Wanda Koop
(1951–)
Wanda Koop
1951–
Wanda Koop (1951- ) is a Canadian interdisciplinary artist who was born in Vancouver and is currently based in Winnipeg. She creates large-scale paintings and multi-media works that incorporate video, sound, and dance/performance. Her paintings explore abstraction and figuration, sometimes intermixing recognizable forms with abstracted backgrounds and overlays. She uses muted tones with pops of vibrant colour or bold shapes to draw the viewer’s attention to specific points of the canvas.
In 1973, she graduated from the Lemoine FitzGerald School of Art at the University of Manitoba. While completing her studies in 1972, Koop's work was exhibited at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. In the following three decades, Koop would hold numerous solo shows across Canada and abroad. A major retrospective of her work was held from 2010 to 2011 by the National Gallery of Canada and the Winnipeg Art Gallery. In 1998, she helped found the Art City community art centre in Winnipeg, and she has continued her work as a community activist throughout her career.
Her work has been acquired by many major institutions and collections, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, Air Canada, and the Reykjavik Art Museum in Iceland. She has also received many awards and recognitions throughout her career, including being appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2006.