Exploration and Discovery

Artist Talk

Artist Talk at Baron Gallery

Preparing for an Artist Talk, about Colour Field Painting and my personal story for the Baron Gallery’s exhibition There is no Message, really opened my eyes and helped clarify the process of my art.

I must say that when I was preparing for this talk, I became more committed and more passionate about my work and kind of wished that I had been born a 100 hundred years ago in New York!

I began the talk with a brief description of Colour Field Painting and some of the key artists involved in the movement and whose work I liked and could relate to, such as BARNETT NEWMAN, MARK ROTHKO, KENNETH NOLAND, FRANK STELLA and JACK BUSH.

This was followed by the local key artists in Vancouver of the late 60’s early 70’s era, one of which was JOAN BALZAR, who inspired me with her bold enormous X’s of black, yellow, red and blue.   She believed in me and encouraged me and we became friends.

This research took me to a wonderful place as I was learning more about who they were and what inspired them, which in turn inspired me even more. All of this really helped me validate my own hard edge abstract painting.

I had given an Artist Talk last fall the CITYSCAPE, in North Vancouver, but it was a bit different.  It was more about the definition of Abstract and my process.  This time it was more about the influential artists and my personal, somewhat dramatic historical background, and what drove me to art.  I had no idea that this stuff would still affect me so much.  To my surprise, I was quite emotional!

One of my artist friends JACK DARCUS once told me that one should not look at a single artist for inspiration but an art movement, such as the overall picture!

Now looking back, it was the movement, but then an artist such as JOAN BALZAR came along who really moved me!

By looking at the Minimalist Art movement, it enabled me to clarify my purpose.

Some of the questions after the talk also helped me explain my purpose, which I hadn’t really thought about, or even verbalized, as my art was coming from a place which is difficult to articulate.

I must say that preparing and presenting this Artist Talk took me to a deeper level, to which I had not gone before.  It was a catharsis and refreshing at the same time!