Jeff Wall has lived in his hometown of Vancouver for all but four years of his life. Most of the images he has created are shot in and around that city, yet his art transcends these local subjects and addresses universal themes of history and memory. That explains why his work is celebrated around the world and has been the subject of countless international exhibitions from the Tate Modern, to MoMa, to the Art Institute of Chicago. His importance to photoconceptualism is recognized throughout the art world and his cinematographic pictures are immensely popular with the public and the academy alike.
The images he has chosen for North and West explore the meaning of history and how we remember the cities we inhabit. The towns imprinted in our minds no longer exist. Urban landscapes constantly change but the remnants of the past remain and history's influence never ends. North and West is a succinct and indispensable look into the profoundly moving and influential oeuvre of Jeff Wall.