Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
The work of Canadian artist Jeff Wall has established photography at the forefront of contemporary art. He deploys state-of-the-art film and computer technology while invoking the composition, scale and subject matter of such painters as Velazquez, Goya or Manet. This book is a complete catalogue of Wall's work to date (sixty works). His giant transparencies are mounted on light-boxes to combine the seductive glow of a cinema screen with the physical presence of minimalist sculpture. Wall's carefully composed miseen-scenes depict everyday social relations; they explore the heart of darkness that beats behind the glowing, media-saturated facade of the late twentieth century. Large surveys of his work have been presented at the Museums of Contemporary Art, Chicago and Helsinki; the Jeu de Paume, Paris; and the Whitechapel Art Gallery, London.