...rattled to the bone
In 1970 the American singer Ray Stevens crooned that everything is
beautiful in its own way and the appellation ‘beautiful’ is certainly freely
used. We are told, for example, that nature is beautiful; all babies are
beautiful; and we are presented annually with lists of the most beautiful
people and places in the world. While we seem to accept these
appraisals without question, implying that there are universally
accepted characteristics which make someone or something
beautiful, we also affirm that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This
apparent contradiction begs one to question the entire construct. Does
beauty exist? If it does, what makes one thing beautiful as opposed to
another? In the spring of 2014 the AGA Travelling Exhibition Program
(TREX) embarked on a search for beauty in the hope of answering such
questions. The exhibition …rattled to the bone is the result.
From ancient Greece to the 19th century beauty was one of the most
enduring and controversial themes in Western philosophy and the
rendering of beauty was a dominant concern in the visual arts. Throughout these centuries philosophers debated whether beauty was objective
or subjective in nature: whether what was beautiful could be
determined by universally accepted standards or whether such
assessments were entirely based on individual taste. By the late 19th
century personal aesthetics had triumphed – beauty was determined
to be in the eye of the beholder – and because of this bias philosophers
and artists alike came to view the concept as meaningless. As a result,
throughout the twentieth century ‘beauty’ was in decline as a subject
of philosophical inquiry and in the visual arts was considered an aim
unworthy of serious consideration.
As expressed by Ray Stevens and artists in other fields, however, beauty
as an idea still exists so AGA TREX determined to discover whether this
concept had any bearing on the work of visual artists in the twenty-first
century. Accordingly, artists throughout Alberta were invited to express,
through exposition and visual imagery, their thoughts concerning this
theme and the questions it presents. Over forty artists accepted this call
demonstrating that, regardless of critical assessments to the contrary,
the consideration of beauty is still relevant to many artists. At the same
time, however, these submissions disclosed that beauty, as concerns
both artistic style and subject matter, is truly in the eye of the beholder
with art works ranging from geometric abstraction to renderings of the
human form.
Despite this plethora of approaches a handful of artists, while engaged
with different subjects and modes of expression, shared similar notions
concerning where beauty is to be found and the qualities which make a
subject beautiful. The exhibition …rattled to the bone presents the art
works of Jean-René Leblanc, Lesley Roy, Caroline Stanley,
Pamela Thurston and Lisa Turner. Whether dealing with the natural
world or focusing on more domestic environments, these artists
combine formal and emotive concerns with sound theoretical opinions
to discern beauty in subjects either overlooked or entirely unexpected.
Going against the common and the clichéd, through their works they
rattle us to the bone by exploring the world in intriguing and ultimately
humbling ways.
The Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling Exhibition Program
Travelling Exhibition
The Art Gallery of Alberta is pleased to present this travelling exhibition
to venues throughout Alberta. Currently the Art Gallery of Alberta serves
over 60 venues in approximately 35 communities. Exhibitions on tour
from the Art Gallery of Alberta easily adapt to space requirements
of smaller venues: schools, libraries, museums, health care centres
and other community facilities. The exhibitions are organized in such
a manner as to make unpacking, packing, hanging and shipping as
easy as possible. Along with the exhibition, each venue receives an
Educational Interpretive Guide. These materials enable teachers to
use the exhibition within the school curriculum.
The Alberta Foundation for the Arts Collection is the primary source
of works featured in the travelling exhibitions. Other sources for
exhibitions may include community partners, archives, private
collections and loans from artists. Each year we welcome new venues
to enrich their community art through the Alberta Foundation for the
Arts Travelling Exhibition Program.
Our Thanks
The Artists:
Jean-René Leblanc
Caroline Stanley
Lisa Turner
Lesley Roy
Pamela Thurston
The Alberta Foundation for the Arts
and to the many individuals, organizations and communities who
contribute to the success of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts
Travelling Exhibition Program each year.
Contact
Shane Golby, Manager/Curator
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program
Region 2
Art Gallery of Alberta/CSF
10550-107 Street
Edmonton, AB T5H 2Y6
T: 780.428.3830
F: 780.421.0479
[email protected]
FRONT COVER IMAGES:
Top left image: Lesley Roy, Waiting for Dinner (Dung Fly), 2013,
Photograph, Collection of the artist
Top right image: Pamela Thurston, Object of Interest, 2012,
Oil on canvas, Collection of the artist
Bottom left image: Caroline Stanley, This side of the down and out
(detail), 2015, Oil on canvas, Collection of the artist
Bottom right image: Lisa Turner, Heading for the Sun, 2013
Inkjet print, Collection of the artist
The Alberta Foundation for the Arts
Travelling Exhibition Program
...rattled to the bone
Real beauty...goes against the common, which is one
of the reasons it is spellbinding....Oh, yes, I’m rattled
to the bone by beauty.
