This biography from the Archives of AskART:
|  Known as Canada’s pioneering conceptual artist, Iain Baxter has for some forty years produced daring, singular and sensitive works and ideas that have surprised and destabilized both critics and the public. His initial academic training was in zoology and biology, followed by studies in the psychology of education, philosophy and fine arts, as well as Zen philosophy, thanks to a scholarship accorded by the Japanese government. This eclectic journey was to lay the foundations for a prolific artistic practice.
In 1966, Baxter gained attention with his installation Bagged Place, a reconstitution of a complete modern home, including furniture and day-to-day objects—all carefully bagged in clear plastic. The same year, he founded N.E. Thing Co. (the enterprise was a joint venture of Baxter and his partner Ingrid, but was dissolved in 1978 when the couple separated). Via the company, he developed an aesthetics that questioned the accepted structures involved in the creation and production of works of art, the system of art and its marketing mechanisms, as well as the very organization of thought. Iain Baxter was also the first artist working in Canada to exploit various practices: these included the first installation, the first use of a light box, and the first experimentation with information technologies whereby he was able to create art works “remotely.”
In the process Baxter devised a way of doing, and of thinking, that was to earn him recognition among critics and curators abroad (he took part in projects initiated by Germano Celant, Lucy Lippard and Seth Siegelaub for instance) and allowed him to show his work at international events (in 1969, he represented Canada at the Bienal de São Paulo). Since winding up N.E. Thing Co. in 1978, Baxter has pursued his artistic career both solo and in collaboration with others (in recent years he has produced works in tandem with Louise Chance Baxter), questioning more specifically the system of capital, commodification and objects and the way we live in, treat and consider the landscape and environment.
His achievements have been recognized via major prizes and distinctions, among them the Canada Council for the Arts Molson Prize, the Governor-General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, and appointments as a member of the Royal Canadian Academy, Officer of the Order of Canada and a Honorary Doctorate from University of British Columbia. He was also made Professor Emeritus by the University of Windsor before his retirement from its Visual Arts department.
Source: VOX Contemporary Image – http://www.voxphoto.com/english/index.html
CURRICULUM VITAE
Source: The Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art.
http://ccca.finearts.yorku.ca/cv/english/baxter-cv.html
Baxter has been a practicing artist since 1956,
in 1966-78 worked with Ingrid Baxter as the N.E. Thing Company.
EDUCATION
1964 Washington State University, Master of Fine Arts in Painting, Pullman, Washington
1962 University of Idaho, Master of Education, Moscow, Idaho
1961 Kyoto University, Department of Fine Arts, Kyoto, Japan
1959 University of Idaho, Bachelor of Science in Zoology, Moscow, Idaho
PROJECTS
1992 One Canada Video (5,000 miles of videotaped landscape; 100 hours of Canadian landscape)
1988 White Winter Snow (Internationally televised performance in Olympic Plaza, Calgary, Alberta)
1987 Sensitive Information Inc., product and graphic design company, Calgary, Alberta
1982-83 Creative Consultant to S. Oland, President, Labatt Brewing Co., Toronto, Ontario
1982 Instant America, 12,000 mile tour of America, sponsored by Polaroid Corporation, Boston, Massachussetts
1977 Eye Scream Restaurant, 2043 W. 4th Street, Vancouver, British Columbia
1976 Vancouver Magazine, co-founder, Vancouver, British Columbia
1974-75 Established a Cibachrome Photo Lab called N.E. Professional Photo Display Labs Ltd., Vancouver, British Columbia
1972 Edgeley Community Athletics, N.E. Thing Co. Ltd. Hockey team sponsorship, Downsview, Ontario
1970 Conceived and co-organised conference on Art and Computers at Simon Fraser University,
Vancouver, British Columbia
1970 Consultant on program concepts, CBC, Ottawa and CTV, Vancouver, British Columbia
1969 Organized conference on Sensitivity Information, Communications & Ramifications in connection with the N.E. Thing Co.
