Stan Douglas’ “Abbott and Cordova”

Douglas has made work about the neighbourhood in the past, in projects like the recombinant narrative film Win, Place or Show about a never-realized social housing project in Strathcona and the massive Every Building on 100 West Hastings panorama, but this is (arguably) his first staged photograph using human subjects, which makes it pretty unusual. Its huge scale and prominent public display have also made it the centre of recent articles in The Globe & Mail and The Vancouver Sun. So far public reactions to it seem positive, but that might be because of the general public disdain for the Vancouver Police Department after years of anti-demonstration, pepper spray, and taser-related incidents.

A small-scale version of Abbott and Cordova is on view at David Zwirner, along with other photographic studies that informed the final image, in the exhibition “Humour, Irony and the Law” until Dec. 23. More information can be found here.

The full-scale version debuts at the new Woodward’s building in Vancouver some time in June.

Edit: Vancouver’s multi-talented CJB has also weighed in on Douglas’ new photograph here (his analysis also includes a quick nod to Jeff Wall’s “Liquid Intelligence” essay – apparently the theme of the week).