Menu

Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, The Destroyed Room, 1978 Transparency in lightbox, 62 ⅝ × 90 ¼ inches (159 × 229 cm)© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, The Destroyed Room, 1978

Transparency in lightbox, 62 ⅝ × 90 ¼ inches (159 × 229 cm)
© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Picture for Women, 1979 Transparency in lightbox, 56 ⅛ × 80 ½ inches (142.5 × 204.5 cm)© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Picture for Women, 1979

Transparency in lightbox, 56 ⅛ × 80 ½ inches (142.5 × 204.5 cm)
© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Mimic, 1982 Transparency in lightbox, 78 × 90 inches (198 × 228.6 cm)© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Mimic, 1982

Transparency in lightbox, 78 × 90 inches (198 × 228.6 cm)
© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, The Thinker, 1986 Transparency in lightbox, 85 ⅛ × 90 ¼ inches (216 × 229 cm)© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, The Thinker, 1986

Transparency in lightbox, 85 ⅛ × 90 ¼ inches (216 × 229 cm)
© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, The Drain, 1989 Transparency in lightbox, 90 ¼ × 114 ¼ inches (229 × 290 cm)© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, The Drain, 1989

Transparency in lightbox, 90 ¼ × 114 ¼ inches (229 × 290 cm)
© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, The Pine on the Corner, 1990 Transparency in lightbox, 46 ⅞ × 58 ¾ inches (119 × 149 cm)© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, The Pine on the Corner, 1990

Transparency in lightbox, 46 ⅞ × 58 ¾ inches (119 × 149 cm)
© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Dead Troops Talk (a vision after an ambush of a Red Army patrol, nearMoqor, Afghanistan, winter 1986), 1992 Transparency in lightbox, 90 ¼ × 164 ¼ inches (229 × 417 cm)© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Dead Troops Talk (a vision after an ambush of a Red Army patrol, near
Moqor, Afghanistan, winter 1986), 1992

Transparency in lightbox, 90 ¼ × 164 ¼ inches (229 × 417 cm)
© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, A Sudden Gust of Wind (after Hokusai), 1993 Transparency in lightbox, 90 ¼ × 148 ½ inches (229 × 377 cm)© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, A Sudden Gust of Wind (after Hokusai), 1993

Transparency in lightbox, 90 ¼ × 148 ½ inches (229 × 377 cm)
© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Diagonal Composition, 1993 Transparency in lightbox, 15 ¾ × 18 ⅛ inches (40 × 46 cm)© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Diagonal Composition, 1993

Transparency in lightbox, 15 ¾ × 18 ⅛ inches (40 × 46 cm)
© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Volunteer, 1996 Gelatin silver print, 87 ¼ × 123 ¼ inches (221.5 × 313 cm)© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Volunteer, 1996

Gelatin silver print, 87 ¼ × 123 ¼ inches (221.5 × 313 cm)
© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Morning Cleaning, Mies van der Rohe Foundation, Barcelona, 1999 Transparency in lightbox, 73 ⅝ × 138 ¼ inches (187 × 351 cm)© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Morning Cleaning, Mies van der Rohe Foundation, Barcelona, 1999

Transparency in lightbox, 73 ⅝ × 138 ¼ inches (187 × 351 cm)
© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, After “Invisible Man” by Ralph Ellison, the Prologue, 1999–2001 Transparency in lightbox, 68 ½ × 98 ⅝ inches (174 × 250.5 cm)© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, After “Invisible Man” by Ralph Ellison, the Prologue, 1999–2001

Transparency in lightbox, 68 ½ × 98 ⅝ inches (174 × 250.5 cm)
© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Overpass, 2001 Transparency in lightbox, 84 ⅜ × 107 ⅝ inches (214.2 × 273.3 cm)© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Overpass, 2001

Transparency in lightbox, 84 ⅜ × 107 ⅝ inches (214.2 × 273.3 cm)
© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, In front of a nightclub, 2006 Transparency in lightbox, 89 × 142 ⅛ inches (226 × 360.8 cm)© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, In front of a nightclub, 2006