Environment at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, participants included Brydon Smith, David Silcox,
Lucy Lippard, Seth Seiglaub, John Chandler, Ann Brodzky, Don Theill, Dennis Reid, Mark Whitney,
Greg Curnoe and Pierre Theberge
1965 Festival of Fine Arts, Designer of Visual Area of “Medium is the Message”, multisensory public happening,
University of British Columbia, (described in “Kandy Kolored Tangarine Flaked Streamlined Baby”, by Tom Wolfe)
1963 National Gallery of Canada, Assistant to Russell Harper, Curator of Canadian Art, Ottawa, Ontario
(Worked on Homer Watson exhibition and catalogue)
1960 Assistant to several curators, Glenbow Foundation, Calgary, Alberta (Compiled natural history material
and biographies on artists in early west)
1959 Illustrator of bird and animal drawings for a Wildlife Guide to the Northern Rocky Mountains and a
Wildlife Guide to California
1958–59 Research Assistant to Prof. Earl Larrison, (rodent population and ecology research in Raft River area
of Southern Idaho and Utah, Biological Science Department, University of Idaho, summer projects
COLLECTIONS
Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton, Ontario
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario
Art Gallery of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario
Art Metropole, Toronto, Ontario
Brock Hall Collection, Vancouver, British Columbia
Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa, Ontario
Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, Michigan
Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta
Gemeentemuseum, The Hague, Netherlands
Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Alberta
Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, California
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Quebec
Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
Nickle Art Gallery, University of Calgary, Alberta
Norman MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, Saskatchewan
Owens Art Gallery, Sackville, New Brunswick
Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Civic Centre, Oshawa, Ontario
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia
Univeristy of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta
Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia
Victoria Art Gallery, Victoria, British Columbia
York University, Toronto, Ontario
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Teaching Appointments
1988- University of Windsor, Department of Visual Arts, Professor, Windsor, ONT
1985-88 Alberta College of Art, Calgary, Alberta
PUBLISHED WRITINGS and ARTIST PROJECTS by Iain Baxter
1995 “Robert Smithson, A Recollection”, Robert Smithson Exhibition Catalogue, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario
1992 “Media Works, N.E. Thing Co. Ltd. & Iain Baxter”, Art Metropole, Toronto, March, 1992
1992 Pryke, Ken, W. Soderlund. Profiles of Canada, Oxford University Press, 1992
1990-91 Wayzgoose, interdisciplinary publication, University of Windsor, (edition of 200).
1988 Olympic Plaza, White Winter Snow performance, Calgary, Alberta, performance shown on CNN
1981 Baxter, Iain and Arends, Helena. “Netherland Institute of Advanced Studies 10th Anniversary , 1971-81”,
Netherland Institute of Advanced Studies, The Hague, Holland
1981 Iain Baxter: Reflected Paris Polaroid Beauty Spots, Canadian Cultural Centre, Paris, France
1980 Fire, Generation, Paris, Artist/poet book, edition of 30, published by Gervais Jassaud
1979 Ever Ready, Iain Baxter, Southern Alberta Art Gallery, exhibition companion, Lethbridge, Alberta
1979 Vancouver Beauty Spots, Iain Baxter, Southern Alberta Art Gallery, exhibition companion, Lethbridge, Alberta
1979 Reflections: Lethbridge, Iain Baxter, Southern Alberta Art Gallery, exhibition companion, Lethbridge, Alberta
1979 Thrown Camera Photographs, Iain Baxter, Southern Alberta Art Gallery, exhibition companion, Lethbridge, Alberta
1978 N.E. THING CO. LTD. Kunsthall Basel, Vol 1, Exhibition Catalogue, Kunsthall Basel, Switzerland
1978 N.E THING CO. LTD., Another Two Projects: People/Language and Eye Scream, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia
1976 N.E. THING CO. LTD., Celebration of the Body, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston, Ontario
1972 Made by Man/Woman, one act play written 1968, performed December 1972, Faculty Theatre Lab, Toronto, Ontario
1970 Press Release, Simon Fraser University to 150 international art critics, Vancouver, British Columbia
