Doris McCarthy in her studio, Fools Paradise, 2003.
McCarthy turned 100 years old on July 7, 2010...
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When I chose Rack 2 from the tin, my heart sank as I knew that most of the works on that rack were already in the Up Close & Personal III exhibition. But there on the bottom at the far end of the rack was a Doris McCarthy watercolour, Pangnitung, Late Night, 1983 (the only McCarthy in our collection). To my knowledge it has never been on display at our gallery and given that her 100th birthday was celebrated this summer with numerous exhibitions mounted in honour of her and her artistic production - it seemed fitting to give McCarthy a place in the Smack Down.
McCarthy painting on site, Gris Fjord, Nunavut, 1976.
McCarthy has worked her way into the hearts of Canadians. She is a teacher, adventurer, writer and as Nancy Cambell recently noted, an experimental ground-breaking painter. For her continuing contribution to Canada's artistic community, Doris McCarthy has received The Order of Canada; The Order of Ontario; 5 Honorary Doctorates and an Honorary Fellowship to The Ontario College of Art and Design. In November 1999, McCarthy was named the first Artist of Honour at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection. On March 11, 2004 the University of Toronto, Scarborough Campus opened the Doris McCarthy Gallery.
McCarthy's Pangnintung, Late Night is refreashing and strong and a welcome introduction into the space. As soon as the McCarthy was introduced, the visual connection to the Kustyniuk was evident and a relationship between the works immediately struck. I can't help but wonder if I'm clutching at straws here, trying to find some coherent logic to this somewhat random process of building an exhibition - but wait - a relationship to the Ristvedt and the Harvey begins to emerge as well.
In a recent exhibition, Doris McCarthy: Roughing it in the Bush, curated by Nancy Campbell and mounted at the Doris McCarthy Gallery, never-exhibited panels from McCarthhy's "hard-edge" period of the 1960's were on display. In this body of work, the abstracted forms of nature dance across the canvas not unlike in the Ristvedt and Kustyniuk. The oscillation between nature and abstraction and the resulting relationships is bubbling to the surface as these works by such diverse Canadian artists find each other and begin their dialogue.
Today we saw the first inclusion of landscape into the exhibition, which seems odd given that our collection is so landscape heavy. Darryn selected a Milne and it too contributes as much to the abstract, lyrical nature of the evolving exhibition as does the McCarthy. It's refreshing to see these two works in a new context.
McCarthy painting on site, Gris Fjord, Nunavut, 1976.McCarthy has worked her way into the hearts of Canadians. She is a teacher, adventurer, writer and as Nancy Cambell recently noted, an experimental ground-breaking painter. For her continuing contribution to Canada's artistic community, Doris McCarthy has received The Order of Canada; The Order of Ontario; 5 Honorary Doctorates and an Honorary Fellowship to The Ontario College of Art and Design. In November 1999, McCarthy was named the first Artist of Honour at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection. On March 11, 2004 the University of Toronto, Scarborough Campus opened the Doris McCarthy Gallery.
McCarthy's Pangnintung, Late Night is refreashing and strong and a welcome introduction into the space. As soon as the McCarthy was introduced, the visual connection to the Kustyniuk was evident and a relationship between the works immediately struck. I can't help but wonder if I'm clutching at straws here, trying to find some coherent logic to this somewhat random process of building an exhibition - but wait - a relationship to the Ristvedt and the Harvey begins to emerge as well.
In a recent exhibition, Doris McCarthy: Roughing it in the Bush, curated by Nancy Campbell and mounted at the Doris McCarthy Gallery, never-exhibited panels from McCarthhy's "hard-edge" period of the 1960's were on display. In this body of work, the abstracted forms of nature dance across the canvas not unlike in the Ristvedt and Kustyniuk. The oscillation between nature and abstraction and the resulting relationships is bubbling to the surface as these works by such diverse Canadian artists find each other and begin their dialogue.
Today we saw the first inclusion of landscape into the exhibition, which seems odd given that our collection is so landscape heavy. Darryn selected a Milne and it too contributes as much to the abstract, lyrical nature of the evolving exhibition as does the McCarthy. It's refreshing to see these two works in a new context.
Where the McCarthy will hang at the end of the day is still under debate - as is a number of the works. We are definitely moving into the final day of the Smack Down as the positioning of each work comes under more scrutiny. We decided not to hang any pieces today and would wait to see what works emerged out of the vault tomorrow before committing these works to their hanging place.
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