Harley Brown, artist
Jean-René Leblanc
My Paradise #4, 2012
Digital infrared photograph
Collection of the artist
For Calgary artist Jean-René Leblanc, the function of art is to create
experiences and as stated by the artist, ...this is very much the essence of
who I am as an artist. In his works included in the exhibition ...rattled to
the bone Leblanc uses digital infrared photographic processes to share
his experiences and perceptions with the viewer in the hope that viewers
will experience the same things he did; that they will, in a sense,
‘embody’ his own experiences.
For Leblanc, beauty is defined as a strong emotional connection to
something he connects to in the specific time and place he is in. He sees
beauty in a lot of things: in the complex relations we have with each
other as people, in the human experience of the world we live in, or in a
specific place. As expressed by Leblanc, he seeks beauty in everyday life
and sees it in a lot of things that others might not recognize. His aim as
an artist is to share his experiences and emotions of a subject with the
viewer and enable them to see what he saw. The art objects he creates,
then, have a specific function; serving as tools to create experience.
In his works in the exhibition ...rattled to the bone Leblanc explores the
conceptual use of digital infrared photography as a means to investigate
new ways of looking at the world we live in. The use of infrared filters
while photographing a subject reveals the infrared rays of light that the
human eye can not see and has enabled Leblanc to explore the concept
of presentification - making visible the invisible.
The ‘magic’ of infrared photography is clearly recognized in the artist’s
photographs of Hawaii. The Hawaiian Islands are virtually synonymous
with beauty in most peoples’ minds. It could be argued, however, that
because the islands are recognized as being so beautiful this beauty
can be overlooked or taken for granted. The use of infrared photography
challenges this by presenting the reality a viewer is familiar with in a new
way. As expressed by Leblanc,
...this technique heightens reality and ...captures the inherent beauty that
we’ve come to take for granted and really don’t see anymore.
Pamela Thurston
Time Heals, 2012
Oil on canvas
Collection of the artist
For artist Pamela Thurston, beauty can be found anywhere - in people; in
the arts; in the urban environment - but one has to have an eye attuned
to it. For Thurston herself, this recognition and appreciation of beauty is
most often found in nature.
According to the artist, nature is the only place she has found that
...allows me to reach a place outside of myself. As intimated by Thurston,
the feelings of beauty and awe that nature generates enable a person to
think about things larger than themselves and the wonder and intrigue
that result are beautiful. One of Thurston’s aims as an artist, then, is to
encourage the viewer to see what they might not ordinarily see: to
appreciate the beauty and value of seemingly insignificant things.
The ultimate intent of Thurston’s work, however, is not realistic
botanical representation but is related to her beliefs concerning life itself.
As expressed by the artist, humans are a part of nature and in failing to
appreciate even the smallest things in nature
...we’re not recognizing our place in it and we minimize ourselves by not
appreciating that which we are a part of.
This lack of appreciation leads to a state of ‘soullessness’ and a multitude
of negative emotions and states of being. To recognize and appreciate
even the smallest thing, on the other hand, leads to the development of a
‘soulful’ person: one who understands that they are not more important
than others and are a part of a whole of which we are all a part of. As
stated by Thurston, when a person stops long enough to become
absorbed in something outside themselves this isolation with something
invites introspection which allows one to learn about themselves,
experience ‘wonder’, and value their own existence and the existence of
other things. As expressed by the artist:
...through understanding even the smallest thing you recognize yourself as
a part of something and value others as a part of the same thing. This is the
shape of a soulful person.
Lesley Roy
A Symbiotic Relationship (Pollen-covered
Bee), 2012
Photograph
Collection of the artist
Lesley Roy remembers that as a child she was always fascinated by
insects and over the past few years this subject has become an important
aspect of her art practice.
Insects are probably not a subject matter that one would associate with
the theme of beauty, generating in many people feelings of fear or
revulsion. Instead of reflecting on these creatures we are more likely
to swat them. According to Lesley Roy, however, there are universals
that most people would consider beautiful such as colour, detail and an
aesthetically pleasing composition. These are the focus in Roy’s works
where she draws the viewer’s attention to these in the subject and overall
photograph. In so doing her works invite the viewer to think twice about
how we view the world and our place within it.
Through her photographs Roy has two main aims. First, she hopes to
freeze time for a fraction of a second and capture a small part of the lives
of these creatures. As she states:
Perhaps in doing so a sense of wonder of what life may be like for these
resourceful animals can be realized....I hope with my photographs to convey
to others the beauty in what I see....I want others to get a glimpse into the
lives of these smallest creatures, to capture the colours, the behaviour, the
versatility as well as complexity of these very beautiful animals that share
planet earth with the rest of us.
Underlying this formal consideration, however, Roy has a more complex
intent. Through her work she hopes that viewers, in considering the often
unnoticed beauty of her subjects, see them as fellow creatures and
contemplate the important roles they play and how vital they are to
human life and existence. As stated by Roy:
I find insects and other arthropods beautiful and awe inspiring. When I think
of how long they have inhabited the planet I realize how amazing they are
just in that fact. Without these small creatures we would not survive. And yet
they often go unnoticed.