Spotlights: Jeff Wall

Описание: Jeff Wall joins MOCA Toronto Executive Director and Exhibition Curator Kathleen Bartels to reflect on his artistic process, the ideas behind his photographs, and the inspirations that shape his work — from the quiet details of everyday life to moments and events he has reimagined. Often referring to his work as "cinematography," he sees it as freer, less restricted and a more collaborative way of working that informs much of his practice.

Opening in October 2025, Jeff Wall Photographs 1984–2023 at MOCA Toronto marks Wall’s first major Canadian survey in over 25 years and his first in Toronto in 35 years. Celebrated for his large-scale light boxes and pioneering approach to the medium, Wall has profoundly influenced photography since the 1960s through his bold experimentation with scale, subject matter, and production techniques.

Reflecting on key works in the exhibition — including The Storyteller (1986) among the earliest works presented; Children (1988) unseen for more than 20 years; and Actors in Two Roles (2020) a diptych exploring shifting appearances in theatre — Wall traces the evolution of his process over four decades, underscoring the enduring relevance of his work today.

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About the Artist

Born in 1946, Jeff Wall has been involved in artistic creation since his childhood in Vancouver. Initially engaged with drawing and painting, Wall took up photography in the late 1960s. After a lengthy period of study and artistic experimentation, Wall began making the photographic art for which he is now renowned in 1977. Wall lives in Vancouver.

Wall has exhibited his photographs internationally for the past forty years including selections in four Documentas, biennales in Venice, São Paulo, Sydney, and Moscow, and solo exhibitions organized by many of the most prestigious art institutions in the world such as Tate, the Museum of Modern Art, the Glenstone Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, Kunsthalle Mannheim, the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, and the Bozar Centre for Fine Arts. In 2024–25 solo presentations of the artist’s work were featured at the Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel, La Virreina Centre de la Imatge, Barcelona, White Cube, London, Gagosian, New York, and the Museum of Art, Architecture, and Technology, Lisbon. In Canada solo exhibitions have been organized by the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, the Ydessa Hendeles Art Foundation, Toronto, and Canton–sardine, Vancouver.

Wall is acknowledged as one of the most accomplished artist-writers of his generation. His writings range across a variety of topics, from theoretical propositions on photography and art to essays on fellow contemporary artists and major art-historical figures. Wall’s critical writing has been published on many occasions and in several languages. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and his art is held in numerous public and private collections, including the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Glenstone Museum, Schaulager, the Centre Pompidou, the National Gallery of Canada, Tate, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Wall has received numerous awards for his photographic works of art, including the Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography in 2002, the Roswitha Haftmann-Preis in 2003, and the Audain Prize for the Visual Arts in 2008.

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Video by Miles Rufelds.