About
From New York to Vancouver Island, Ed Varney has been stirring up the arts scene since 1968. Poet, visual trickster, and mail art pioneer, he’s a master of wordplay, optical illusions and “strange and beautiful handmade books.
Ed continues to work out of his 1912 bunkhouse and converted barn in Royston, British Columbia and is still delighting, perplexing and surprising audiences with new projects all the time.
Born in 1944 in New Rochelle, New York, Ed received his BA and MA from Syracuse University where he studied with poets, Delmore Schwartz and Donald Justice and printmaker, Robert Marx.
After landing in Canada in 1968 as a draft dodger, he quickly embedded himself in Vancouver’s art and poetry scene. Under his pseudonym Big Dada, Ed’s work often pokes fun at authority and plays with perception.
Ed continues to work out of his 1912 bunkhouse and converted barn in Royston, British Columbia and is still delighting, perplexing and surprising audiences with new projects all the time.
Poet & Publisher
Ed Varney helped spark Canada’s literary boom of the 1970s, co-founding Intermedia Press and publishing dozens of poets and writers long before they were “established.” His own poetry blends philosophical surrealism, twisted syntax and aphoristic wit.
He was a part of Vancouver’s early experimental poetry scene, founding the Vancouver Poetry Co-op (1973-1975) and was a member of the Vancouver Poetry Quartet (1977-1978) and the Vancouver Surrealist Group (1979-1993). He was a founding editor of Bite poetry magazine (1985-1988) and in 1991, he co-founded the Poem Factory, which he still publishes under today.
Ed outside of Intermedia on 4th Avenue by Michael de Courcy (1970)
Portrait of Ed at his Studio by Katie Varney (2023)
Mail Artist & Artistamp Maker
Long before the internet, Ed Varney was trading poems and tiny artworks through the mail.
A pioneer of Mail Art, he’s produced hundreds of Artistamps — tiny works of art produced on the 1896 pin-hole stamp perforator that he got in 1973 that led to his life-long fascination with Artistamps. Today, he continues to connect with artists around the world. Exchange, surprise and collaboration are at the heart of all his Mail Art projects.
From mail art projects to international exhibitions, Ed champions the playful, provocative and unexpected, proving that art isn’t just something you view, it’s something you share, trade and live.
Visual Artist & Curator
Ed Varney’s visual work delights in optical conundrums, playful illusions, and cultural mischief. His work has appeared in over 300 exhibitions across 35 countries. His works is internationally recognized and often blurs the line between joke, spectacle and serious social and cultural commentary. His playful creations encourage audiences to question perception and have fun doing it.
Today, Ed continues to make strange collages, drawings, mixed media assemblages, and beautiful handmade books and art, curate international Mail Art projects, and cook up playful visual conundrums that keep audiences guessing: is it real, is it parody, or is it both?
Community Organizer & Activist
In the 1990s, Ed Varney became interested in public art and was the manager of several important public art projects in Vancouver. He served on various committees with the City of Vancouver and the Parks Board including the organizing committee of the Roundhouse and was member of its first Board of Directors. He also served on the organizing committee of Artropolis (1984-2003).
He is a research fellow at the Specific Research Institute and a consultant for the Museo Internacionale de Neu Art and continues to serve on the boards of several organizations, societies and community organizations.
Self-Portrait as Krishna by Ed Varney
Ed Varney, Cut Out by Michael de Courcy (1969)
Ed by Arlene D. Byrne (1998)
Self-Portrait by Ed Varney
Self-Portrait of Big Dada by Ed Varney