Tuesday, August 4, 2009

The Great Divide

I invited a friend into my little gallery studio the other day.
As he scanned over my paintings, I sensed an emotional distance between my art and where he was at the moment.
He was reflective.
He then told me the story of his father who was an artist. It was a sad story, for his dad died when he was a 9 year old boy. He recalled his mother, taking his father's entire collection of oils and setting them on the street for garbage pickup and he recalls people jumping from their cars and rummaging through them and hauling away the collection.
He retained this memory, for somehow it seemed to capture The Great Divide. Its as if, his mother was unable to see the beauty of his father's life.
As he gave my works a cursory 'once over', I recognized that at this moment the Great Divide was being played out.
In those few moments in my gallery, it was more important for him to replay his life story and the impact of art on his life then it was for him to discuss my paintings.
We all experience this Great Divide from time to time. The opportunity to be surrounded by my works, released this painful awareness from his past.
Even though there was a disconnect with my works at that moment, my art set him free on a reflective journey with deep, tender, and painful memories. My art took him to the recognition of his own personal Great Divide.
And in that delicate and tender moment of reflection, I opened a drawer and gently set my egotistical need to be stroked into the dark recesses where it belonged.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thank you for posting your comments.
ATTENTION SPAMMERS: Comments with links to other websites, will not be accepted.

A message for anonymous posters: Comments will be accepted provided they are thoughtful and articulate.

Reciprocating comments between posters will not be accepted. Sorry - I have no intention of giving readers the opportunity to engage in flame wars. It won't happen.

Fredericks-Artworks Blog, copying policy


The Canadian Copyright act, section 29 reports on fairdealing, that it is not an infringement to reproduce someone else's work for research, study, criticism, review or to report. Which pretty much sums up what this site is about. All content sources, be they artists, printed references, and website url's are respectfully identified on this site. http://http//www.canlii.org/en/ca/laws/stat/rsc-1985-c-c-42/latest/rsc-1985-c-c-42.html

Mission Statement
A Portrait of the Visual Arts in Canada, is intended to celebrate the richness of Canada's visual arts, and to promote the arts in Canada.

Statement of Intent
I make every effort to credit the sources of information used in this blog and to obtain the permission and cooperation of all the works presented by living artists. I try, as much as possible to use works from public sources eg. national and provincial collections, of deceased artists. If for any reason, any artist disapproves of anything written about them or their work the artist is encouraged to request withdrawal of the content.