Viktor Mitic's "Rain Dance" Book Launch with Slideshow, Film and Interviews
LAUNCH of VIKTOR MITIC’S “RAIN DANCE” WITH VIKTOR MITIC, CHARLES PACHTER, EWAN WHYTE, COLE SWANSON, BRAHM ROSENSWEIG AND EARL MILLER
This Is Not A Reading Series, FourFront Editions and the Literary Press Group of Canada celebrate the provocative and powerful works of artist Viktor Mitic at the launch of his new book Rain Dance. Join Viktor Mitic, artist Charles Pachter, writer Ewan Whyte, artist and curator Cole Swanson, director Brahm Rosensweig and independent art critic and curator Earl Miller for a dynamic round-robin series of interviews about art, creativity, rain as a medium, and welcoming usable interference. Featuring a slideshow presentation of Mitik’s Rain Paintings, and a screening of Bram Rosensweig's film about Mitic’s extraordinary creative process.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Gladstone Hotel Ballroom, 1214 Queen Street West
Doors Open 7pm, Event Starts 7:30pm
Admission is $5.00 or FREE with a book purchase
RAIN DANCE The Rain Paintings of Viktor Mitic are a kind of “aleatory art” in which natural rain is the constant companion of the artist as he creates mostly non-figurative pieces. Working outside with his canvases on the ground under the random presence of rain, thunderstorms and even hail, he achieves remarkable results. It is as if several senses are at work, creating startling and calming effects from this inspired method. The intense inner mythic-like world he has constructed complements and includes nature. As Gary Michael Dault observes: “His pictures look like something you’ve seen before somewhere and, simultaneously, something you’ve never seen before.” www.quattrobooks.ca/fourfront-editions/rain-dance
Included as an additional bonus is a film by Alaembic Productions, directed by Brahm Rosensweig of the artist at work, with commentary by Gary Michael Dault, art critic, author; Ewan Whyte, poet, writer; Pamela Edmonds, curator; Charles Pachter, artist, historian and Cole Swanon, curator, Living Arts Mississauga.
“Controversial artist…” Daily Mail, UK
“His art carries a powerful message.” Entertainment Tonight Canada
“Provocative… Viktor Mitic is blasting preconceptions…” Global TV National
“Controversial…” Mark Coles, BBC
“Provocative art…” Peter Goddard, Toronto Star
Viktor Mitic a University of Toronto graduate, classically trained in European art schools, has produced a major body of work that spans a career of over two decades. Moved by the destruction of the giant Buddhas of Bamiyan – ancient artwork created in the 6th century – he recently developed a distinctive and provocative method. Mitic makes a bold statement and uses a symbol of 21st century – a gun – as a method of creation. Using both celebrities and religious figures, such as Marilyn Monroe, Jesus and John F. Kennedy, he painted portraits onto canvas and then used more than one million rounds of ammunition and various guns to outline them. The project culminated in a show, a documentary film and a book titled Art or War.
Mitic’s most recent series entitled Rain creates an interesting partnership between our environment and art. The entire series was painted outdoors with oil paint, pigment and acid rain. The mixture of natural elements and paint creates a truly unique series that showcases the beauty of nature’s contribution to the world of art and enables an unusual physical interaction between the two. The Rain series was first exhibited at the prestigious Muramatsu Gallery in Tokyo, Japan, in 2008. In 2011, Mitic debuted a painting from the series, titled ‘Galaxy’ at The Koerner Hall in Toronto for the ‘AUTIST’ charity gala. Viktor has recently had many successful solo and group shows of his paintings in Japan, Europe, and Canada, and most recently in the United States at the Armory show in NYC. To learn more about Mitic’s work, visit www.artorwar.com
Charles Pachter: One of Canada’s leading contemporary artists, Charles Pachter is a painter, printmaker, sculptor, designer, historian, and lecturer. He was born in Toronto and holds degrees from the University of Toronto, the Sorbonne, and the Cranbrook Academy of Art. He holds honorary doctorates from Brock University, the Ontario College of Art & Design, and the University of Toronto. He is a member of the Order of Canada, a Chevalier of France’s Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and a recipient of the Queen’s Jubilee medal.
His paintings hang in public and private collections around the world. Those of the queen, moose, and maple leaf flag are pop icons of Canadian art. His flag paintings hang in the Toronto Stock Exchange, in the Canadian Embassy in Washington, and in the Parliament buildings in Ottawa. His murals of Hockey Knights in Canada highlight a Toronto subway station. Retrospective Pachter exhibitions have toured France, Germany, Japan, and India. To learn more about Pachter’s work, visit www.cpachter.com
Ewan Whyte is a writer and translator. He has written book reviews for the Globe & Mail and Books in Canada. His essays, short stories, poetry and translations have been published in literary journals and magazines and he has read his translations of Catullus on public radio in the U.S. His translation of the poetry of Catullus was published in 2005. He has recently completed a book of original poetry and is working on a non-fiction book on extreme religious cults. He lives in Toronto.
Earl Miller is an independent curator and art critic. He currently has exhibitions mounted at the Tree Museum and the Yukon Art Centre. He has written catalogue essays for a range of galleries and institutions from the Art Gallery of Hamilton to the National Museum of Romania. He has written articles and reviews for Canadian and international publications including Art in America, Flash Art and Border Crossings and has continuously been refused publication in Canadian Art.
Brahm Rosensweig is a filmmaker and geographer whose work composts verbose ripostes.
Cole Swanson is a multi-disciplinary artist and curator working in Toronto, Ontario. He is a graduate of the Studio Arts Program at the University of Guelph, and a post-graduate research fellow with the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute. With the support of federal culture divisions from both India and Canada, Swanson conducted research on the miniature paintings and folk arts of Rajasthan. His recent body of work is an investigation on the globalization of traditional practices between disparate cultures.
In 2008, Swanson began curating the exhibition gallery and coordinating the Resident Artist Program at the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga, Ontario. With a focus on interdisciplinary and cross-cultural practices, his exhibitions have provided an important venue for artists at various stages in their careers to engage in critical discourse. Swanson has received support from several notable institutions for his work including the Ontario Arts Council, the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Government of India. He has participated in exhibitions at international venues in Italy, China, Taiwan, and India.
This Is Not A Reading Series (TINARS) offers a ground-breaking theatrical dimension to the appreciation of fine writing. Employing music, comedy, psychodrama, dance, multimedia performance, lectures, dialogue—everything but reading—TINARS investigates the creative process behind literary works.
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Publisher Contact: John Calabro, 416-419-3541, john@quattrobooks.ca
This Is Not A Reading Series: Anna Withrow, phone: 416-805-2174, awithrow@rogers.com
