Roy Arden
(Canadian, b. 1957)
d'Elegance #1, 2000
Gelatin silver print
Edition: AP/1 (Artist Proof 1)
Dimensions: 39 3/4 × 50 in. (101 × 127 cm)
In d'Elegance #1 (2000), Roy Arden captures the gutted chassis of an abandoned Cadillac sedan in an industrial lot. The title references Cadillac’s luxury trim package, establishing a sharp contrast between the promise of mid-century automotive prestige and its disposal in an urban landscape. Rendered in large-format black-and-white photography, the composition balances the dark structural lines of the car with the coarse textures of gravel, dirt, and corrugated siding.
Executed in 2000, d'Elegance #1 reflects Arden’s sustained focus on urban land use, industrial entropy, and modern waste. As a prominent figure in the Vancouver School of photo-conceptualism, alongside Jeff Wall, Rodney Graham, Stan Douglas, and Ken Lum, Arden approaches the landscape not as scenery, but as a site of economic and social conflict.
This large-format gelatin silver print is an Artist Proof (AP/1) and carries original provenance labeling from Monte Clark Gallery, Vancouver.
Subject of a major mid-career retrospective organized by the Vancouver Art Gallery (Roy Arden: Selected Works 1981–2007).
Solo exhibitions at key international institutions including the Ikon Gallery (UK), Contemporary Art Gallery (Vancouver), and Centre VOX (Montreal).
Represented in foundational survey exhibitions and monographs on Canadian photo-conceptualism.
Museum of Modern Art / MoMA (New York, NY)
Centre Pompidou (Paris, France)
National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa, ON)
Vancouver Art Gallery (Vancouver, BC)
Art Gallery of Ontario / AGO (Toronto, ON)
Staatsgalerie Stuttgart (Stuttgart, Germany)
Roy Arden
(Canadian, b. 1957)
d'Elegance #1, 2000
Gelatin silver print
Edition: AP/1 (Artist Proof 1)
Dimensions: 39 3/4 × 50 in. (101 × 127 cm)
In d'Elegance #1 (2000), Roy Arden captures the gutted chassis of an abandoned Cadillac sedan in an industrial lot. The title references Cadillac’s luxury trim package, establishing a sharp contrast between the promise of mid-century automotive prestige and its disposal in an urban landscape. Rendered in large-format black-and-white photography, the composition balances the dark structural lines of the car with the coarse textures of gravel, dirt, and corrugated siding.
Executed in 2000, d'Elegance #1 reflects Arden’s sustained focus on urban land use, industrial entropy, and modern waste. As a prominent figure in the Vancouver School of photo-conceptualism, alongside Jeff Wall, Rodney Graham, Stan Douglas, and Ken Lum, Arden approaches the landscape not as scenery, but as a site of economic and social conflict.
This large-format gelatin silver print is an Artist Proof (AP/1) and carries original provenance labeling from Monte Clark Gallery, Vancouver.
Subject of a major mid-career retrospective organized by the Vancouver Art Gallery (Roy Arden: Selected Works 1981–2007).
Solo exhibitions at key international institutions including the Ikon Gallery (UK), Contemporary Art Gallery (Vancouver), and Centre VOX (Montreal).
Represented in foundational survey exhibitions and monographs on Canadian photo-conceptualism.
Museum of Modern Art / MoMA (New York, NY)
Centre Pompidou (Paris, France)
National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa, ON)
Vancouver Art Gallery (Vancouver, BC)
Art Gallery of Ontario / AGO (Toronto, ON)
Staatsgalerie Stuttgart (Stuttgart, Germany)
