Home and Away: Ian Wallace

At the age of 10, Ian Wallace moved with his family from the interior of BC to West Vancouver, where he developed his interest in becoming an artist by sketching local views in the community. After seeing new work by Gordon Smith displayed at the New Design gallery on Marine Drive, it was at this time and in this place where his life-long admiration for "modern" painting began. While Wallace was a student at Inglewood Middle School, he then attended a presentation by B.C. Binning with his class. Wallace, who went on to become one of the internationally-renowned founders of the Vancouver School of photo conceptualism, credits these early experiences in West Vancouver as being seminal to his development as an artist. 

This exhibition begins with a selection of drawings and watercolours from the artist’s youth, which are presented in tandem with new photographs taken from the same vantage points within the community. This hyper-local work is presented together with Wallace’s 2014 work from his ongoing Hotel Series, created and exhibited in Baden-Baden, Germany. Despite being devised far away from West Vancouver, this series has strong ties to the community of Wallace’s youth. Place plays a crucial role in this exhibition, with an unstated acknowledgement that home is never far away, regardless of one’s physical location in the world.  

About the Artist

Ian Wallace was born in Shoreham, England, to Canadian parents, in 1943. After completing his studies at the University of British Columbia and graduating with a Master’s Degree in Art History, he taught art history at UBC from 1967 to 1970 and at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design from 1972 to 1998. Wallace was granted an Honorary Doctorate at Emily Carr University of Art and Design (2007) and University of British Columbia (2010).

Wallace has been active as an exhibiting artist in the Vancouver region since 1965. Through his writing, teaching, and exhibitions, Wallace has been an influential figure in the creation, promotion, and appreciation of innovative processes in contemporary art and in the development of an internationally-acknowledged photographic and conceptual art practice in Vancouver.

In 2004, he was the recipient of the Governor General’s Award for the Visual Arts and, in 2013, was appointed Officer of the Order of Canada. Also in 2013, he was honoured with The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal. In 2014, Wallace was awarded the Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture. The Audain Art Prize was conferred to Wallace in 2022.

Art Talks

Ian Wallace in conversation with Hilary Letwin, presented in partnership with the West Vancouver Memorial Library. 

With support from the the Audain Foundation.

Home and Away: Ian Wallace is a Selected Exhibition for the Capture Photography Festival 2024. 

Events and guided tours

View the events page for information on curatorial tours.