Max Dean (born June 29, 1949) is a Canadian multidisciplinary artist.

Life

Dean was born June 29, 1949, in Leeds, England. He immigrated to Canada with his family in 1952, settling in Vancouver.

Work

In the late 1970s and 1980s, Dean did multimedia performances involving his body in conjunction with sound, photography and other media. Dean`s ''Telephone Project'' (1982) was an installation that allowed up to 16 persons to talk on a telephone line. Since the 1980s, Dean has become known for his installations that use robotics and electronics to achieve artistic effects. His work ''As Yet Untitled'' (1992-1995) involves a robotic arm that presents generic family photos to the viewer, who must act to prevent the photo from being immediately shredded. The piece received extensive press and critical coverage and was acquired by the Art Gallery of Ontario. Dean has collaborated extensively with

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering Raffaello D'Andrea. Between 2003 and 2006 they collaborated with Canadian artist Matt Donovan to create the installation work ''Robotic Chair'', a chair that falls apart and puts itself back together again without human intervention. Dean also collaborated with D'Andrea on the work ''The Table: Childhood'', which was included in the Arsenale section of the 2001

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

. He is the subject of

Katherine Knight Katherine Mary Knight (born 24 October 1955) is an Australian murderer and the first woman in the country's history to be sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. She was convicted for the murder of her partner, John Ch ...

's 2021 documentary film '' Still Max''. In 2022, the

Portrait Gallery of Canada The Portrait Gallery of Canada () is a federally-registered not-for-profit corporation that currently has no collection or physical presence. On July 30, 2020, the Portrait Gallery of Canada launched its online presence at portraitcanada.ca. Pri ...

organized ''Max Dean: Portrait of the Artist as Artist'', an online exhibition curated by Ann Thomas as guest curator.

Collections

Dean's work is included in several museum collections, including 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 ...

and 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 ...

. His piece ''As Yet Untitled'' is part of the permanent collection of 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 ...

Awards

In 1997, Dean received the Jean A. Chalmers National Visual Arts Award from the

Ontario Arts Council The Ontario Arts Council (OAC) is a publicly funded Canadian organization in the province of Ontario whose purpose is to foster the creation and production of art for the benefit of all Ontarians. Based in Toronto, OAC was founded in 1963 by O ...

. In 2005, Dean received the

Gershon Iskowitz Gershon Iskowitz (November 24, 1919 – January 26, 1988) was a Canadian artist of Jewish background originally from Poland. Iskowitz was a Holocaust survivor of the Kielce Ghetto, who was liberated at Buchenwald. The circumstances of his earl ...

prize from the

. In 2014, he was a recipient of the

Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts The Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts are annual awards for achievements in visual and media arts in Canada. Up to eight awards are presented annually, each with a prize amount of $25,000. Created in 2000 by then Governor General ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dean, Max 1949 births Living people Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts winners Artists from Toronto