Transparency in lightbox, 89 × 142 ⅛ inches (226 × 360.8 cm)
© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Men move an engine block, 2008 Gelatin silver print, 54 ½ × 69 ½ inches (138.5 × 176.5 cm)© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Men move an engine block, 2008

Gelatin silver print, 54 ½ × 69 ½ inches (138.5 × 176.5 cm)
© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Knife throw, 2008 Color photograph, 72 ½ × 100 ⅞ inches (184 × 256 cm)© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Knife throw, 2008

Color photograph, 72 ½ × 100 ⅞ inches (184 × 256 cm)
© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Ivan Sayers, costume historian, lectures at the University Women’s Club, Vancouver, 7 Dec. 2009. Virginia Newton-Moss wears a British ensemble c. 1910, from Sayers’ collection., 2009 Color photograph, 71 ⅞ × 88 ⅜ inches (182.5 × 224.3 cm)© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Ivan Sayers, costume historian, lectures at the University Women’s Club, Vancouver, 7 Dec. 2009. Virginia Newton-Moss wears a British ensemble c. 1910, from Sayers’ collection., 2009

Color photograph, 71 ⅞ × 88 ⅜ inches (182.5 × 224.3 cm)
© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Boy falls from tree, 2010 Color photograph, 89 × 120 ¼ inches (226 × 305.3 cm)© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Boy falls from tree, 2010

Color photograph, 89 × 120 ¼ inches (226 × 305.3 cm)
© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Young man wet with rain, 2011 Gelatin silver print, 58 ⅞ × 108 ⅜ inches (149.6 × 275.2 cm)© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Young man wet with rain, 2011

Gelatin silver print, 58 ⅞ × 108 ⅜ inches (149.6 × 275.2 cm)
© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Boxing, 2011 Color photograph, 84 ⅝ × 116 ⅛ inches (215 × 295 cm)© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Boxing, 2011

Color photograph, 84 ⅝ × 116 ⅛ inches (215 × 295 cm)
© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Monologue, 2013 Color photograph, 94 ½ × 111 ⅛ inches (240 × 282.3 cm)© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Monologue, 2013

Color photograph, 94 ½ × 111 ⅛ inches (240 × 282.3 cm)
© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Changing room, 2014 Inkjet print, 78 ⅝ × 43 inches (199.5 × 109 cm)© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Changing room, 2014

Inkjet print, 78 ⅝ × 43 inches (199.5 × 109 cm)
© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Mask maker, 2015 Inkjet print, 65 ⅞ × 53 inches (167.4 × 134.5 cm)© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Mask maker, 2015

Inkjet print, 65 ⅞ × 53 inches (167.4 × 134.5 cm)
© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Weightlifter, 2015 Gelatin silver print, 94 ⅛ × 118 ⅜ inches (239 × 300.5 cm), edition of 3 + 1 AP© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Weightlifter, 2015

Gelatin silver print, 94 ⅛ × 118 ⅜ inches (239 × 300.5 cm), edition of 3 + 1 AP
© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Mother of pearl, 2016 Inkjet print, 23 ⅝ × 27 ¾ inches (60 × 70.5 cm), edition of 8 + 3 AP© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Mother of pearl, 2016

Inkjet print, 23 ⅝ × 27 ¾ inches (60 × 70.5 cm), edition of 8 + 3 AP
© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Parent child, 2018 Inkjet print, 86 ⅝ × 108 ¼ inches (220 × 275 cm), edition of 3 + 1 AP© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Parent child, 2018

Inkjet print, 86 ⅝ × 108 ¼ inches (220 × 275 cm), edition of 3 + 1 AP
© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Man at a mirror, 2019 Inkjet print, 50 ⅜ × 58 ⅜ inches (128 × 148.2 cm), edition of 4 + 1 AP© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Man at a mirror, 2019

