Jeff Wall, seen here accepting the Audain Prize earlier this year, will be celebrated in a new solo exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery beginning later this month. (Vancouver Art Gallery)

After acquiring five works by internationally renowned hometown star Jeff Wall this year, the Vancouver Art Gallery has announced a solo exhibition dedicated to the photo-based artist beginning later this month.

Beginning Oct. 25, Jeff Wall: Vancouver Art Gallery Collection will showcase the VAG's collection of 11 Wall pieces, including its most recent additions: Basin in Rome 2, Children and River Road.

Grant Arnold, co-ordinating curator of the exhibit, praised Wall for the many roles he plays in the Vancouver arts community.

"His work as a writer, instructor at both of Vancouver's major universities and, most importantly, as an artist has had a profound effect on the visual art of the region," Arnold said.

"He has been a mentor to a number of artists currently working in the community, and is a highly influential figure in the broader world of contemporary art."

This spring, Wall won the Audain Prize, British Columbia's most prestigious visual art award.

The Vancouver Art Gallery 's relationship with the artist dates back to1970, the first time he was included in a VAG exhibition. The gallery began adding his works to its permanent collection in the mid-1980s and now boasts the largest public collection of his photo artworks.

Wall's large-scale, back-lit, cinematic images are also held in major collections worldwide, and his solo exhibitions have been hosted by prestigious galleries including the Tate Modern in London, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Berlin's Guggenheim and the Tamayo Museum in Mexico City.

Jeff Wall: Vancouver Art Gallery Collection runs through Jan. 29, 2009.