Barbara Astman belongs to a visionary group of artists who have continued to radicalize visual culture since the early 1970s by defining new ways of seeing. Over four decades, she has explored a wide range of photo-based media and produced work that has received national and international recognition. She is represented in important public, corporate and private collections, including the National Gallery of Canada, in Ottawa, the Bibliothèque Nationale, in Paris, the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), in Toronto, Deutsche Bank, in New York City, and the Victoria and Albert Museum, in London. Her artist’s archives are held in the E.P. Taylor Research Library & Archives, at the AGO.
As a Professor Emerita at OCAD University, in Toronto, she has been instrumental in inspiring generations of emerging artists. Active in the Toronto arts community, Astman has served on numerous boards and advisory committees, including the AGO Board of Trustees (2009–2013), and was President of the Board of Directors at the Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), in Toronto. Astman is represented by the Corkin Gallery, in Toronto, and the Paul Kyle Gallery, in Vancouver.
“For nearly 50 years, visual artist Barbara Astman has been creating a compelling and highly influential body of work in drawing, painting, sculpture/installation and photography. Yet to speak of her work in terms of these traditional media designations belies the innovative, experimental and inter-disciplinary nature of her practice. Astman’s work is contemporary in the truest sense of the word. She brings to her art a curiosity about new technological developments, an intimate connection to the present moment, and an active engagement with everyday life.”
Nominator: Scott McLeod, Director, Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art
See the artist’s works that are part of the Canada Council Art Bank collection.
“For nearly 50 years, visual artist Barbara Astman has been creating a compelling and highly influential body of work[.]”
Selected works
Barbara Astman, Untitled from the i was thinking about you ... series, 1980, Ektacolor mural, 121.90 cm x 152.40 cm.
Private collection.
Image courtesy of the Corkin Gallery
Barbara Astman, Untitled from the Red Series, 1981, Ektacolor mural, 121.90 cm x 121.90 cm.
Collection of the Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto, Ontario).
Image courtesy of the Corkin Gallery
Barbara Astman, Scenes from a Movie for One (No. 1), 1997, digital archival print, 391.40 cm x 76.20 cm.
Collection of the McMaster Museum of Art (Hamilton, Ontario).
Image courtesy of the Corkin Gallery
Barbara Astman, Dancing with Che (No. 23), 2002, Polaroid, 8.89 cm x 10.80 cm.
Collection of the Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto, Ontario).
Image courtesy of the Corkin Gallery
Barbara Astman, Newspaper Series (Highstyle), 2006, digital archival print, 101.60 cm x 193.00 cm.
Collection of Museum Weurth (Kunzelsau, Germany).
Image courtesy of the Corkin Gallery
Barbara Astman, Clementine Part IV (canvas bags) detail, 2006, canvas bags with digital heat transfer images, variable dimensions according to the location it is installed.
Collection of the artist.
Image courtesy of the Corkin Gallery
Barbara Astman, Clementine Series Part II (disco lights) detail, 2006, plastic disco lights, acetate faces and vellum, variable dimensions according to the location it is installed.
Collection of the artist.
Image courtesy of the Corkin Gallery
Barbara Astman, installation view of Dancing with Che: Enter through the Gift Shop at McMaster Museum of Art (Hamilton,Ontario), 2013, installation consisting of 12 tote bags, 31 coasters, 31 buttons, 62 key-chains, 31 mugs, 16 plates, 18 decks of playing cards, 20 T-shirts, 16 decorative tiles, 961 copies of 31 distinct postcards, 5 tapestries, 25 artist books, 12 artist videos, variable dimensions.
Collection of the artist.
Image courtesy of the Corkin Gallery
Barbara Astman, Domestic Warrior (No. 15), 2015, digital archival print, 109.85 cm x 112.40 cm.
Collection of the artist.
Image courtesy of the Corkin Gallery
Barbara Astman, Portraits and Conversations with Empty Vessels (No. 297), 2019, photogram, 35.56 cm x 35.56 cm.
Collection of the artist.
Image courtesy of the Corkin Gallery
Barbara Astman, Portraits and Conversations with Empty Vessels (40-part grid A), 2019, digital archival print, 11.76 cm x 73.66 cm.
Collection of the artist.
Image courtesy of the Corkin Gallery
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