Author Description

The most transformative art movement of the late 20th century, conceptual art became a global phenomenon long before it was popularized by a new generation of artists and institutions in the early 21st century. Its various manifestations in Canada, however, have remained a limited concern?a whispered art history circulated among artists and writers primarily in alternative publications and artist-run centres. Traffic: Conceptual Art in Canada 1965-1980 is the first publication and exhibition to track the complex, rigorous and diverse manifestations of conceptual art in the country. Presenting work by more than 90 artists in a beautifully produced package, Traffic examines the particular local and geographic needs and interests enacted by individual artists, collectives and art communities from across the country. The book includes essays by six curators, a conversation with an international group of scholars, an annotated chronology and many reproductions of conceptual artworks produced in Canada. Co-published by the Vancouver Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Alberta, Justina M. Barnicke Gallery (Hart House, University of Toronto), Leonard & Bina Ellen Gallery (Concordia University) and Halifax, INK