Ian Carr-Harris, Tracings: Writing Art, 1975-2020

Montreal : Concordia University Press, 2024, 372p. ill. 23 x 18cm, (Text/context: Writings by Canadian artists), eng
Index
ISBN : 9781988111513
Pref. de Dan Adler
Texte intégral
1Born in 1941 in Victoria, British Columbia, Ian Carr-Harris is a prominent Canadian installation artist, sculptor, and academic. Currently Professor at the Ontario College of Art and Design University, Carr-Harris has also made significant contributions to art criticism and theory through numerous writings published in reviews like Canadian Art, Parachute, C Magazine, and Vanguard. Tracings: Writing Art, 1975-2020, written by Ian Carr-Harris, presents a comprehensive selection of the artist’s published and unpublished texts. This volume not only consolidates Carr-Harris’s critical writings over a 45-year period but also contextualizes them within broader cultural and historical frameworks. Serving both as author and curator of his own intellectual legacy, Carr-Harris structures this corpus into four thematic sections to facilitate access to its diverse content. Dan Adler’s introduction offers valuable insight into how Carr-Harris’s dual engagement with artistic practice and critical discourse has established him as a key figure in the evolution of conceptual art in Canada. To facilitate the reading of the numerous essays, the volume is divided into four sections, each guiding the reader in a different way and helping to place the texts in a chronological framework. The first section, “Debates, 1983–2015” (p. 1-52), addresses institutional critique, national identity, and the politics of cultural funding. “Artists, 1978–2018” (p. 53-182) features essays on figures such as Joseph Kosuth, Liz Magor, and Michael Snow, reflecting on practices central to Canadian and international contemporary art. It also includes reviews of exhibitions that were never published and remained in draft form, yet are of considerable interest. “Projects, 1975–2020” (p. 183-278) offers experimental and process-based texts that highlight Carr-Harris’s own artistic development. Finally, “Notes, 1982–2018” (p. 279-367) gathers marginalia, reflections, and fragmentary writings on practice and theory. Carr-Harris’s writings articulate a sustained engagement with themes such as cultural identity, postcolonial critique, institutional frameworks, and the dynamic between viewer and artwork. His recurrent focus on memory, archival systems, and obsolete technologies reflects concerns that are integral to both his visual and textual works. As such, Tracings not only documents a critical trajectory but also offers insight into the conceptual foundations of his artistic production.
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Référence électronique
Maria Vittoria Mondini, « Ian Carr-Harris, Tracings: Writing Art, 1975-2020 », Critique d’art [En ligne], Toutes les notes de lecture en ligne, mis en ligne le , consulté le 10 juillet 2025. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/critiquedart/122845 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/14a6a
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