1970 Environment & Architecture, a published display of artist’ viewpoint, by
Architecture Canada Magazine, Toronto, Ontario
1970 Book Supplement Show, organised by Seth Seiglaub, for Studio International Magazine, vol. 180, No, 924
1970 N.E. THING CO. LTD., North American Time Zone Photo-VSI Simultaneity, October 18, 1970, Edition III, Vancouver:
N.E. THING CO. LTD., Edition of 111, Artists/photographers were Chris Pratt, Newfoundland, Gerald Ferguson,
Halifax, Jack Chambers, London, Ken Lockeed, Winnipeg, Harry Savage, Edmonton, Iain Baxter, Vancouver
1970 N.E. THING CO.,, Trans-VSI Connection NSCAD-NETCO, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax, Nova Scotia
1969 Look at the N.E. THING CO./Voyez la Companie N.E. THING, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
1969 Report on the Activities of the N.E. THING CO. LTD., of North Vancouver, B.C.,
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
1968 N.E. THING CO. LTD., A Portfolio of Piles, U.B.C. Fine Arts Gallery, Edition of 555,
University of British Columbia, Vancouver
1966 Report on the Teaching of Art Using Non-Verbal Techniques, Art Journal, University of Idaho and
Washington State University, Summer 1966, pp. 370-71, published by the College Art Association of America
1961 Baxter, Baker, Larrison, Yocum. Wildlife of the Northern Rocky Mountains, Vol. 6 of The American Wildlife Region Series),
Illustrator, Naturegraph Co., Heraldsburg, California
1960 Baxter, Iain, J.W. & Larrison, Earl J. “The Squirrels of Idaho”, Journal of Idaho Science, Vol 1, No. 41-62
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Catalogues
Iain Baxter: Landscape Works, Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff, Alberta, 1999
Making it New! (the big sixties show), Art Gallery of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, 1999
Sixteen Hundred Miles North of Denver, Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, Vancouver 1999
N.E. Thing Co. The Ubiquitous Concept, Oakville Galleries, Oakville, Ontario, 1995
Reconsidering the Object of Art, 1965-75, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, California, 1995
Conceptual Art – An American Perspective, McFarland & Co., London, 1994
You are Now in the Middle of an N.E. Thing Co. Landscape, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, 1993
Reflecting Paradise, Expo ’93, Taejon, Korea, 1993
Media Works, Art Metropole, Toronto, Ontario, 1992
Fear of Others: Art Against Racism, World Fair Pavilion, Vancouver, 1989
Picturing California: A Century of Photographic Genius, Oakland Museum, Oakland, California, 1989
Out-Side-In, Nickle Art Gallery, Calgary, Alberta, 1988
L’Artiste au Jardin, Rimuski Museum of Art, Rimouski, Quebec, 1988
Crown Point Press Prints, Museum of Modern Art and Oakland Art Museum, 1988
From Sea to Shining Sea, Power Plant Gallery, Toronto, Ontario, 1987
Food for Thought, Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff, Alberta, 1987
Selected View-Longstaff Collector 1959-84, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, 1984
Sequences, Peterborough Art Gallery, Peterborough, Ontario, 1983
Vancouver Art and Artists 1931-83, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, 1983
Museums by Artist, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, 1983
Baxter – Any Choice Works, 1965 – 70, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, 1982
Iain Baxter, Instantaneous Response – Polaroid Photo Art, Alberta College of Art, Calgary, Alberta, 1981
Reflected Paris Beauty Spots, Canadian Cultural Centre, Paris, France, 1981
Gemeentemuseum, Iain Baxter – Polaroid Photo Art, Den Haag, Netherlands, 1981
Pluralities, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, 1980
10 Canadians in the 80’s, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, 1980
Earthworks: Symposium, Seattle Civic Centre, Seattle, Washington, 1979
10 Canadian Artists, Kunstmuseum, Basel, Switzerland, 1978
Another 2 Projects: People/Language & Eye Scream Restaurant, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, 1977
Iain Baxter: Celebration of the Body, Agnes Etherington Gallery, Queens University, Kingston, Ontario, 1976
West Coast Waves, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba, 1976
One of 17 Canadians Show, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, and Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, 1975
Sensitivity Information. Research by the N.E. Thing Co. Ltd. On Snow, Ice, Water, the North and the General Phenomenon of Winter, Peter White Gallery, Banff, Alberta, 1973
