Stan Douglas
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Stan Douglas (born October 11, 1960) is an African-Canadian Installation artist from Vancouver, British Columbia.
| Stan Douglas | |
 Win, Place or Show, 1998, video |
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| Born | October 11, 1960 Vancouver, British Columbia |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Field | installation art, photographer |
| Works | Win, Place or Show, 1998 |
| Influenced by | Samuel Beckett |
| Awards | The Hnatyshyn Foundation Visual Arts Award |
Contents |
[edit] Life
Stan Douglas was born in 1960 in Vancouver, where he currently lives and works. Educated at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in Vancouver, Douglas has exhibited widely since his first solo show in 1981. Among numerous group exhibitions, Douglas was included in the 1995 Carnegie International, the 1995 Whitney Biennial, the 1997 SkulpturProjekte in Münster and Documenta X in Kassel. From September 15, 2007 until January 6, 2008, the Württembergische Kunstverein and the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart is presenting a comprehensive exhibition of the works of Stan Douglas within a space covering 4,000 square metres. The exhibition encompasses fourteen video and film installations plus numerous photographs. He also won the 2008 Bell Award in Video Art. [1]
[edit] Work
Douglas' work reflects the technical and social aspects of mass media, and since the late 1980s has been largely influenced by the work of Samuel Beckett. Also of concern is both modernism as a theoretical concept and modernity as it has affected North American urbanism since World War II.[2] Douglas' installation Win, Place or Show is shot in the style of the late-1960s CBC drama The Client, noted for its gritty style, long takes and lack of establishing shots. Set in 1950s Vancouver in the Strathcona redevelopment, the installation explores the modernist notion of urban renewal with the demolition of existing architecture in favour of grids of apartment blocks. Two men share a dormatory room on a rainy day off from their blue-collar jobs. The conversation flares up during a discussion of the day's horse races and the 6 minute filmed loop is repeated from different angles on a split screen, each cycle presenting ever-changing configurations of point-of-view. The takes are edited together in real time by a computer during the exhibition, generating an almost endless series of montages.[2]
Douglas is currently working on a 30' by 50' image of the Gastown Riots in 1971 which will become the central focus within the atrium of the Woodward's Redevelopment, currently under construction, in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver.
[edit] Bibliography
- Douglas, Stan. Samuel Beckett: Teleplays. Vancouver: Vancouver Art Gallery, 1988.
- Stan Douglas. Paris: Centre Georges Pompidou, 1994. Texts by Christine van Assche, Peter Culley, Stan Douglas and Jean-Christophe Royoux.
- Stan Douglas. London: Phaidon Press, 1998. Texts by Carol J. Clover, Stan Douglas, and Scott Watson, and an interview with Diana Thater.
- Stan Douglas. Vancouver: Vancouver Art Gallery, 1999. Texts by Diana Augaitis, Stan Douglas, George Wagner and William Wood.
- Stan Douglas: Monodramas and Loops. Vancouver: UBC Fine Arts Gallery, 1992. Texts by Stan Douglas, John Fiske and Scott Watson.
- Stan Douglas: Television Spots. Vancouver: Contemporary Art Gallery, 1988. Texts by Stan Douglas and Miriam Nichols.
[edit] References
- ^ Curator Catherine David and Artist Stan Douglas Receive Awards, ARTINFO, March 19, 2008, <http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/27131/curator-catherine-david-and-artist-stan-douglas-receive-awards/>. Retrieved on 19 May 2008
- ^ a b Cooke, Lynne. Stan Douglas and Douglas Gordon: Double Vision [2000] http://www.diachelsea.org/exhibs/douglasgordon/double/essay.html
