Audain Prize for Visual Art goes to leading conceptual artist Ian Wallace

The $100,000 award recognizes an internationally celebrated talent who’s known for juxtaposing monochrome abstract painting and photography

Ian Wallace, *Base/Superstructure, (Vancouver House)*, 2019, photolaminate with acrylic on canvas, 60 x 48 in. (152 x 122 cm), Catriona Jeffries Gallery.

ACCLAIMED VANCOUVER artist Ian Wallace has just received the $100,000 Audain Prize for visual art—the province’s highest honour in the field.

A leader in conceptual art, Wallace has been exhibited across Canada and internationally, known for juxtaposing monochrome abstract painting and photography.

He received the Governor-General’s Award in Visual Arts in 2004 and the Molson Prize in 2009. Wallace taught at what is now Emily Carr University of Art and Design from 1972 to 1998.

“It is a great honour to make this award to one of B.C.’s greatest living artists—Ian Wallace,” Michael Audain, chair of the Audain Foundation, said in the announcement today. “Besides having an outstanding international reputation, Mr. Wallace has had a considerable influence on younger artists. The Audain Foundation wants to see our leading artists become better known. After all, British Columbia has many important visual artists who are not as widely recognized as they should be. With some of the world’s best contemporary artists, we believe they should be better known by all British Columbians.”

Established in 1997, the Audain Prize has gone to recipients including Edward J. Hughes, Robert Davidson, Liz Magor, Rodney Graham, Stan Douglas, and Paul Wong.

In addition to the $100,000 Audain Prize for Visual Art, the Audain Foundation funds five $7,500 travel grants for students in university-level visual arts programs. This year’s recipients are UBC Okanagan’s Nasim Pirhadi, UVic’s Kosar Movahedi, ECUAD’s Khim Hipol, SFU’s Lauren Crazybull, and UBC’s Sarvenaz Iraji.

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Janet Smith

Janet Smith is an award-winning arts journalist who has spent more than two decades immersed in Vancouver’s dance, screen, design, theatre, music, opera, and gallery scenes. She sits on the Vancouver Film Critics’ Circle.

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