G A L L E R Y
A R C T U R U S
Today we received the third in the series of books we have published of Floyd's work.
This book is his paintings. All Three books will be available at the reception either to look at or to purchase. This prices for the books are just our cost with no mark up. In fact our cost is less than if you buy a single copy on blurb because we get a discount when we order more than twenty. The books are a good way to remember and continue to enjoy Floyd's work.
Click on the link below to see in full.
https://www.blurb.ca/books/11158938-carved-with-a-brush
A few of our blog viewers were confused by the last entry which was the invitation for Floyd Kuptana who passed away on May 27 last year. We are hosting a reception on the anniversary of his passing, in honour of him and his work. We will also be showing many sculptures brought to the gallery by his long time friend JP Albert. They are packed in the boxes show in these photos. Today we began unpacking and finding places for them, mostly in what is usually the collage gallery and also the library but they will be found through out. The title of the exhibition 'Still With Us' refers to the way that Floyd's presence
stays with us in his work.
'There is no There' was the title of this work and exhibition by Jeremy Gordaneer, that was held at Gallery Arcturus in 2011.
It was an extraordinary mural that he painted in his studio in Montreal and finished in the gallery just before the opening.
Yesterday would have been his fiftieth birthday. On that day we received the news that he had passed away in August of last year 2021. It is a terrible shock to learn of someone that you have spent time with and have a strong sense of, to imagine them not being here...Life is so fragile. We are remembering him and his family now.
This collage, by Sara MacHin, was done as part of the 14th online collage workshop using a photocopied image of Picasso's 'Circus', a cutout from our latest invitation and the postage stamp from the mail out.
All have been placed in a room painted for their occupancy.
It seems to best represent our title for the day.
I remembered the other day that the best thing about creating art is the process of creating art. The space that one creates in must be conducive to that process. Materials need to be visible and accessible otherwise you forget that you have them.The problem is that the more one creates the more the space becomes a storage space, crowded with unknowable and therefore unusable materials. The space
and the materials need to be seen as resources in order to support a creative process. For this reason we have weeded out the space, looked at everything in it and attempted to organize it so it can be a resource to all who enter. A very daunting but satisfying challenge.
Today one of our visitors was from Japan. Sae was able to introduce her to our gallery and she told us that her father has a gallery in Japan which our space reminded her of. After she left we looked up the gallery, 'Joy of Wind'. It was like travelling in a time capsule to a far off, very beautiful place. You might enjoy to visit as well. http://rafu-urawa.com/
Sae and I came upon this painting today by Eduardo Ettore Forti done in the late 19th century. One hour later we were still engaged and in awe. What was the process of this
painting, how could one execute this kind of detail from ones imagination? The characters
are so complex in their expressions and postures, the quality of their attention, speaking and
listening. The fabrics and the drapery on the bodies. The floor tiles, the metal brazier and the bronze sculptures all created from many many colours together.
We do not paint like this now, maybe because we have photography and film. It is
amazing to consider how this was possible and the motivation and commitment of the artist
to do such work.
One of our team is at home with a cold
and the other one is doing her best
to be brave, proud,
unyeilding,
without retreating from hardship or adversity
confident in one's ability to meet
whatever may occur
...a creature was stirring but it wasn't a mouse
During the Christmas season we are posting earlier videos for you to enjoy. This is the first of six.
If you have time over the holidays and would like to entertain yourself with more videos just click the link here.
Today we sat on a bench in small alley which surprisingly faces exactly onto the back wall of the gallery.
This back wall has many windows. In one of them we had the idea to put a painting facing out
so that those people living in the surrounding condos or, as we did, decide to sit on a bench to have their coffee,
can discover and perhaps even be inspired to visit us.
And what is the moment?
It is a unity, a circle of beings,
content in that moment.
This is a gift of spacious
Castillon writes:-
« Listening to Hania's music over and over, I began to dream of a single sequence shot that would follow her music floating in the wind of an unreal Icelandic landscape. I asked each dancer to give a personal interpretation of Hania's song. We were very lucky to succeed in this insane artistic performance despite the great cold (minus 7 celsius), it was such a moment of truth. Shot in Iceland on February 23, 2020. »
Directed by Neels Castillon
Music by Hania Rani
Dancers — Mellina Boubetra, Janina Sarantšina, Fanny Sage
Tis is the season for raking leaves and some of us are very enthusiastic about this task.
Unfortunately, the city has suspended the pick up of yard waste and so....
This morning we made a platform for the bags to sit on so that the grass and small flowers
will not be crushed while waiting, wrapping them with canvas in case of rain and tying them
'round with rope so that they will not fall and spill all over everywhere. Practical creativity.
Not particularly beautiful but somehow satisfying.
...in memory of his beloved mother Georgia Boyd - December 1939 - March 27 2020
It seems we are all a bit confused and shy to follow the directions for COVID 19 but it is our duty to be responsible
not only for our self but for those who share the world with us, those we love and care for and those who are unknown.
Many lives depend upon our correct action, this situation may be the shock needed to shift our awareness.
It gets easier if we are all in this together. (that's why Sae and I are practicing and trying to get you onboard)
After using collage with this Medieval set we went out on the street and photographed an old building in the state of demolition and salvation
and found that we had somehow created almost exactly the same construction as in the painting, (seen in our Feb 27th blog).
This was unconscious and therefore surprising, the way we take in impressions and remember them in our bodies.
... thanks to Eron Boyd
For these collages we each had a copy of the two paintings shown above which we combined.
All in all we were able to finish thirteen collages using the same material.
These are the first three.
This strange coming together of elements to make what could be called a sculpture,
is a playful and spontaneous response to the objects and materials present in the space
but also to the inquiry itself. Irrefutable alteration provides a framework to
explore and to perceive variations on a theme.
Looking at the different images on the blog will give you a hint of those possibilities.
This show that is currently evolving began as P R I M A L J O U R N E Y
with a solitary boat figure in a tumultuous sea.The figure descended and turned,
M E E T I N G W H A L E.
"And then what? we asked. How does this story continue?
Even whales must come up for air. Gravity below our feet keeps us standing or pulls us over.
As you probably saw in earlier blogs we cut the boat and stood it on its end.
A ladder of sorts leaning on the ramparts, an effort to climb away from earth's concerns.
The truth is, after meeting whale one is irrefutably altered and that is the new title;-
I R R E F U T A B L Y A L T E R E D.
Today we all met back at the gallery again, Sae, deborah and Floyd, after a few days apart.
The gallery is a rare and special place, a place where creativity is allowed to live.
This was our second drawing based on 'The Ice House' by Lawren Harris 1923.
The house seems to represent a unique and solitary place, surrounded by the elements.
A mystery which invites one to enter.
We hope the gallery does the same.
...continuing LESSONS WITH THE MASTERS
We seem to organize our lives into years.
Time lines, running parallel until they don't
a sudden turn in direction sometimes takes us
where we can't imagine going
and every new year we commit to being better
a noble resolution we hope to live up to
falling down,
standing up again
some semblance of structure that we can measure ourselves against,
a path to follow.