Artist Spotlight
From his pioneering use of backlit color transparencies in the 1970s to his intricately staged scenes of enigmatic incidents from daily life, literature, and film, Jeff Wall has expanded the definition of the photograph, both as object and as illusion. His pictures range from classical reportage and the direct contemplation of natural forms to elaborate constructions and montages, usually produced at a large scale traditionally identified with painting.
The Artist Spotlight series highlights the work of individual artists for one week each month. Launched in spring 2020 as a weekly platform, the series is now in its second season and is presented as a regular part of the gallery’s programming. Each Artist Spotlight features new online content, and artwork by the artist is made available with pricing information for forty-eight hours only.
Artist Spotlight: Jeff Wall features a new photograph by the artist. For more information, please contact the gallery at collecting@gagosian.com.
#GagosianSpotlight
Photo: Andrew Querner
In Conversation
Jeff Wall and Gary Dufour
Jeff Wall speaks to Gary Dufour about his new photographs, made on the beachfront of English Bay in Vancouver, Canada, that record the endlessly varied and shifting patterns created in seaweed by the ebb and flow of the tide.
Death Valley ’89: Jeff Wall vs. Photography
Daniel Spaulding considers formal and technical developments in the photographer’s work against the background of global shifts of power and politics, specifically the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
Jeff Wall: The World as It Appears
The artist speaks with David Rimanelli about his newest works, the physicality of photography, and the persistence of certain motifs throughout his career.
In Conversation
Andreas Gursky and Jeff Wall
On the occasion of a major survey of Andreas Gursky’s work at the Hayward Gallery in London, Gursky and Jeff Wall discuss the state of photography and the evolution of the medium.
Jeff Wall: In the Domain of Likeness
The Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel, has staged a comprehensive Jeff Wall exhibition including more than fifty works spanning five decades. Here, Barry Schwabsky reflects on the enduring power of and mystery in Wall’s photography.
Jeff Wall: An Exhibition Tour
Join Jeff Wall as he leads a tour through his latest exhibition in Beverly Hills. The artist speaks about the genesis and creation of each photograph, addressing the aesthetic decisions involved.
Related Exhibitions
Related News
Online Reading
Jeff Wall
Jeff Wall is available for online reading from November 18 through November 24, 2020, as part of Artist Spotlight: Jeff Wall. From his pioneering use in the 1970s of backlit color transparencies to his intricately constructed scenes of enigmatic incidents from daily life, literature, and film, Jeff Wall has expanded the definition of the photograph, both as object and illusion. Published on the occasion of his 2019 exhibition at Gagosian, West 21st Street, New York, the catalogue includes an illuminating new essay by Russell Ferguson, along with full-page reproductions of the nine works in the exhibition, all of which were made over the last ten years, and several of which have never previously been exhibited or published. The two cover options illustrate alternate panels from a diptych, Pair of interiors (2018).
Jeff Wall (New York: Gagosian, 2019)
Video
Jeff Wall
An Impossible Photograph
Art21 interviews Jeff Wall in his studio about notions of artifice and truth in photography. He describes what drew him to the subject of his 2014 photograph Changing room, discussing the impossibility of the viewpoint depicted.
Still from “Jeff Wall: An Impossible Photograph” © Art21, Inc. Artwork © Jeff Wall
Tour
Jeff Wall
Thursday, June 27, 2019, 6:30pm
Gagosian, West 21st Street, New York
Artist James Welling and film director and writer Jane Weinstock will lead an exhibition tour of Jeff Wall, currently on view at Gagosian, West 21st Street, New York. Welling and Weinstock will offer their unique perspectives on various photographs, with time for questions at the end. The pair recently wrote an essay for the exhibition catalogue accompanying Jeff Wall’s show currently on view at the George Economou Collection, Athens. The event has reached capacity. To join the wait list, contact nytours@gagosian.com.
Jeff Wall, Summer Afternoons, 2013 © Jeff Wall
Museum Exhibitions
Opening Soon
Jeff Wall
Cuentos Posibles
May 24–October 13, 2024
La Virreina Centre de la Imatge, Barcelona, Spain
ajuntament.barcelona.cat
This exhibition, whose title translates to Possible Tales, presents thirty-six works by Jeff Wall, created since 1980. The show includes earlier photographs that range from traditional reportage to elaborate constructions and montages produced at a large scale typically identified with painting. Newer “cinematographic” works, as Wall describes them, which he carefully staged, are also included in the exhibition.
Jeff Wall, Man at a mirror, 2019 © Jeff Wall
Closed
Capturing the Moment
June 13, 2023–April 28, 2024
Tate Modern, London
www.tate.org.uk
Capturing the Moment explores the relationship between photography and painting through iconic artworks from the modern era. The exhibition examines how the two distinct mediums have shaped each other and how artists have blurred the boundaries to capture moments in time. Work by Francis Bacon, Georg Baselitz, John Currin, Andreas Gursky, Pablo Picasso, Jeff Wall, and Andy Warhol is included.
Jeff Wall, A Sudden Gust of Wind (after Hokusai), 1993, Tate Modern, London © Jeff Wall
Closed
Jeff Wall
January 28–April 21, 2024
Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel
www.fondationbeyeler.ch
Jeff Wall, a comprehensive solo show dedicated to the artist, brings together fifty-five works from international museums, private collections, and Wall’s own holdings, including transparencies displayed in lightboxes, black-and-white photographs, and color photographic prints. Throughout the eleven rooms, more recent works forge a rich thematic and formal dialogue with early iconic pieces. The show also includes several new works on public view for the first time.
Installation view, Jeff Wall, Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel, January 28–April 21, 2024. Artwork © Jeff Wall. Photo: Mark Niedermann
Closed
The Milton and Sheila Fine Collection
November 18, 2023–March 17, 2024
Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh
carnegieart.org
Milton and Sheila Fine have been longtime advocates and supporters of the arts in their philanthropy throughout the Pittsburgh region. Promised to Carnegie Museum of Art in 2015, their collection of contemporary painting, sculpture, photography, and drawing reflects their interest in American and German art from the 1980s to the 2000s. This exhibition, which is presented as a celebration and remembrance of Milton Fine, who passed away in 2019, foregrounds the importance and impact of the gift. Work by Richard Artschwager, Georg Baselitz, Mark Grotjahn, Donald Judd, Brice Marden, David Reed, Ed Ruscha, Richard Serra, Jeff Wall, and Christopher Wool is included.
Ed Ruscha, Victory, 1987, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh © Ed Ruscha