For over forty years, Barbara Steinman’s work has consistently given shape to migration of identities and symbols, as well as the intertwined pathways of time and history, of individual and collective memory. From her critically acclaimed installations of the 1980s and 1990s, that were often site-specific and multimedia, to her more recent photographic series addressing the echo of time-based forms (the flight of a bird, a soundwave, or a magnetic tape), through numerous private and public commissions including the new Canadian Embassy in Berlin awarded in 2002, Steinman uses a great variety of media and materials to explore what she once called “layers of impermanence”.
Known for her multidisciplinary work, Barbara Steinman began her career in Vancouver as a video artist. At the beginning of the 1980s she was the co-director of artist-run centers Vidéo Véhicule and Powerhouse Gallery in Montreal.
Steinman’s works have been presented in numerous biennials and exhibitions in Canada, Europe, Japan, and the US, among which the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the National Gallery of Canada. Steinman was the recipient of the Governor General’s Award for her outstanding contribution to the fields of visual and media arts (2002). She received an honorary doctorate from Concordia University in Montreal (2015). Her work is represented by Olga Korper Gallery in Toronto and Galerie Françoise Paviot in Paris.
Photo: Dominique Malaterre
Exhibitions
- 2024
Winter Group Exhibition
202350th Anniversary Group Show
2022It's Not Fair
2021Keeping Time
2021Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival - She Has Something To Say
2021Starting Over...Again
2020Art Toronto 2020
2020The New Normal
2016Barbara Steinman Exhibition 2016
2013Reconfigurations
News Stories
- Barbara Steinman in Vie des arts
- Barbara Steinman at TrépanierBaer Gallery
- Barbara Steinman CBC Radio Interview
- Barbara Steinman recipient of the 2022 Paul-Émile-Borduas Prize
- Barbara Steinman in Border Crossings
- Diving for Dreams 2019
- Winter White at Olga Korper Gallery
- Between Land and Sky at Olga Korper Gallery
Available Artworks
artwork detail
Magnetic Tape: Half-inch, No. 1, 2013
Barbara SteinmanChromogenic print, Fuji Crystal Archive paper, glossy, ed. of 5 42.5” x 58”
Magnetic Tape: Half-inch, No. 2, 2013
Barbara SteinmanChromogenic print, Fuji Crystal Archive paper, glossy, ed. of 5 42.5” x 58”
Shards: Compact Disc, No. 2, 2013
Barbara SteinmanChromogenic print, Fuji Crystal Archive paper, glossy, ed. of 5 42.5” x 58”
Shards: Compact Disc, No. 1, 2013
Barbara SteinmanChromogenic print, Fuji Crystal Archive paper, glossy, ed. of 5 42.5” x 58”
Flight: After Muybridge - Plate 755, 1887, No. 8, 2008
Barbara Steinmangiclée print, ed. of 5 28.75” x 28.75”
Flight: After Muybridge - Plate 755, 1887, No. 7, 2008
Barbara Steinmangiclée print, ed. of 5 28.75” x 28.75”
Flight: After Muybridge - Plate 755, 1887, No. 2, 2008
Barbara Steinmangiclée print, ed. of 5 28.75” x 28.75”
Flight: After Muybridge - Plate 755, 1887, No. 1, 2008
Barbara Steinmangiclée print, ed. of 5 28.75” x 28.75”
Keeping Time No. 116, 2021
Barbara Steinmanchromogenic print on Caslon Photographique rag paper ed. of 5 19” x 15”
Keeping Time No. 132, 2021
Barbara Steinmanchromogenic print on Caslon Photographique rag paper ed. of 5 19” x 15”
Keeping Time No. 172, 2021
Barbara Steinmanchromogenic print on Caslon Photographique rag paper ed. of 5 19” x 15”
Keeping Time No. 281, 2021
Barbara Steinmanchromogenic print on Caslon Photographique rag paper ed. of 5 19” x 15”
Keeping Time No. 532, 2021
Barbara Steinmanchromogenic print on Caslon Photographique rag paper ed. of 5 19” x 15”
Keeping Time No. 487, 2021
Barbara Steinmanchromogenic print on Caslon Photographique rag paper ed. of 5 19” x 15”
Keeping Time No. 306, 2021
Barbara Steinmanchromogenic print on Caslon Photographique rag paper ed. of 5 19” x 15”
Keeping Time No. 430, 2021
Barbara Steinmanchromogenic print on Caslon Photographique rag paper ed. of 5 19” x 15”
Keeping Time No. 166, 2021
Barbara Steinmanchromogenic print on Caslon Photographique rag paper ed. of 5 19” x 15”
Keeping Time No. 456, 2021
Barbara Steinmanchromogenic print on Caslon Photographique rag paper ed. of 5 19” x 15”
Keeping Time No. 246, 2021
Barbara Steinmanchromogenic print on Hahnemühle rag Baryta paper, ed. of 3 48" x 37"
Keeping Time No. 129, 2021
Barbara Steinmanchromogenic print on Hahnemühle rag Baryta paper, ed. of 3 48" x 37"
Keeping Time No. 37, 2021
Barbara Steinmanchromogenic print on Caslon Photographique rag paper ed. of 5 19” x 15”
Keeping Time No. 97, 2021
Barbara Steinmanchromogenic print on Caslon Photographique rag paper ed. of 5 19” x 15”
Keeping Time No. 536, 2021
Barbara Steinmanchromogenic print on Caslon Photographique rag paper ed. of 5 19” x 15”
Keeping Time No. 106, 2021
Barbara Steinmanchromogenic print on Caslon Photographique rag paper ed. of 5 19” x 15”
Keeping Time No. 2, 2021
Barbara Steinmanchromogenic print on Caslon Photographique rag paper ed. of 5 19” x 15”
Keeping Time No. 261, 2021
Barbara Steinmanchromogenic print on Caslon Photographique rag paper ed. of 5 19” x 15”
Keeping Time No. 439, 2021
Barbara Steinmanchromogenic print on Caslon Photographique rag paper ed. of 5 19” x 15”
Keeping Time No. 46, 2021
Barbara Steinmanchromogenic print on Caslon Photographique rag paper ed. of 5 19” x 15”
Keeping Time No. 130, 2021
Barbara Steinmanchromogenic print on Caslon Photographique rag paper ed. of 5 19” x 15”
Keeping Time No. 120, 2021
Barbara Steinmanchromogenic print on Caslon Photographique rag paper ed. of 5 19” x 15”
Keeping Time No. 128, 2021
Barbara Steinmanchromogenic print on Caslon Photographique rag paper ed. of 5 19” x 15”
Keeping Time No. 356, 2021
Barbara Steinmanchromogenic print on Caslon Photographique rag paper ed. of 5 24.25” x 20.25” framed
Keeping Time No. 8, 2021
Barbara Steinmanchromogenic print on Caslon Photographique rag paper ed. of 5 19” x 15”
