Douglas Coupland must have at least three brains. The Canadian graduated from the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in Vancouver in the mid-1980s, and continued his studies in that field in Japan and Italy. Then came a change of direction; Coupland concentrated on creating literary works during the 1990s, penning many critically acclaimed books including the influential Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, before diving back in to the visual arts, and it is this branch of the multi-disciplinarian’s output that is reviewed in the monograph Douglas Coupland: everywhere is anywhere is anything is everything, out now from Black Dog Publishing.
Themes are seen to crossover from Coupland’s writing to his paintings, sculpture and installations, and in fact text is an important medium in his visual art. The bold presentation of ideas on modern life and relationships is evident in works such as Everyone on Earth Is Feeling The Same Way You Do – a reassuring, terrifying, or depressing thought depending on your point of view – and the role of technology also pervades his art, both in subject matter and in his production techniques. A companion exhibition has recently run at Vancouver Art Gallery and the book, featuring commissioned texts from Hans-Ulrich Obrist and REM frontman Michael Stipe among others, is available now from the publisher.
Everyone on Earth is Feeling the Same Way That You Do
Slogans for the early Twenty-First Century,
Exhibition Or Gallery, Berlin 2014
Canada House, 2003,
detail, picture Martin Tessler
Luggage Tag Sunset No. 4, 2013,
acrylic on canvas
I wait and I wait and I wait for God to appear
Canada House, 2003,
Installation in a 3 bedroon bungalow in West Vancouver
Picture by Martin Tessier
Installation view
Super City exhibition, CCA 2005
Harris Maligne Lake,
Sampson-Matthews Variant, 2011
The Future Loves You
Slogans for the early Twenty-First Century,
Exhibition Or Gallery, Berlin 2014
All images courtesy, Black Dog Publishing
everywhere is anywhere is anything is everything,
© Douglas Coupland
