography community. Wall works with a large crew to create powerful, moving, and thought-provoking scenes through his photographs.

Background

Jeff Wall was born on September 29, 1946, in Vancouver, Canada. He attended the University of British Columbia, where he studied art history. Wall went on to earn both his bachelor's and master's degrees at the school. While in attendance at the university, Wall published several written pieces. He then did three years of postgraduate research at the Courtauld Institute of Art, which is a school of the University of London.

Following his postgraduate research, Wall secured a teaching position at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax. After two years there, Wall accepted a second teaching position at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. Wall taught at Simon Fraser from 1976 to 1987 before accepting a teaching position at the University of British Columbia, his alma mater.

Life's Work

Wall had practiced photography and other art forms since he was young, and this proved noteworthy in the artist's life. According to numerous interviews, Wall was inspired by the works of the great painting masters. However, he believed that the prevalence of film and television in modern culture caused artists to lose the ability to paint like Vincent van Gogh and Francisco de Goya.

Wall resolved to find a new medium to produce art that equalled the historic works produced by the great painters. After much study, Wall was struck by inspiration when viewing the backlit photographic advertisements at a bus terminal. The artist was determined that large, backlit photographs would be his new medium.

The photographer first premiered this style of art, a photograph called The Destroyed Room, at a gallery in Nova Scotia in 1978. The image features a skillfully framed room in ruins, including a ripped mattress, damaged walls, broken window, and clothes strewn about. Art critics have drawn connections between The Destroyed Room and classic photographs such as those taken by Walker Evans and Ansel Adams.

The Destroyed Room was quickly considered a modern classic by the art community. Wall's next work, released a year later in 1979, was entitled Picture for Women. The photograph features a woman looking outward toward the viewer, with a camera positioned behind her and a man walking to her left. Some critics believe the publication of Picture for Women was a major turning point in artistic photography, and that it marked a shift from more traditional, commercial photography.

Wall continued to release photographs into the twenty-first century. Unlike many commercial photographers, Wall did not take candid photos of situations in real life. Instead, he employed actors, sets, studios, prop builders, and digital effects to compose stylized, artistic renderings inspired by dramatic moments. Many photographs draw heavily from classic works of art, reimagined in Wall's preferred artistic medium.

In interviews, Wall has stated that he considers his art "prose poetry," meaning that the context and greater meaning of any of his photographs is always open to interpretation. Although these scenes Wall captures are often dramatic, compelling, and thought-provoking, Wall refuses to elaborate on any of the story surrounding his chosen moment. Many scenes are carefully designed to invite the viewer to speculate on the story leading up to the photograph and the consequences of the actions it depicts.

Wall is credited as a founding member of the Vancouver School, an artistic movement composed of a number of artists who operate out of Vancouver, Canada. Other prominent artists in the Vancouver School include Rodney Graham, Stan Douglas, Ian Wallace, and Ken Lum. Wallace, who spent time as an art history professor at the University of British Columbia, was one of Wall's professors during his time at the university. For this reason, Wallace is often credited as the originator of the movement, while Wall is credited with popularizing it. During Wall's tenure teaching art history at the University of British Columbia, he taught many other artists in the Vancouver School of thought. Some experts in art history define the Vancouver School as strictly referring to those artists who studied under Wallace or Wall. Others, like Wallace himself, believe it should refer to any artist who has studied their work and produces art in a similar style.

Impact

Wall's early work is commonly regarded as a turning point in artistic photography, inspiring many later artists to move away from a more commercial style of photography toward a conceptual form of the art. His works have been displayed in prominent galleries on numerous occasions, and many are already viewed as photographic classics.

Wall was awarded the Hasselblad Award, one of the most prestigious awards in photography, in 2002. He was made a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2006 and an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2007. In 2008, Wall was awarded the Audain Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Visual Arts, a Canadian award created to recognize the accomplishments of British Columbia's artists.

Wall's works are sought after and have sold for considerably high prices. His work The Well (1989) sold for $1.2 million at an auction in London in 2008. Four years later, his photograph Dead Troops Talk (1992) sold for $3.6 million at an auction at Christie's in New York. Five of his photographs were exhibited at the Fondation Beyeler in Basel, Switzerland, in 2024.

Personal Life

Wall is married to Jeannette Wall, whom he met during his time as a student. The couple has three sons. They spend much of their time decorating and redecorating their home in Los Angeles, California.

Wall still owns a home in Vancouver, Canada, where he and Jeanette live part of the year. Maintaining two homes allows the couple to be closer to family and Wall's photography studio, while still allowing them to spend much of their time in Los Angeles.

Bibliography

Jacquet, Matthieu. "Stranger Than Fiction: Discover Five Striking Photographs by Jeff Wall." Art Basel, 21 Feb. 2024, www.artbasel.com/news/focus-five-striking-photographs-jeff-wall-fondation-beyeler-basel-canadian-artist-photography?lang=en. Accessed 8 Oct. 2024.

"Jeff Wall." White Cube, whitecube.com/artists/jeff‗wall/. Accessed 8 Oct. 2024.

Lederman, Marsha. "Behind the Lens: The Vancouver School Debate." Globe and Mail, 20 Oct. 2007, beta.theglobeandmail.com/arts/behind-the-lens-the-vancouver-school-debate/article18147873/?ref=http://www.theglobeandmail.com&. Accessed 8 Oct. 2024.

O'Hagan, Sean. "Jeff Wall: 'I'm Haunted by the Idea That My Photography Was All a Big Mistake.'" Guardian, 3 Nov. 2015, www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/nov/03/jeff-wall-photography-marian-goodman-gallery-show. Accessed 8 Oct. 2024.

Riggs, Terry. "Jeff Wall, Born 1946." Tate.org, www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/jeff-wall-2359. Accessed 8 Oct. 2024.

Van De Walle, Josephine. "Modern Classics: Jeff Wall – The Destroyed Room, 1978." ArtLead, 21 Oct. 2016, artlead.net/content/journal/modern-classics-jeff-wall-destroyed-room-1978/. Accessed 8 Oct. 2024.

Watson, Scott, and Russell Bingham. "Jeff Wall." Canadian Encyclopedia, 28 Oct. 2016, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/jeffrey-david-wall/. Accessed 8 Oct. 2024.