Realism, Revulsion and Omission, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queens University, Kingston, Ontario, 1972
Mail Art, Paris Biennale, Paris, France, 1972
49th Parallels, Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Illinois, 1971
Lithographs, National Gallery of Canada, 1971
Situation Concepts, Galerie im Taxipalais, Innsbruck, Austria, 1971
Information, Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York, 1970
Conceptual Art and Conceptual Aspects, New York Cultural Centre, New York, New York, 1970
Art in the Mind, Oberlin College, Ohio, 1970
950,000, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, 1970
Concept Art – Art Povera: Land Art, Turin, Italy, 1970
A Plastic Presence, Milwaukee Art Center, Milwaukee, 1970
Survey 70, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Quebec, 1969
Summer Show, (Seth Siegelaub), 1969
March, (Seth Siegelaub), 1969
A Plastic Presence, Jewish Museum New York, 1969
10th Sao Paulo Biennale, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1969
577,087, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1969
N.E. Thing Co., Ltd, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, 1969
Trans-V.S.I., 1969
Art by Telephone, Chicago, Illinois, Museum of Contemporary Art (Catalogue in form of 33 1-2 record), 1969
Concept Art, Leverkusen City Museum, Germany, 1969
New Art of Vancouver, Newport Harbour Art Museum, Balboa, California, 1969
March, New York Museum, New York, New York, 1969
New Multiple Art, Arts Council of Great Britain, London, England, 1969
Soft Sculpture, American Federation of Arts, 1968
New Media, New Directions, Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York, 1968
Younger Vancouver: Crossection ’68, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria 1968
Canada 101, Edinburgh Festival of Arts, Edinburgh, Scotland, 1968
Canadian Artists 68, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, 1968
7th Biennial of Canadian Art, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, 1968
West Coast Now, Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon, 1968
Younger Vancouver Sculptors, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, 1968
Henry Saxe and N.E. Thing Co. Ltd., National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, 1968
Third Triennial International Exhibition of Prints and Drawings, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, 1968
Transparency/Reflection, Calstate College, Fullerton, California, 1968
4th National Burnaby Print Show, Burnaby Art Gallery, Burnaby, British Columbia, 1967
Perspective 67, Canadian Centennial Exhibition, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, 1967
Centennial Drawings, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, 1967
Sculpture 67, National Centennial Exhibition, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, 1967
Joy and Celebration, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, 1967
Plastics, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, 1967
Statements, Norman MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, Saskatchewan, 1967
Western Painting 67, Centennial Commission Show, 1967
Painting 66, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, 1966
Toys by Contemporary Artists, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, 1966
Spring Show, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Quebec, 1965
Focus on Drawing, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, 1965
Beyond Regionalism, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, 1965
34th Annual Painting Show, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, 1965
6th Biennial of Canadian Art, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, 1965
Canadian Watercolours, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, 1964
Spring Show, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Quebec, 1964
33rd Annual Painting Show, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, 1964
Drawings U.S.A., St. Paul Arts Centre, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1963
5th Biennial Canadian Art Exhibition, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, 1963
10th Annual Young Contemporaries of Canada Retrospective, London Public Library and Art Museum, London, Ontario, 1962
Spring Show, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Quebect, 1961
Young Contemporaries, London Public Library and Art Museum, London, Ontario, 1960