Inkjet print, 50 ⅜ × 58 ⅜ inches (128 × 148.2 cm), edition of 4 + 1 AP
© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Event, 2021 Inkjet print, 84 ⅜ × 63 inches (214.3 × 160 cm), edition of 3 + 1 AP© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Event, 2021

Inkjet print, 84 ⅜ × 63 inches (214.3 × 160 cm), edition of 3 + 1 AP
© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Sunseeker, 2021 Inkjet print, 45 ¼ × 52 ⅛ inches (115 × 132.5 cm), edition of 4 + 1 AP© Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Sunseeker, 2021

Inkjet print, 45 ¼ × 52 ⅛ inches (115 × 132.5 cm), edition of 4 + 1 AP
© Jeff Wall

About

I begin by not photographing.
—Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall’s work synthesizes the essentials of photography with elements from other art forms—including painting, cinema, and literature—in a complex mode that he calls “cinematography.” His pictures range from classical reportage to elaborate constructions and montages, usually produced at the larger scale traditionally identified with painting.

Wall was born in 1946 in Vancouver, Canada, where he still lives. He became involved with photography in the 1960s—the heyday of Conceptual art—and by the mid-1970s he had extended Conceptualism’s spirit of experimentation into his new version of pictorial photography. His pictures were made as backlit color transparencies, a medium identified at the time with publicity rather than photographic art. These works had a startling effect when exhibited in galleries and museums, playing a part in the establishment of color as an important aspect of the aesthetics of photography.

Some of Wall’s early pictures evoke the history of image making by overtly referring to other artworks: The Destroyed Room (1978) explores themes of violence and eroticism inspired by Eugène Delacroix’s monumental painting The Death of Sardanapalus (1827), while Picture for Women (1979) recalls Édouard Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergère (1882) and brings the implications of that famous painting into the context of the cultural politics of the late 1970s. These two pictures are models of a thread in Wall’s work that the artist calls “blatant artifice”: pictures that foreground the theatricality of both their subject and their production. Dead Troops Talk (1991–92), a large image depicting a hallucinatory moment from the Soviet war in Afghanistan, is a central example, and was one of the first works to employ digital-imaging technology, which has since transformed the landscape of photography. Wall was a pioneer in exploring this dimension and remains at the forefront of its development.

A second key direction in Wall’s work is what he calls the “near documentary.” These are pictures that resemble documentary photographs in style and manner but are made in collaboration with the people who appear in them. Wall works mostly with nonprofessional models in a way that recalls the neorealism of the Italian cinema of the 1950s and 1960s, creating images of everyday moments charged with complex meanings. By depicting incidents that he witnesses but does not attempt to photograph in the moment, he opens up formal and dramatic possibilities for pictures that, he has said, “contemplate the effects and meanings of documentary photographs.”

Since the mid-1990s Wall has expanded his repertoire, working with traditional black-and-white prints and, more recently, inkjet color prints.

Inkjet print of Jeff Wall's "In the Legion" (2022)

Jeff Wall: In the Domain of Likeness

The Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel, has staged a comprehensive Jeff Wall exhibition including more than fifty works spanning five decades. Here, Barry Schwabsky reflects on the enduring power of and mystery in Wall’s photography.

Jeff Wall at Gagosian, Beverly Hills, in front of his photography

Jeff Wall: An Exhibition Tour

Join Jeff Wall as he leads a tour through his latest exhibition in Beverly Hills. The artist speaks about the genesis and creation of each photograph, addressing the aesthetic decisions involved.

Jeff Wall, Low tide gull shadow, 2020, inkjet print, 23 x 26 inches (58.5 x 66 cm)

In Conversation
Jeff Wall and Gary Dufour

Jeff Wall speaks to Gary Dufour about his new photographs, made on the beachfront of English Bay in Vancouver, Canada, that record the endlessly varied and shifting patterns created in seaweed by the ebb and flow of the tide.

