Jan Wade
Individual
Roles
ArtistBiography
Jan Wade was born in Hamilton, Ontario to a Black Canadian father with familial origins in the American South and a Canadian mother of European descent. Raised in a relatively segregated but close-knit Black community within the city, her formative years were heavily influenced by her local African Methodist Episcopal Church. She was also greatly influenced by Southern US Black culture and aesthetics from the perspectives of her paternal grandmother and great-grandmother. Wade studied at the Ontario College of Art and Design from 1972–1976. She moved to Vancouver in 1983 and became part of the underground art and music scene in the city, with its innovative performances, do-it-yourself art shows, anti-establishment ethos, and spontaneous happenings. During this period, Wade began her research into African diasporic spiritual practices and decided she wanted her art to reflect where she came from and who she is, commencing her unique artistic journey marked by self-sufficiency, empowerment, hope, and radical joy. The Vancouver-based artist produces a wide range of mixed-media works made entirely from found or readymade objects and recycled materials. After three decades spent on the fringe of the cultural mainstream, Wade has received overdue acknowledgement for her unique contributions to Canadian art. Jan Wade: Soul Power—the landmark first solo exhibition by a Black woman in the Vancouver Art Gallery’s ninety-year history—presented the artist’s mixed-media assemblages, paintings, textiles, and sculptural objects from the 1990s to the present day from July 10, 2021 to March 13, 2022.Mónica Reyes Gallery, 2023
Collection
grunt gallery Programming Archive (Artist)Related programs
Soul Tone Poem (Artist)Altered (Artist)
Halfbred Series (Artist)
Related Archive, Library & Publication Objects
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