Ian Carr-Harris
Tracings: Writing Art, 1975 –2020

As Canada’s representative at the 1984 Venice Biennale and having taught for many years at OCAD University in Toronto, Ian Carr-Harris is widely acknowledged as a leading artist and scholar. And now, with the launch of Tracings, a collection of over fifty essays and articles written over forty-five years, he is also celebrated as a seasoned writer. This compilation includes an extraordinary output of texts originally published in Vanguard, Artviews, Canadian Art, Parachute, and other art magazines; contributions to exhibition catalogues for Harbourfront Centre, The Power Plant, and the Art Gallery of Ontario; monographs published by YYZ Books; transcripts of lectures delivered at various conferences and forums; and a previously self-published collection of artist interviews produced in collaboration with his partner, Yvonne Lammerich.

Unlike the formidable task of ploughing through an encyclopedia of art history, reading Carr-Harris’s book is an uncommonly fresh and pleasurable experience. The accessibility of this impressive anthology of contemporary-art criticism, with pieces dating as far back as the mid-1970s, is enhanced by the preface; Dan Adler does a brilliant job of outlining the volume’s insights. The texts are categorized as debates, discussions about specific artists, self-curated projects, and general notes, all of which can be read as stand-alone essays and in no particular order.