Artist Barbara Bickell
Wit and invention in artistry comes and goes with a swing like fashion; however, sometimes it can be so compelling and savvy it is quite striking. Trent Hills artist Barbara Bickell has an almost engineering designers precision but but etched into her pieces is also touches of wit and whimsy
And in witty and whimsical fashion, lets start with the three crows of a piece shown just below called Times. Now I have it direct from the artist that the dancing whimsy that you see in this piece is deliberate. “It catches some of the spirit of myself and my two sisters - and our early dancing days”. Its certainly a great introduction piece to the whole exhibition of paintings. This painting injects the intellectual animation that pervades Barbara’s works - a time box of flying images below our line of cheerfully dancing crows embodies that intelligence.
Just below are two matched Fall Maple boughs easily found in the Trent Hills countryside - even I have a number of pictures that capture this scene. But not quite - running in the top third of both paintings is a bright river of light. It has living lava glow on the left and a sense of revelation with intrigue to be discovered on the right. This is another hint of the ideas flowing freely in Barbara’s works.
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In the next series of paintings shown below, Barbara treats us to some seasonal views of the Trent Hill’s landscape with a difference. First there is a common cool hue reveling in the layers and forms that the countryside takes as it dons its various seasonal trappings. In the middle piece, Barbara makes explicit the the different layers and viewpoints in time. There is a touch of rhythm and repetition like in poetry and song here - as if a Courier de Bois had paddled through and left an echo sentiment and view which is replayed in a changing landscape scenes
Finally, there are reed like slalom gates in the blue rectangular waves that emerge in this heartbeat image. One can easily conjure up a Fibonacci series of ideas and sentiments from this savvy image. I liked it so much I adopted the same style in putting together the paintings from Barbara’s show. However, this is only a sampler of what Barbara’s show has to offer. There are a dozen more paintings on exhibit. So if you find yourself traveling Ontario East, take an excursion up and off the 401 at Brighton or Colborne exits and see what Warkworth has to offer. And do stop by for an intelligent bite with Barbara’s show at the 100 Mile Diner in “downtown” Warkworth. And for wine fanciers, there is the Oak Heights Winery 5 kilometers due West or the WestBen Theater for a musical treat in Campbellford just up the way.
You can contact Barbara by email or at 905-797-3007 and see more of her art works on her website and there with her small box pieces one can see echoes of her painting style.
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October 2, 2008
Rodeo at THEx
THEx never fails to fascinate.In the past 4-5 years I have seen great shows at the air-conditioned Ricoh - Hollywood on Ice, the Rodeo, and a wonderful Circus. But this does not even touch the Bandshell Entertainments, The Iams SuperDogs or Hypnotic Wizardry. And I haven’t mentioned the Midway Rides. Maybe I am getting a hopeless case of Midway nostalgia in my senior years ? Is it the Toronto water ? Or maybe my penchant for freebies at the Ricoh Centre which on a hot August afternoon, the Ricoh is a welcome cool Oasis. This year THEx had a Rodeo back at the Ricoh on show. Not bad an idea given that the Horse Palace is adjacent to the Ricoh Center.
The countryside all around Toronto is site of the Summer Dodge Rodeo series - so there are lots of rodeo players in the vicinity.And THEx has to be careful not to step on the local fairs and competitions or the big championship rodeo events occurring at the Royal Winter Fair.Also the Rodeo only has 1 hour for each show. So the Rodeo at THEx is more of an exhibition. There is calf roping, bronco busting, barrel races and bull riding among events. And they are all compelling match ups between man and beast. But for my money, the bareback bronco busting - well it puts the most hellacious of the Midway rides to shame.
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Five Seconds of Bareback Bronco Busting
And I have proof - just see the above sequence of shots.. The pictures were taken with my new Casio EX-F1 camera which has the ability to capture full-size images at up to 60 frames per second. I had the camera set at a relatively low 3-frames per second so the shots above are 1/3 of a second apart going for slightly over 5 seconds. The rider actually stayed on for nearly 9 seconds. But what amazed me was that in the last four seconds I could barely keep the rider and horse in the frame(the last frame is the last I got most of both in the picture).
Partially that is because the horse and rider are moving towards me. And partially that may be due to the fact that my teeth and back could not stand the jarring. Just kidding. But I will tell you that my chiropractor would jump at the opportunity to serve some of the rodeo riders and hands. And in general, the jars and falls of calf tieing or bull riding are equal to or greater than bronco busting.
