Barbara Steinman (born February 3, 1950) is a Canadian artist known for her work in

video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

and

installation art Installation art is an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific art, site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior intervent ...

Biography

Steinman was born in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

in 1950. She began her career as a pioneering videotape artist in Vancouver in the late seventies and evolved into creating elaborate video and multimedia installations. After returning to Montreal in 1980, her video sculptures and installations received international recognition and were included in major exhibitions and biennials. As in Vancouver, Steinman was involved with Montreal's video and alternate art production: she was co-director of Vidéo Véhicule, the centre for independent media arts production, and also a director of the artist-run La Centrale / Powerhouse Gallery. A common theme in Steinman's work is the fate of the disenfranchised and the dispossessed. In 2019, ''Whitehot Magazine of Contemporary Art'' wrote that she "effectively memorialises subjects denied a common name, a concrete identity, a reasonable life." She works in multiple media, including video, photography, neon, and

Exhibitions and commissions

Steinman’s artworks have been shown in exhibitions in Canada and internationally, including the biennials of Seoul, Sydney, São Paulo and Aperto in Venice, as well as exhibitions at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

(MoMA) in New York, the

Stedelijk Museum The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (; Municipal Museum Amsterdam), colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

in Amsterdam, the

Tate Liverpool Tate Liverpool is an art gallery in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, and part of Tate, along with Tate St Ives, Cornwall, Tate Britain, London, and Tate Modern, London. The gallery was an initiative of the Merseyside Development Corporatio ...

in England, the

Art Gallery of Ontario The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO; ) is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located on Dundas Street, Dundas Street West in the Grange Park (neighbourhood), Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, the museum complex takes up of phys ...

(AGO) in Toronto and the

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's National museums of Canada, national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the List of large ...

. In 2021, she had a show of images of flowers in various stages of their life cycles titled ''Keeping Time'' at the Olga Korper Gallery in Toronto which represents her. She was inspired to start this subject as a way to mark the passage of time during a year of lockdown in Montreal caused by

Covid-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

and then it became about time itself. Her public art projects have received widespread recognition, including the award for Design Excellence for an outdoor public artwork in Vancouver (1998), a commissioned work for Canada House (Berlin) (2005), and the design of a featured artwork for the Canadian Embassy in Moscow (2010).

Public Collections

Her work is included in the collections of the

Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal The Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal (, MACM) is a contemporary art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located on the Place des festivals in the Quartier des spectacles and is part of the Place des Arts complex. Founded in 1964, it ...

and the

. as well as in the Collection Fonds national d’art contemporain (FNAC), Paris; Maison européenne de la photographie, Paris; the Seoul Metropolitan Museum, Seoul; Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec;

, Toronto; the

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) is an art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest art museum in Canada by gallery space. The museum is located on the historic Golden Square Mile stretch of Sherbrooke Street west. The MMFA ...

, Montréal; Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal;

Canadian War Museum The Canadian War Museum (CWM) () is a National museums of Canada, national museum on the military history of Canada, country's military history in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The museum serves as both an educational facility on Canadian military hist ...

, Ottawa;

Canada Council The Canada Council for the Arts (), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It is Canada's public arts funder, with a mandate to ...

Art Bank, Ottawa; Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Québec; Museum London, London, ON; Art Gallery of Hamilton;

MacKenzie Art Gallery The MacKenzie Art Gallery (MAG; ) is an art museum located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. The museum occupies the multipurpose T. C. Douglas Building, situated at the edge of the Wascana Centre. The building holds eight galleries totaling to of ...

, Regina;;

Vancouver Art Gallery The Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) is an art museum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The museum occupies a adjacent to Robson Square in downtown Vancouver, making it the largest art museum in Western Canada by building size. Designed by Fr ...

;

Winnipeg Art Gallery The Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG) is an art museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Its permanent collection includes over 24,000 works from Canadian, Indigenous Canadian, and international artists. The museum also holds the world's largest collect ...

;

Art Gallery of Windsor Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

; Rare Books and Special Collections,

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

, Montréal; and the Donovan Collection, St. Michael’s College,

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

, Toronto.

Awards

Barbara Steinman received the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts (2002) and was awarded an honorary doctorate from

Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...

in Montreal (2015). In 2022, she was awarded the Paul-Émile-Borduas Prize.

Biography

Exhibitions and commissions

Public Collections

Awards

References

Further reading