Carole Itter (born September 29, 1939) is a Canadian artist, writer, performer and filmmaker.

Life

Itter attended the

Vancouver School of Art The Emily Carr University of Art and Design (stylized as Emily Carr University of Art + Design and abbreviated as ECU) is a public university of art and design located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1925 as the Vancouver Schoo ...

in 1961, which was renamed as the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in 1978 and then renamed again to the

Emily Carr University of Art and Design The Emily Carr University of Art and Design (stylized as Emily Carr University of Art + Design and abbreviated as ECU) is a public university of art school, art and design located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1925 as the Van ...

in 2008. She later became an instructor at the university. She attended the L'Accademia di Bella Arti in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

in 1964. Itter lived with her partner, Al Neil, in a structure known as The Blue Cabin, originally built in 1932 and located near Cates Park in North Vancouver. The Blue Cabin was restored and moved to

False Creek False Creek () is a short narrow inlet in the heart of Vancouver, separating the Downtown Vancouver, Downtown and West End, Vancouver, West End list of neighbourhoods in Vancouver, neighbourhoods from the rest of the city. It is one of the four ...

to serve as a floating artist-in-residency in 2019.

Career

Itter's sculptures, assemblages, collages, installations, performances and writings are strongly influenced by the people and places where she has lived, and frequently reflect social and political issues. She herself is represented in the collections of the

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 ...

, the

Vancouver Public Library Vancouver Public Library (VPL) is the public library system for the city of Vancouver, British Columbia. In 2023, VPL had more than 4.6 million visits with patrons borrowing nearly 10.4 million items including: books, ebooks, CDs, DVDs, video gam ...

and the Canada Council Art Bank.

Art

Itter's 1972 piece, ''Personal Baggage'' has been described as a key work in Vancouver art. This piece acted to shift art from the gallery setting into the physical world by removing a cedar log from Roberts Creek, British Columbia, disassembling it, and then transporting it to

Lockeport Lockeport is a town and port in Shelburne County, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a traditional Nova Scotian fishing town, situated on a peninsula in Allendale Bay. It is connected to the mainland by the Crescent Beach, Lockeport, Nova Scotia, Cre ...

, Nova Scotia where it was reassembled. This process was documented by Itter and published in a book entitled ''The Log's Log.'' Her 1979 photo series ''Euclid'', documents her partner, Al Neil, tracing geometric figures in the sand of Cates Park in North Vancouver. These photographs were then projected onto one of Neil's live piano performances and used as cover art for his album ''Fog and Boot.'' In 1994, Itter collaborated with Luke Blackstone and Al Neil on her installation of found objects emerging from an antique organ that were painted and gilded for her exhibit ''Where the Streets are Paved with Gold: A Tribute to a Canadian Immigrant Neighbourhood''. Itter claimed she was inspired by immigrants in her Vancouver community who shared their experiences of Canada with her, calling it "a place where the streets were paved with gold."

Writing

In 1972, Itter had a daughter, Lara, with Vancouver poet,

Gerry Gilbert Gerry Gilbert (April 7, 1936 – June 19, 2009) was a Canadian poet known for his rejection all awards and competitions on the basis that personal ambition in art led to a lack of sincerity. He was known as Vancouver's bicycle poet. Life Gilbert w ...

. After battling depression for many years, Lara Gilbert died by suicide in 1995. Itter edited Lara's extensive journals and published them under Lara's name in ''I Might Be Nothing.'' Between 1978 and 1979, with

Daphne Marlatt Daphne Marlatt, CM ( Buckle, July 11, 1942), is a Canadian poet and novelist who lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. At a young age, her family moved to Malaysia and at age nine, they moved to British Columbia, where she later attended the Un ...

, Itter compiled and edited a history of Vancouver's Strathcona neighbourhood titled ''Opening Doors: Vancouver's East End.'' Their book was republished as ''Opening Doors in Vancouver's East End'' in 2011. Other works by Itter include ''The Log's Log'' and ''Whistle Daughter Whistle.'' Her writing has also been featured in literary magazines such as ''Room of One's Own''.

Selected awards

In 1989 Itter received the VIVA (Vancouver Institute of Visual Arts) Award. In 2017 she received the Audain Prize in Visual Art.

Selected exhibitions

: 1984, ''Rattles'', Western Front : 1991, Carole Itter: Where the Streets are Paved with Gold: A Tribute to a Canadian Immigrant Neighbourhood,

: 1994, Carole Itter: Desolate Combination of Objects, Pitt Gallery : 1995, ''The Float'', Or Gallery : 1999, ''The Pink Room'',

grunt gallery The grunt gallery is a Canadian artist-run centre, founded in 1984 and located in Vancouver, British Columbia. They show work by both Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists. History Established in 1984, and founded by Glenn Alteen, Kempton Dexte ...

: 2007, ''Metallic: A Fish Film'', grunt gallery : 2008, ''WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution'',

: 2013, ''The Piano'',

Art Gallery of Alberta The Art Gallery of Alberta (AGA) is an art museum in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The museum occupies an building at Churchill Square (Edmonton), Churchill Square in downtown Edmonton. The museum building was originally designed by Donald G. Bittor ...

:2015, ''The Poetics of Space'',

:2015-16, ''Between Object and Action, Transforming Media in the 1960s and 70s'',

:2019, ''Beginning with the Seventies: Radial Change'',

Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery The Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery is a contemporary art gallery in Vancouver, British Columbia, on the campus of the University of British Columbia. The gallery is housed in a building designed by architect Peter Cardew which opened in 1995 ...

:2020, Art at Home Live,

:2023, ''Carole Itter: Only when I’m hauling water do I wonder if I’m getting any stronger'', Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery

References

External links

Memory BC, Lara Gilbert Fonds

Ruins in Process: Vancouver Art in the Sixties / People, Carole Itter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Itter, Carole 1939 births Living people 20th-century Canadian women artists Artists from Vancouver Canadian conceptual artists Canadian women sculptors Emily Carr University of Art and Design alumni Canadian women conceptual artists 21st-century Canadian women artists