Name/Title
Lisa lives on that IslandEntry/Object ID
2011.03.01Description
Wanda Koop (b.1951, Vancouver, British Columbia) is one of Canada’s most accomplished painters. For more than 40 years, Koop has experimented in paint, rethinking the aesthetics of traditional landscape painting.
Koop's inspiration comes from her lived experience and observation of the world around her. She is a frequent traveller, motorcycling through the United States in her youth and recently taking an ocean freighter up the St. Lawrence Seaway. She has also lived in Paris, Rotterdam, Tokyo and New York City.
Through a process of visual research, making sketches, taking photography, and a thorough exploration of colour, Koop develops abstract landscapes with blurred swaths of color and deliberate drips of paint that challenge viewer's to closely investigate and interpret them.
Lisa lives on that Island (2016) is part of a series of works that depicts the scenery of her voyage along the Saint Lawrence Seaway on a cargo ship. The drips of paint down the canvas reference the porthole where the artist looked at the waters and shoreline.
Over the course of her career, she has had over 60 one-person exhibitions throughout Canada, as well as in Great Britain, The Netherlands, Germany, India, Brazil, China, Japan, and Italy (the latter was in conjunction with the 2001 Venice Biennale). Wanda Koop has been the recipient of numerous awards. She received the Queen Elizabeth II Golden and Diamond Jubilee Medals, and the Japan Fund Award from the Canada Council of the Arts. She was appointed a Member of the Order of Manitoba and in 2006 was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada. She holds honorary doctorates from Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver, the University of Winnipeg and the University of Manitoba.
Her work is held in numerous public and private collections, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Musée des beaux-arts, the Musée d'art Contemporain de Montréal, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Shanghai Museum of Modern Art, the Reykjavik Museum, Iceland, and the Dallas Museum of Art.
In addition to her highly successful painting career, Koop is recognized for her community work and social activism. In 1998, she founded Art City. The goal of Art City is to bring together contemporary visual artists and inner-city youth to explore the creative process. Art City is not just about art, it is about belonging, creating opportunities, developing life skills, and enhancing self-respect within a disadvantaged community.
https://www.wandakoop.com/about