Published Writing on Iain Baxter
“7 Fotografen Op Polaroid SX-70.” Foto Magazine, pp. 36-52, August 1981
“Arts – In Search of Innovation”, Time, December 7, 1970
“Concept Art,” Harper’s Bazaar, April 1970
“Discussion on Cultural Devolution in Canada”, C.B.C. Radio, Sept. 24, 1991
“Environment & Architecture”, published display of artists viewpoints, by Architecture Canada Magazine, Toronto, Ontario, 1970
“Iain Baxter: Polaroid Photo Art”, Massacultuur, The Hague, Holland, HaagsGemeentemuseum
“Ideas & Inspiration, Contemporary Canadian Art”, Pebble Beach Interactive Inc., Ministry of Education, Province of Saskatchewan, 1996
“Jolly Bagman”, Time, September 1, 1967, pg. 4
“One Man Show – Iain Baxter”. Art-Journal of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan, 1962, pp. 19-21
“Thirteen Essays on Photograph”, published by Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, Ottawa, Ontario, 1991
“Trends, Art for Art’s Sake” Time, February 28, 1969, pp. 46-49
A Report on the Art and Technology Program of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1967-71, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1971
Anderson, Jack. “Fluffy brings new meaning to the word cute,” The Leader-Post (Regina), Dec 10, 1999
Art Gallery of Ontario, Selected Works, pg. 337, 1990
Atkins, Robert, “A Guide to Contemporary Ideas, Movements & Buzzwords”, Abbeville Press, Pg. 63, 1990
Atkinson, S. & Chisolm, D. “Windsor Postcard Project”, Opinion Magazine, Jan/Feb 1993
August 10, 1991
Balkind, Alvin. “Vancouver Scene and Unscene”, Art in America, LVIII, No. 1, January 1970,
Beatty, Greg. “Fluffy Art, Sophisticated Connotations,” Prairie Dog, Nov 4, 1999 p. 18
Bentley-Mays, John, “Iain Baxter, Exhibition, Carmen Lamanna Gallery”, Globe and Mail, Arts Section, Jan. 24, 1991
Bentley-Mays, John, “Iain Baxter, Exhibition, Some Early Photography, Carmen Lamanna Gallery”, Globe and Mail, Arts Section, June 8, 1990
Bentley-Mays, John, “Jeff Wall Exhibits”, Globe and Mail, Arts Section, Toronto, March 21, 1997
Bentley-Mays, John. “Iain Baxter, The Anti-Art of Canadian Identity”. Globe and Mail, Arts Section, April 28, 1992
Bentley-Mays, John. “Survey of Pop’s Project Worthwhile for Fan or Foe”, Globe and Mail Arts Section, Oct. 24, 1992
Bentley-Mays, John. “The Ambiguities of Roy Kiyooka”, Globe and Mail, Jan. 22, 1994
Bentley-Mays, John. A Most Rebellious Group”, Globe and Mail, Visual Arts Section, Page C,
Board of Education, City of London, Ontario, Visual Arts Resource Document and Slide package
Bourdon, David. “What on Earth” Life Magazine, LXVI, No. 16, April 25, 1969, pp. 80-86
Bringhurst, R., et.al. Contemporary Art in Canada, Vancouver, B.C., Douglas & McIntyre, 1983
Brown, R. Craig and J.M. Careless, editors. The Canadians, 1867-1967, MacMillan Co., pp. 709 & 712
Burnett, David and Schiff, Marilyn. Contemporary Canadian Art, Edmonton, 1983
Canadian Art – 1970 – 1980, Sound, Slide, Media Kit, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario
Canadian Art, p. 15, Spring 1999
Canadian Who’s Who, University of Toronto Press, pg. 56, 1981
Carrington, John. “Iain Baxter, Artist”. Probe magazine, Issue #4, March 1992
Celant, Germano and Guest, Tim, Books By Artists, Published by Art Metropole, 1972
Celant, Germano. OFFMedia, Nuove tecniche artiche: video disco, Publisher Dedalo Libri, Bari, Italy. Pg. 88, 112, 144, 1977
Columbo, J.R., New Canadian Quotations, Hurtig Publications, 1987, p. 171
Davis, Douglas. “The Magic of Raw Life – New Photography”. Newsweek, April 24, 1972, pp. 46-48, 1972
Drainie, Bronwyn, “The Mall and the Art Gallery of Windsor”, Globe and Mail, July 18, 1996
Fenton, Terry. “Looking at Canadian Art”, Artforum, VII, No. 1, September 1968, pp. 55-60
Fleming, Marie, L. Baxter – Any Choice Works, Toronto, Ontario, Art Gallery of Ontario, 1982
Fulford, Robert. “A Reward for Frivolity”, Toronto Daily Star, February 1967
Garneau, David. “Natural Double Takes,” Border Crossings, August 1999, p. 52-3
Garneau, David. “Springtime in the Rockies”, Vie des Arts, No. 174, p. 88, 1999
Garneau, David. “Taken’ a trip with Iain Baxter”, FFWD, p. 22, May 13 – May 19, 1999
Genereux, Linda, “Iain Baxter, Carmen Lamanna Gallery”, Artforum, April 1991, P. 134
Goldsmith, Barbara. “Where is the Art”, Harper’s Bazaar, no. 3102, May 1970, pp. 144-47
Gopnik, Blake. “Look back in wonder,” Globe and Mail, July 31, 1999
Graham, Colin. “No Cocoon for Victoria”, The Times, 11 March 1966
