What’s in Your Studio, Rodney Graham?

LONDON—Rodney Graham is sometimes referred to as a “post-medium” artist, though “any medium” might be a more sensible description of his restless, inquisitive, and often difficult work. Since first coming to attention as one of the Vancouver photoconceptualists—alongside Jeff Wall and Ian Wallace—Graham has greatly expanded his art's reach. Nowadays an exhibition of his work could present any number of mediums: photography, film, performance, sculpture, installation, music, text, and even things that there really isn’t any easy category for. His pieces vary enormously in appearance and subject matter, but a recurrent theme concerning the presentation and perception of art and its place in the broader culture helps them cohere into a comprehensive body of work.

Graham also has a penchant for role playing—which could, he admits, come out of his other job as a rock ’n’ roll musician (now solo, he once played guitar in the punk band UJ3RKS). In his latest show, “Wet on Wet—My Late Early Styles,” which opens this week at the Lisson Gallery, he returns to the guise of an alter ego known as the “gifted amateur.” In the work pictured above, this enthusiastic but unschooled artist is seen in the act of painting. Last week, Graham told ARTINFO about his alter ego’s studio as he was installing the show.