Ian Wallace was born in Shoreham, England, to Canadian parents, in 1943. After completing his studies at the University of British Columbia and graduating with a Master’s Degree in Art History, he taught art history at UBC from 1967 to 1970 and at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design from 1972 to 1998. Wallace was granted an Honorary Doctorate at Emily Carr University of Art and Design (2007) and University of British Columbia (2010).
Wallace has been active as an exhibiting artist in the Vancouver region since 1965. Through his writing, teaching, and exhibitions, Wallace has been an influential figure in the creation, promotion, and appreciation of innovative processes in contemporary art and in the development of an internationally-acknowledged photographic and conceptual art practice in Vancouver.
In 2004, he was the recipient of the Governor General’s Award for the Visual Arts and, in 2013, was appointed Officer of the Order of Canada. Also in 2013, he was honored with The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal. In 2014, Wallace was awarded the Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture. The Audain Art Prize was conferred to Wallace in 2022.