Grescoe, Paul, “Steady, Now. Is This Art?” Canadian Magazine, Jan. 25, 1969
Grescoe, Paul. “Steady Now. Is This Art?” Canadian Magazine, January 25, 1969, pp. 14-17
Hamilton, Richard. Polaroid Portraits, Vo. 1, Stuttgart, London, Reykjavik: Editions, Hansjorg Mayer, 1962
Hanna, Deirdre, NOW Magazine, Arts Section, Toronto, Ontario, April 30, 1994
Hanna, Deirdre. “Media Works Retrospective of Iain Baxter Revives Corporate Art Identity” Now Magazine, April 9-15, 1992, Toronto, Ontario
Hart, Diane. “Mischief & Mirth: For the Love of Toys”, Beaver Newspaper, Oakville, May 5, 1995
Holubizky, Ihor, “Iain Baxter’s Landscapes”, Arts Alliance, Courtenay, British Columbia, August 1994
Howe, Bridget. “Landscape Works – an intriguing contemporary collection”, Wild Life, p. 25, April 1999
Hume, Christopher, “Iain Baxter, Exhibition, Carmen Lamanna Gallery”, The Toronto Star, Arts Section, Jan 25, 1991
Hutcheon, Linda. “Splitting Images”, Contemporary Canadian Ironies, Oxford University Press, Toronto, Ontario, pp. 125-27, 1992
Jacobs, Jay, “The Iceman Commeth – Symptoms of the Seventies,” Art in America vol. 1 (Jan-Feb 1970)
Jacobs, Jay. “The Iceman Commeth – Symptoms of the Seventies,” Art in America, Vol 1, Jan-Feb, 1970, p. 63
Janofsky, Michael. “Calgary Tries a Snow Dance” The New York Times, pg. B8, Feb. 2, 1988
Johnson, Ellen. Modern Art and the Object, Harper & Row, New York, New York, 1976
Jones, Owen. “Art – Anything You Can Get Away With”, Windsor Star, Entertainment Section,
Jones, Owen. “Tough Job But Someone Has To Do It”, Windsor Star, January 29, 1993
Jones, Scott. “Discovering the Defeatured Landscape”, Vancouver Anthology, Talon Books, Vancouver, British Columbia, pp. 247-65, 1992
June 10-17, 1999
Kangas, Matthew. “Earthworks: Land Reclamation as Sculpture,” Vanguard, Feb. 1980
Karshan, Donald. Conceptual Art and Conceptual Aspects, New York Cultural Centre, New York, New York
Kirby, Bill. Art Bank, Catalogue 1972-92, The Canada Council, Ottawa, Ontario
Laviolette, Mary-Beth. “Landscape Artists Travel Different Roads”, Calgary Herald, p. ES4,
Learn to Read Art, Art Metropole, Publication, Basel Art Fair, June 1991
Learn to Read Art: Artists Book, Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton, Ontario,1990
Lee, J.J. “Cute and Cruel Meet in Iain Baxter’s Jarred Toy Animals”, Georgia Straight, p. 70,
Leider, Philip. “Vancouver – Scene with No Scene”, artscanada, XXVI, Issue 109/110, June/July 1967, pp 1-8
Leighton, David. Artists, Builders & Dreamers – 50 years at Banff School, McClelland & Stewart, 1982
Linderman, Earl W. Teaching Secondary School Art, Published Wm. CC, Brown Company, 1971, p. 236-39.
Lippard, Lucy R. “Iain Baxter: New Spaces” artscanada, XXVI, Issue 132/133, June 1969, pp. 3-7
Lippard, Lucy R. “Notes in Review of Canadian Artists, ‘68”. Artscanada, XXXVI, Issue 128/129 February 1969, pp. 25-27
Lippard, Lucy R. Changing: Essays in Art Criticism, New York, New York, E.P. Dutton & Co. Inc. 1971
Lippard, Lucy R. Six Years: The Dematerialization of the Art Object from 1966-1972, New York: Praeger Publishers Inc. 1973
Lippard, Lucy R. “Vancouver” Art News, LXVII, No. 5, September 1968, pp. 26, 70-71
Lippard, Lucy, “Art Within the Arctic Circle,” Hudson Review no. 22 (Winter 1969-70)
Lowndes, Joan. “Innocence Lost” Vancouver Province, December 19, 1969
Lowndes, Joan. “The Plastic World of Iain Baxter. The Message is – VSI”. Vancouver Province, February 3, 1967
Malcolmson, Harry. “Sculpture in Canada”, Artforum, VI, No. 2, October 1967, pp. 40
Malone, Judith. “Keyworks from the Sixties by Vancouver Artist Iain Baxter”, The Gallery, published by the Art Gallery of Ontario, Vol. 4, No. 2, Feb. 1982
May 22, 1999
McLean, Bob. “Iain Baxter”, Morning Magazine T.V. Show, CKCO-TV, 30 minutes, aired Sept. 3, 1992 and Mar. 10, 1993
McShine, Kynaston, ed. Information, New York, New York, Museum of Modern Art, 1970
Mellen, Peter. Landmarks of Canadian Art, Toronto, Ontario, McClelland & Stewart Ltd. 1978
Meyer, Ursula. Conceptual Art, New York: E.P. Dutton & Co. Inc., 1972
Millar, Jeremy. “Ground Control,” Tate Magazine, Summer 1999
Milroy, Sarah. “N.E. Thing Co.,” Canadian Art Magazine Fast Forward Section, Page 25, Fall 1995
Milroy, Sarah. “A trickster who makes serious art”, Globe and Mail, p. C7, June 5, 1999
Mitchinson, Paul. “The fine art of conserving… teddy bears?” National Post, Feb 5 2000
Morgan, Robert C. Conceptual Art – An American Perspective, McFarland & Co., London, 1994
