Jeff Wall was born in Vancouver, Canada, in 1946. He studied art history at the University of British Columbia from 1964 to 1970, and then worked on a PhD at the Courtauld Institute. Since 1974 he has worked as a teacher at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver and as a guest professor in Düsseldorf and London. During his student years he also worked as a self-taught artist, first devoting himself to painting in the manner of Abstract Expressionism and then exploring the expressive possibilities of Conceptual Art. In 1977 he began making boxes with large mounted slides lit from behind, picturing everyday scenes and frequently referring to well-known works from art history. Wall was represented at documenta 7, 8, 10 and 11 (1982, 1987, 1997 and 2002) and has had solo shows in New York, Berlin and Dresden. He lives and works in Vancouver.