So if you get a chance to see the Toronto Winter Fair or the Rodeos out in the countryside (or at the Calgary Stampede), stop by and be prepared for some brash and bone jarring entertainment. These riders have not just a touch of bravado in them.
September 17, 2008
Educational Art Scene: Not Firing on all Cylinders
Toronto has some fairly good art oriented festivals which we have featured on our websites. Nuit Blanche, Luminato, and Open Doors to mention three that are centered on the arts from architectural to media and craft. But there is a critical missing ingredient in every one - the active and innovative participation of the educational arts communities.
True U of T had a strong showing this year in the Open Doors showing off the public buildings that make up its important part of the Toronto Scene. But almost all of the other colleges and universities, despite their often innovative and historical architectural roots, are no-shows. Ditto for the art schools for Nuit Blanche and Luminato. For example, Luminato and Nuit Blanche would appear to be wonderful opportunities for the art students at Ryerson, George Brown, U of T, Centennial, Seneca, OCAD and other schools to participate with innovative student offerings. However, this year at Luminato there was barely a sign of Educational art participation except by ex-grads. And Nuit Blance is not much better. Sure there is a major stop at OCAD - but I will let you be the Judge of how innovative that participation is. Click on the image at the left or here to find out how to get there Saturday October 4, 2008.
If I were a student at Centennial’s excellent Centre for Communications or Ryerson’s Photography department or OCAD in general - I would be asking my faculty why can’t we get on board in these events in innovative ways that allow us to display our talents and capabilities. And if I were on the boards and/or organizing committees I would be working double overtime to tap into the upcoming student talent. Its not mission impossible as the Toronto Art Show at Nathan Phillips Square and the Contact Photo exhibition have shown.
Perhaps Nuit Blanche or Luminato or Open Doors on there websites would entertain open, YouTube-like proposals and then 3 to 5 People Choice sites or entries could be sponsored based on the popular vote/ratings of the proposals. Then there might be the Faculty choices in which members of the participating Schools faculties vote on entries(faculties are not allowed to vote for their own students and all voting would be made public). This would result in 1-3 Faculty choices. Finally there could be a distinguished jury and their 1-3 choices would make up the balance of the student entries. The clear idea here is to a minimum of 5 and up to 11 student/upcoming artist entries which would make up roughly 10% of Luminato and Open Doors sites and 5% of Nuit Blanche action. Surely, the festivals and faculties could do so. The interest in the competitions alone would help spark interest and participation in the festivals. It seems like a natural.
Cantina into Jazz Dancing
One of my favorite scenes from the first Star Wars movies (and it seems for many other Star Wars fans as well) was the Cantina on Mos-Eisley where all the characters - Obi Wan, Luke, Hans Solo and Chewie the Wookie get to “reveal their hands” to some of the best background dancing jazz music of the Galaxy. I have been quietly waiting for nearly 30 years for someone to recreate that music and scene in Modern Dance or Theater. The Desrosier Dance Company and Danny Grossman troupe have come close; but the jazz music riffs are more often eastern mystic, synthetic modern or just go pop. And beside there is the syncopation question - Jazz and Dancing ? How do you mix to the two? Surely this is not the lyrical dancing lilt of a Strauss Waltz nor the pulse pounding Saturday Night highlights of the BeeGees. What do you dance Jazz to?
Try Hiphop, Bboying, House and Waacking by the Gadfly Dance Company. Gadfly, a collaboration of Apolonia Velasquez and Orfilio Portillo, put on a 60 minute Jazz-Hiphop-Waacking dance fest at this summer’s Toronto Fringe Festival that got well deserved standing-room only, standing ovations. It truly was an almost Unbearable Prospect of how good the mix of Jazz and Break dancing can be. Thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU Fringe Festival executives for scheduling this Dance Storytelling show (and consider the opportunity Montreal and Toronto Jazz Festivals).
The show started with a commuting scene - dancers walking across the stage at various angles and hurried paces to be fractured by music and spasms of break dancing gliding back into a full commute. Then there was a female quartet song and my-gosh-such dancing that even Olympic pommel horse competitors would find them compelling. And hence the audience was launched into the Unbearable Prospect dance show. What followed was a stream of dancing consciousness in the Jazz and House vein showing Hiphop mixed with a touch of classical and a lot of clever choreography. This means a stab of light becomes a mime wall deflecting Waacking and Bboy dancers off and then quantum surprisingly through its lighted borders.