N.E. THING CO. LTD, Canada, X Biennial Sao Paulo, Ottawa, Ontario, National Gallery of Canada (Catalogue in form of a calendar), 1969
Nagle, Patrick, “The Artists of It”, Weekend Magazine, No. 28, 1966, pp. 30 – 31
October 14, 1995
Oliva, Bontio, Achillo, Europe/American the different Avant Guardes, Deco Press, p. 216, 1976
Pakassar, Helga. “Food for Thought,” Dandelion Journal, vol. 14, no. 2, Calgary, Alberta, p. 50-52, 1987
Paynter, Susan. “N.E. THING Can Happen When You Meet Iain Maxter”, Seattle Post Intelligencer Northwest Today, July 19, 1970, pp. 6-7
Perry, Art. “Baxter’s Magic: its all done with Mirrors”, Vancouver Province, December 13, 1981
Phillpot, Clive. Ords & Wordworks”, Art Journal of College Art Association of America, Summer 1982, pp. 110 – 13
Picturing California: A Century of Photographic Genius, published by Oakland Museum of Art, Fall 1989
Pinney, Marguerite. “Art”. Vancouver Life, III, NO. 7, May 1968, pp. 52-54
Plagens, Peter. Sunshine Muse, contemporary art on the west coast, Praeger, pg. 171, 1974
Pluralities/1980/Pluralities, Ottawa, Ontario, National Gallery of Canada, Corporation of the National Museums of Canada, 1980
Poinsot, Jean-Marc. Mail Art Communication, A Distance Concept, Paris, France, Editions CEDIC, 1971
Pollack, Jill, “One for the Record”, Saturday Review, Vancouver Sun, Jan. 2, 1993
pp. 123-26
Reid, Dennis. A Concise History of Canadian Painting, Toronto, Oxford University Press
Richard, Alain Martin & Robertson, Clive. Performance in Canada – 1970 – 1990, Coach House Press
Rigby Watson, Petra. “N.E.Thing Company”, Parachute 71, pp 45-46
Robins, Corine. The Pluralist Era: American Art 1968-1981
Rosenberg, Ann. “Ann Illustrated Introduction to the N.E. THING CO. LTD.” Capilano Review, no. 8/9 Fall 75/Spring 76, pp. 135-67
Rosenberg, Ann. “Iain Baxter”, Vancouver Sun, 8 September 1967
Rosenberg, Ann. “When Anything was art and art was N.E. Thing”. Vancouver Sun, Saturday Review section, Feb. 27, 1993
Rosenburg, Ann. “Tribute to a Cultural Maverick”, Saturday Review, Vancouver Sun, April 25, 1992
Sandiford, J. & Weihs, R. Gallery walkabout, Workseen, Summer 1992
Scott, Michael. “An artist’s jarring vision”, Vancouver Sun, p. C5, June 2, 1999
Severson, Anne. “Extracurricular art activities”, FFWD, April 1-7, 1999
Shaw, Nancy. “Expanded Consciousness and Company Types: Collaboration Since Intermedia and the N.E. Thing Co.,” in Vancouver Anthology: The Institutional Politics of Art. Stan Douglas, ed. Vancouver: Talon Books, 1991, pp. 85-103.
Shaw, Nancy. “Expanded Consiousness and Company Types: Collaboration Since Intermedia and the N.E. Thing Company”, Vancouver Anthology, Talon Books, Vancouver, B.C., pp. 85-103, 1992
Shirley, David L. “Impossible Art – What it is”. Art in America, LVII, No. 3, May 1969, pp. 32-47
Silcox, David. Christopher Pratt, McLellan and Stewart, pg. 20, 1982
Smithson, Robert. “A Sedimentation of the Mind: Earth Projects: Artforum VII, No. 1, September 1968, pp. 44-50
Southwest Biennial 1993, Trillium Cable T.V., Channel 11, 30 minute show on exhibition, Iain Baxter studio visit, aired February, 1993
The Canadian Encyclopedia, vol. 1 & 3, 2nd edition, Edmonton, Alberta, Hurtig Publishers, pp. 123, 187, 1607, 1988
Thompson, David. “A Canadian Scene”. Studio International, No. 176, October 1968, pp. 152-57, November 1968, pp. 181-85, December 1968, pp. 241-45
Tousley, Nancy. “Baxter’s Back”, Canadian Art Magazine, p. 14, Winter, 1987
Townsend, Charlotte. “N.E. THING Goes Across Continent” The Vancouver Sun, November 14, 1969
Townsend, William, ed., Canadian Art Today, Studio International, London, England, 1970
Townsend-Gault, Charlotte. “Frame of Mind”, Viewpoints on Photography in Contemporary Canadian Art. Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff Centre for the Arts, Pages 13-14, 1993
Townsend-Gault, Charlotte. “Iain Baxter and Jeffrey Spalding at James Ulrich Gallery,” Vanguard, Nov. 1983
Ward, Al. “Toward a Creative Ethic”. The Michigan Council for the Arts & Cultural Affairs, Arts Culture, Vol. 1, No.1, Detroit, Michigan, 1995
Watson, Petra. “N.E. Thing Co., U.B.C. Fine Arts Gallery”, Feb. 19 – Mar. 17, 1993. Review, Parachute Magazine #71, July, August, September, 1993, Pages 45-46
Watson, Scott. “Hand of the Spirit, Documents of the Seventies”, University of British Columbia, Fine Arts Gallery, Vancouver, B.C., 1992
Watson, Scott. “Vincent Trasov,” exhibition catalogue, Fine Arts Gallery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, 1991