Jeff Wall, Dead Troops Talk (a vision after an ambush of a Red Army Patrol, near Moqor, Afghanistan, winter 1986), 1992, transparency in lightbox, 90 ⅛ × 164 ⅛ inches (229 × 417 cm)

Death Valley ’89: Jeff Wall vs. Photography

Daniel Spaulding considers formal and technical developments in the photographer’s work against the background of global shifts of power and politics, specifically the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

Josh Kline, Skittles, 2014, commercial fridge, lightbox, and blended liquids in bottles, 86 ½ × 127 ½ × 41 inches (219.7 × 323.9 × 104.1 cm) © Josh Kline. Photo:  © Timothy Schenck

Laws of Motion

Catalyzed by Laws of Motion—a group exhibition pairing artworks from the 1980s on by Jeff Koons, Cady Noland, Rosemarie Trockel, and Jeff Wall with contemporary sculptures by Josh Kline and Anicka Yi—Wyatt Allgeier discusses the convergences and divergences in these artists’ practices with an eye to the economic worlds from which they spring.

Installation view of Jeff Wall exhibition at Gagosian, New York

Jeff Wall: The Space of Photography

Jeff Wall leads a tour through his most recent exhibition in New York.

Gagosian Quarterly Summer 2019

Now available
Gagosian Quarterly Summer 2019

The Summer 2019 issue of Gagosian Quarterly is now available, featuring a detail from Afrylic by Ellen Gallagher on its cover.

Jeff Wall: The World as It Appears

Jeff Wall: The World as It Appears

The artist speaks with David Rimanelli about his newest works, the physicality of photography, and the persistence of certain motifs throughout his career.

Unreal Americans

Unreal Americans

Benjamin Nugent reflects on questions of verisimilitude and American life in the group exhibition I Don’t Like Fiction, I Like History at Gagosian, Beverly Hills.

Andreas Gursky and Jeff Wall

In Conversation
Andreas Gursky and Jeff Wall

On the occasion of a major survey of Andreas Gursky’s work at the Hayward Gallery in London, Gursky and Jeff Wall discuss the state of photography and the evolution of the medium.

Fairs, Events & Announcements

Gagosian’s booth at Paris Photo 2023. Artwork, left to right: © Man Ray 2015 Trust/ADAGP, Paris 2023; ©️ Estate of Jan Groover; © Kwame Brathwaite; © Jeff Wall; © 2023 June Leaf and Robert Frank Foundation; © Tyler Mitchell. Photo: Thomas Lannes

Art Fair

Paris Photo 2023
Still Life Stilled

November 9–12, 2023, booth b10
Grand Palais Ephémère, Paris
www.parisphoto.com

Gagosian is pleased to participate in Paris Photo 2023 at the Grand Palais Éphémère. Still Life Stilled is a catalytic presentation, organized by Joshua Chuang, of historical and contemporary works that explore photography’s unique capacity to both invest inanimate tableaux with substance and find meaning in suspending the theater of life.

Gagosian’s booth at Paris Photo 2023. Artwork, left to right: © Man Ray 2015 Trust/ADAGP, Paris 2023; ©️ Estate of Jan Groover; © Kwame Brathwaite; © Jeff Wall; © 2023 June Leaf and Robert Frank Foundation; © Tyler Mitchell. Photo: Thomas Lannes

Jeff Wall, Event, 2021 © Jeff Wall

Artist Talk

Summer Series
Jeff Wall

Thursday, July 28, 2022, 12:30pm MST
Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass Village, Colorado
andersonranch.org

As part of Anderson Ranch Arts Center’s Summer Series program, Jeff Wall will speak about his practice, which synthesizes the essentials of photography with elements from other art forms—including painting, cinema, and literature—in a complex mode that he calls “cinematography.” Summer Series: Featured Artists and Conversations explores the work of artists and curators through lectures, conversations, panel discussions, and question-and-answer sessions, with the aim of fostering a broader understanding of contemporary art and art making.

