Additional Images

Provenance:

Charles Bronfman's Claridge Collection
Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto

Literature:

Mackay, Gillian. “Reflective Spaces: The Art of Barbara Steinman”. The Governor General’s Awards in Visual Arts and Media Arts. 2002. http://ggavma.canadacouncil.ca/htmlfixed/Archives/2002/barbara_steinman-e.html

Note:

“At it’s most effective, the work evokes a feeling or knowledge that viewers remember, recognize, or share. Curiosity and obsession pull me forward.”

Polished, elegant, and conceptually intelligent are just some of the words that have been used to describe Barbara Steinman, one of Canada’s most distinguished contemporary artists. Her creation revolves around the theme of collective and personal memory as a site of recollection. Her response to memory is found in many mediums including video art, sculpture, installation, photography, and most recently, outdoor commissions. In Atlantis Improv (1995), Steinman has created three coloured photographs which document a collection of musical instruments, records, and art work. Tapping into not only visual memories but also auditory memories of the vibrations of sound, Steinman unveils emotions of both the past and the present.

Steinman studied Literature at McGill University in her home town of Montreal. After a brief time developing her artistic practice in Vancouver in the 1970s, she is adamant on continuing her endeavours from her beloved Montreal, as she says, “I use the city like a laboratory- its chemistry informs my work.” Her multidisciplinary art has been shown in numerous exhibitions in Canada and abroad including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as the Seoul Metropolitan Museum of Art.