White, Michael. “Believing is Seeing”, Montreal Star, 14 June 1969
White, Robin. “Iain Baxter/N.E. THING CO.” View II, No. 4, September 1979, pp. 2-24, 1979
Wilson, Bill. “In the Galleries”, Los Angeles Times, December 1966
Wood, William and Shaw, Nancy. You are Now in the Middle of an N.E. Thing Co. Landscape, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, 1993
Wood, William. “Capital & Subsidiary”, The N.E. Thing Company and Conceptual Art, Parachute Magazine, pp. 12-16, illustrations, July, August, September, Issue #67, 1992
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Zeemans, Joyce. “Video Activity of N.E. THING CO. LTD.” artscanada XXX, Issue 182/183.
Submitted by M.D. Silverbrooke, Art Historian and Collector, West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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This biography from the Archives of AskART:
|  Iain Baxter was born in 1936 in Middlesborough, England and emigrated
to Calgary, Canada with his family a year later. He was educated
in the United States, where he received his BS and MA from the
University of Idaho, in biology and zoology. Through studying the
natural sciences and doing illustrations of animals, Baxter became
interested in art. It was with no background in art that he entered the
Masters of Fine Arts program at Washington State, and upon receiving
his degree was awarded a Japanese government foreign scholarship in
1961 to study Zen and art in Japan. He continues to see a close
relationship between art and science. “I went from illustration to
art,” he has said, “and getting into the field of art opened a door to
a whole area of personal research in the phenomena of seeing and being.
I think pure science is on that same level.” Whether in science or art,
his focus was long on the relationship of the organism or being to its
environment.
It was with this mentality that in 1965 Baxter developed a pseudonym
and fictional business called N. E. Thing Co. Ltd. It was a revolution
of the concept of ‘artist,’ a displacement of the artist out of its
natural environment of “art world” and into the environment of
business. The company was also an umbrella concept through which he
could develop many different ‘departments’ of artistic thought. N. E.
Thing produced a range of printed matter including calendars, books and
information sheets that assembled images of works by other artists.
Baxter’s work as a solo artist and as founder of N.E. Thing Co. has
been exhibited widely throughout North America and Europe, including
the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; Ontario, the Canadian Cultural
Centre, Paris, France; the Museum of New Art, Detroit, Michigan, and
the Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY. It is in numerous public and
private collections including the National Gallery of Canada, the
Museum of Modern Art in New York, the F.R.A.C. Art Museum in Bretagne,
France, and the Gemeentemusem in The Hague, Holland. Baxter was the
Canadian representative in Taejon, Korea for Expo ‘93. He been granted
membership in the Royal Canadian Academy and a nomination as an Officer
of the Order of Canada. In 2004, he won the Governor General’s Award in
Visual and Media Arts and received an Honorary Doctorate from the
University of British Columbia. He lives and works in Windsor, Canada,
where he is represented by the Corkin Shopland Gallery and since 1988
has taught at the University of Windsor in the School of Visual Arts.
Rachel Lyon
Source:
http://www.magical-secrets.com/artists/baxter
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This biography from the Archives of AskART:
|  The Order of Canada Citation for Iain Baxter reads: "A thought-provoking contemporary artist, he has spent the last 40 years re-shaping and re-defining the Canadian modern art scene. Through his many internationally acclaimed initiatives, particularly The N.E. Thing Company, he has forged the way for conceptual artists in our country. He has been a teacher and mentor of the arts in Canadian universities for over 35 years. He is currently a professor at the University of Windsor where he has helped generations of students to find their voice and express their unique understanding of the nature of art."
Submitted by M.D. Silverbrooke, Art Historian, West Vancouver, Canada
Source: Governor General of Canada - http://archive.gg.ca/honours/search-recherche/honours-desc.asp?lang=e&TypeID=orc&id=8226
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