Name/Title
Strawberry LetterEntry/Object ID
2015.02.02Description
Douglas Coupland (b. 1961) is a novelist, writer, and visual artist. He was born on a NATO base in Baden-Söllingen, Germany while his father was serving a tour overseas as a medical officer for the Royal Canadian Air Force. Around the age of four, Coupland's family would move back to Canada settling in Vancouver. He eventually attended Emily Carr University of Art and Design with a focus on sculpture. He later studied at the European Design Institute in Milan, Italy and the Hokkaido College of Art & Design in Sapporo, Japan.
Coupland's visual art practices utilize a wide range of media including assemblage, installation, painting, photography, sculpture and quilting. His works continually examine the effect of technology and pop culture on Canadian identity through large, geometric and vibrant compositions filled with Canadian symbolism and cultural references. Yet, right behind the playful pop art appearance of his images, Coupland discusses issues such as the change in the urban landscape, the sensory overstimulation from mass media, and social media surveillance. They are very much a commentary on the future based on present realities and concerns about what could be.
Strawberry Letter (2014) is part of a series of collages that highlight Coupland's ongoing fascination with collecting. At first the works appear as a mess of colors and textures. However, it is not until closer inspection that recognizable logos and imagery can be made out. Coupland incorporates signs, posters, travel tags, playing cards, cigarette cartons, receipts, stationary, currency, and other items from his own life to create intricate compilations that reflect the overstimulation of popular images and consumer culture in our everyday lives.
each collage that the audience realizes the hackneyed and broadly familiar icons and objects indicative of the existing consumer culture.
collages materials and visual references to show to letters to reveal the artists life through symbolism.
Coupland is a member of the Royal Canadian Academy, an Officer of the Order of Canada, an Officer of the Order of British Columbia, a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and receiver of the Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence.
http://www.coupland.com/about-contact/Artwork Details
Medium
mixed media on panelDimensions
Height
34.2 cmWidth
44.5 cm