Now what followed was a remarkable command performance. I would think, “I wonder if they could add elements of symmetry and lyricism?” and dancer Addy Chan did that in a wonderful solo that brought animation to scintillating reflected curves. Or I might think, “well how can you mix asymmetry with classic balletic movement?” - and then Jesse Catibog and Mathieu Walker wove in and out of a pas deux with such energy and form. “Okay, can they do full bold Jazz skat singing?” - and the troupe produced a bravura performance to a screech-skat recording as if on command.
So what did I learn this summer ? Well the Toronto dance scene, always gurgling and bubbling with very good dancers and innovation, is now boiling over with some amazing Break/Hiphop dance talent combined with wonderfully inventive choreographers. Finally, I learned what would have happened if George Lucas had added dancers to that classic Star Wars Cantina scene. A more than welcome Amen.
Postscript: Two of the dancers in the company, Jesse Catibog and Apolonia Velasquez are in the CTV program So You Think You Can Dance Canada. Take a peek and see some samplings of what I am raving about.
August 3, 2008
Caribana 2008
Caribana to Toronto is like the Gay Pride Parade, living proof that the Queen City continues to meld into Quepasa Place - more tolerant and indulgent of its multi-cultures than even its various media recognize. And what better way to celebrate than a downhome West-Indian Island Carnival. It is fitting that the final day of Caribana is not the Parade but a feast and fest on Toronto Islands. And despite the rain Caribana was out in full colours:
And what a bounty of hues! One can see why Caribana attracts fun frolic, sound and colour abound.
There are Pirate skull and crossbones - long a cultural reality including now in the Caribbean, but an effloresence of colours, sparkle, dance and sounds that is refreshingly infectious. Kids get in on the action and enjoy the fun and pride of the parade.
It-might-rain-and-did-mightily could not dampen the enthusiasm for hundreds of thousands of parade-goers and doers stretching from THEx to Lakeshore by High Park.
The Parade was a show stopper on the Gardiner into town. And why not - where else are you going to see such spectacular floats as luscious as any Floral Garden beauties.
And speaking of beauties there were many for the eye of the beholder - including this Black Pride Can-do Parade of such great splendour, energy and sheer fun. Go here to see the full set of 200 plus Caribana parade pictures.
July 23, 2008
Ned and Renee’s Flower Garden
In the past few years my brothers garden has become a place of delights whenever I visit.These are not just visual but also scentual - wafting a beeline fragrance that entices the soul subliminally.
The allure has become so compelling that I have added some smattering of bulbs to my Mom’s Perennial Flower patch just to see what would bloom - and to my surprise and delight the June and July show garden was as spectacular as the coinciding National Fireworks fests.
What is even more fascinating for me, is how carefully my brother coaxes the splendor from some very shy floral varieties. I just assumed that the blooms did their best given water, fertilizer and reasonable soil.
Not so! There is an art to gardening.
Roses need a dusting, especially if the weather alternates between rain and sunshine. Lilies need trimming. Peonies need support and a deep mulch. Plantain needs its share of sun and shade. And so on insight one seems to be tendering care for tender shoots and sprigs whose unfolding, whether by dawn or the rising mid-day sun, is its own reward.
And thus one begins to appreciate uncanny words of wisdom -
To the Nahuas indians, words were flowers, metaphors that gave birth to thoughts and actions - Jose Antonio Burciaga
And suddenly these blossoms are braziers of passion- reflecting the inner souls or -
Scent is the soul of flowers - Jules Verne
Or memories enchanted, haunted, or still sensible tastes of passing times.
The artist is the confidant of nature, flowers carry on dialogues with him through the graceful bending of their stems and the harmoniously tinted nuances of their blossoms. Every flower has a cordial word which nature directs towards him - Auguste Rodin
So save the last words to a founding father of physics -
What greater stupidity can be imagined than that of calling jewels, silver, and gold ‘precious,’ and earth and soil ‘base’? People who do this ought to remember that if there were as great a scarcity of soil as of jewels or precious metals, there would not be a prince who would not spend a bushel of diamonds and rubies and a cartload of gold just to have enough earth to plant a jasmine in a little pot, or to sow an orange seed and watch it sprout, grow, and produce its handsome leaves, its fragrant flowers, and fine fruit. It is scarcity and plenty that make the vulgar take things to be precious or worthless; they call a diamond very beautiful because it is like pure water, and then would not exchange one for ten barrels of water - Galileo Galilei
For the complete Ned and Renee Floral feast visit here.
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