Gary Lee-Nova

Gary Lee-Nova was born in Toronto on June 26, 1943. He studied at the Vancouver School of Art and at Coventry College, England. 

Lee-Nova was an important figure in the “West Coast Scene” of the late 1960s and early 1970s and is known as a painter, sculptor, and filmmaker.  He was a co-founder of Image Bank (with Michael Morris and Vincent Trasov) and active in the Sound Gallery (circa 1965) and Intermedia (1967-1972). His use of the spectrum as a motif would begin the Image Bank’s ambitious Colour Bar Research project. In addition, Lee-Nova was involved with the New York Corres-Sponge Dance School of Vancouver, and worked under the pseudonym of Art Rat.

Lee-Nova continues to be active as an artist, working on single projects–often with others–that take years to execute. He was an instructor at Emily Carr University until his retirement in 2008. In 2018, he received the title Professor Emeritus.