Michael Snow

A biography of Canada's greatest living artist.

Michael Snow is rightly recognized as the greatest living Canadian artist, and he is also acknowledged as one of the most significant figures in Canadian art history. In a productive, lengthy career, he has, in a wide variety of genres, asked (and often answered) some of the most vexing and important issues in the history of art. During his career, the notion of what constitutes a work of art has undergone many changes, and he has been in the forefront of this activity.

In many ways, he is the visual artist as intellectual: his images are vibrant and compelling but so are the ideas behind them. Ultimately, his work is about perception. What do we really see when we look at a work of art? What is the act of looking all about? What exactly is a work of art?