Obsessions - Inspired by Painting
“I want you to understand clearly my conception of art…What I want and aim at is confoundedly difficult…I want to do drawings that touch…people…”--Vincent Van Gogh
What inspires Alexina Louie, Iris Nowell and Rick Raxlen, Steve Woloshen, Richard Reeves and Lisa Morse to make beautiful work? Many things, from the personal to the political, can fuel their creative juices but often it is painting, that classic métier, which resonates with artists in all styles and genres. Whether it’s the brilliant Impressionists Monet and Van Gogh or the exciting abstractions of Canada’s Painters Eleven, the principles and visionary approaches taken continue to motivate contemporary Canadian artists.
This Is Not A Reading Series and Esprit Orchestra are pleased to present Obsessions, a special one-off programme, which examines the creative process. In an exclusive preview to the next Esprit concert, multi-award wining composer Alexina Louie will offer examples of her latest music, inspired by the writing and paintings of Monet and Van Gogh. Iris Nowell, the acclaimed art writer, focuses her presentation on the Painters Eleven, the abstract artist group led by Harold Town, Walter Yarwood, William Ronald and Tom Hodgson, who shook up staid old Toronto in the 1950s and '60s. A quartet of fine animation, also inspired by the Painters Eleven, adds visual movement to this lively and thought provoking event.
“Not only am I deeply moved by the paintings of Monet and van Gogh,” says Louie, “but I also came to be inspired by their letters. The letter that Monet wrote to his gardener is a rapid fire set of instructions on the care and planting of his garden (his great artistic inspiration) at Giverny, the other a deeply felt artistic credo from Vincent to Theo. Obsessions (for baritone and orchestra) reveals much about my obsessions as a creator.”
"In the late 1960s and early 1970s, I met a few Painters Eleven artists and greatly admired them and their dynamic art," comments Iris Nowell, author of the just-published Painters Eleven: The Wild Ones of Canadian Art. "Through them, I gained a deep understanding of and love for abstract expression art and in the course of my research I came to the realization that each artist's life was intrinsically his or her art. Their individual and collective brilliance positions Painters Eleven in their rightful place in Canadian art history."
The work of Rick Raxlen, Richard Reeves, Steve Woloshen and Lisa Morse is part of the project Eleven in Motion curated by artist Madi Piller for the Toronto Animated Image Society. She states that it “is built around personal and original responses to the Painters Eleven by talented and accomplished animated artists from across Canada…each with his or her own style and motivation for the collective purpose of displaying abstract animation.”
Esprit Orchestra will present a concert including Alexina Louie's composition Obsessions in Koerner Hall at the Royal Conservatory - 8:00 pm on Sunday November 21st. Tickets: 416.408.0208 or online.
For more information, contact Charlie Huisken at 416-598-1447 or charles@tinars.ca