Register

Jeff Wall, Event, 2021 © Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall, Approach, 2014 © Jeff Wall

In Conversation

ICP Talks
Jeff Wall and David Campany

Wednesday, December 8, 2021, 6pm EST

As part of ICP Talks, an online lecture series organized by the International Center of Photography in New York, Jeff Wall will be joined by David Campany, ICP’s managing director of programs, in a discussion about the artist’s practice. Wall will consider how his interest in scale and the beholder in the exhibition space shape his image making as he moves between documentary and more cinematographic pictures. To join the event, purchase tickets at buy.acmeticketing.com.

Jeff Wall, Approach, 2014 © Jeff Wall

See all News for Jeff Wall

Museum Exhibitions

Installation view, Jeff Wall, Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel, January 28–April 21, 2024. Artwork © Jeff Wall. Photo: Mark Niedermann

On View

Jeff Wall

Through April 21, 2024
Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel
www.fondationbeyeler.ch

Jeff Wall, a comprehensive solo show dedicated to the artist, brings together fifty-five works from international museums, private collections, and Wall’s own holdings, including transparencies displayed in lightboxes, black-and-white photographs, and color photographic prints. Throughout the eleven rooms, more recent works forge a rich thematic and formal dialogue with early iconic pieces. The show also includes several new works on public view for the first time.

Installation view, Jeff Wall, Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel, January 28–April 21, 2024. Artwork © Jeff Wall. Photo: Mark Niedermann

Jeff Wall, A Sudden Gust of Wind (after Hokusai), 1993, Tate Modern, London © Jeff Wall

On View

Capturing the Moment

Through April 28, 2024
Tate Modern, London
www.tate.org.uk

Capturing the Moment explores the relationship between photography and painting through iconic artworks from the modern era. The exhibition examines how the two distinct mediums have shaped each other and how artists have blurred the boundaries to capture moments in time. Work by Francis Bacon, Georg Baselitz, John Currin, Andreas Gursky, Pablo Picasso, Jeff Wall, and Andy Warhol is included.

Jeff Wall, A Sudden Gust of Wind (after Hokusai), 1993, Tate Modern, London © Jeff Wall

Ed Ruscha, Victory, 1987, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh © Ed Ruscha

Closed

The Milton and Sheila Fine Collection

November 18, 2023–March 17, 2024
Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh
carnegieart.org

Milton and Sheila Fine have been longtime advocates and supporters of the arts in their philanthropy throughout the Pittsburgh region. Promised to Carnegie Museum of Art in 2015, their collection of contemporary painting, sculpture, photography, and drawing reflects their interest in American and German art from the 1980s to the 2000s. This exhibition, which is presented as a celebration and remembrance of Milton Fine, who passed away in 2019, foregrounds the importance and impact of the gift. Work by Richard Artschwager, Georg Baselitz, Mark Grotjahn, Donald Judd, Brice Marden, David ReedEd Ruscha, Richard SerraJeff Wall, and Christopher Wool is included.

Ed Ruscha, Victory, 1987, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh © Ed Ruscha

Rachel Whiteread, Untitled (For WHP), 2015 © Rachel Whiteread. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Closed

Reframed
The Woman in the Window

May 4–September 4, 2022
Dulwich Picture Gallery, London
www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk

Reframed: The Woman in the Window brings together more than fifty artworks from ancient civilizations to the present day to explore how artists have long used the motif of “the woman in the window” to elicit a particular kind of response, ranging from empathy to voyeurism. Featuring sculpture, painting, printmaking, photography, film, and installation art, the exhibition aims to identify key geographic locations, cultures, and time periods in which this visual trope has had a particular meaning and what it reveals about issues of gender and visibility. Work by Jeff Wall and Rachel Whiteread is included.

Rachel Whiteread, Untitled (For WHP), 2015 © Rachel Whiteread. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

See all Museum Exhibitions for Jeff Wall

Press

See all Press