Michael Snow, Canadian artist who ‘knew no boundaries,’ dies at 94 | 24CA News

Michael Snow, a legendary Canadian artist who graced Toronto with two well-known items of public artwork, has died. He was 94.

Snow, born in Toronto in 1928, died on Thursday, based on Tamsen Greene, senior director of New York’s Jack Shainman Gallery, which represented him. Snow studied on the Ontario College of Art, now known as Ontario College of Art and Design University.

The Art Gallery of Ontario stated Snow was “known internationally as a painter, sculptor, filmmaker, musician and author.”

The artwork world is mourning his loss of life. Tributes to his work are being posted on Twitter. Snow is being remembered for groundbreaking work.

In Toronto, Snow is understood for Flight Stop, a set of life-sized Canadian geese in flight on the Eaton Centre, and The Audience, two large, gold-painted sculptures on the Rogers Centre depicting sports activities followers in celebration.

OCAD University stated that Snow “knew no boundaries.”

“His work explored a wide range of media including iconic and groundbreaking film, installation, sculpture, photography, and music. OCAD University mourns his passing,” the varsity stated within the tweet on Friday.

Sarah Milroy, chief curator on the McMichael Art Gallery in Kleinburg, Ont., north of Toronto, described Snow as a “one of the leading lions” in Canadian artwork.

“All of us at the McMichael celebrate his myriad accomplishments across the media of painting, sculpture, film, photography and experimental music,” Milroy stated in a tweet on Friday.

National Gallery calls Snow a ‘big within the artwork world’

In an announcement on Friday, the National Gallery of Canada stated it was “deeply saddened” by his loss of life. It known as him a “giant in the art world” in Canada and all over the world.

“His innovative, versatile artworks radiate beyond our borders, and made him a formidable ambassador,” the assertion reads. 

“Snow’s influence spans multiple generations; his legacy one of transforming in unprecedented ways the relationship between the artwork and the viewer. His creative experiments challenged perceptions and ultimately changed how we might understand art, the world and one other.”

According to the web site of the Jack Shainman Gallery, Snow’s work explored “the nature of perception, consciousness, language, and temporality.”

It stated Snow was “one of the world’s leading experimental filmmakers” due to his movie Wavelength, which was launched in 1967. Noted for its 45-minute digital camera zoom, it’s thought to be groundbreaking experimental cinema.

In 1970, Snow was featured in a solo exhibition on the Venice Biennale.

A biography on the Art Canada Institute web site describes Snow as a self-taught musician who performed piano in jazz bands. In 1974, he was part of the Canadian Creative Music Collective, an improvisation group that based Toronto’s Music Gallery.

He was awarded the Order of Canada in 1981 and upgraded to a Companion of the Order of Canada in 2007.