Life and death in Victoria by Philip Willey

Phyllis Serota -Hymn To My Soul - photo by Andy Grafitti

Phyllis Serota’s show at Mercurio Gallery consists of older and recent work, landscapes, still lifes and prints. She continues to mine dreams and memory to create beautiful paintings. One painting in particular held my attention. The references may be personal but I was moved by the title ‘Hymn to my soul’. Figures, or possibly ornaments, on a flat Matisse-like greenish yellow field with amorphous shapes rising into the ether. Trees, said Phyllis. They look like souls, I suggested. She did not object.

Christopher Starkey and B.A. Lampman have a show at Polychrome. My first impression was that there’s a lot going on in this work, the walls appear busy. Lampman’s paintings seem to be based on portraits onto which references are superimposed. They have an illustrative graphic quality. An elaborate hair-do features prominently. Starkey uses a similar approach whereby disparate images, art historical and topical, are layered one on top of the other. Each painting is like a little conundrum to which the viewer adds his or her own narrative. They also work as cohesive objects in themselves. These are lively paintings with recognizable subject matter which we are free to interpret in our own ways. Small, funky, nothing too arty, this is emerging as the Polychrome trademark.

Darn it. No sooner do I make that kind of sweeping statement than along comes Lance Olsen with a new crop of loose but sophisticated family size abstractions and dry point etchings. Lance seems invigorated. Must be the grand-children.

Talking of lively paintings with recognizable subject matter, discerning collectors are flocking to Galerie Wolfgang (by appointment 385-9354) to snap up Roy Green’s exuberant and thoughtful paintings at very reasonable prices. Don’t miss out on this one.

Celebratory, life affirming paintings are wonderful of course but the Grim Reaper is always there lurking in the shadows, even in Victoria. In fact somebody dropped dead on Bay Street the other day right in front of me. Just like that. The ambulance got there pretty quick but I could tell he was a gonner. That could easily have been me I thought. You just never know. Not getting any younger.

But let’s not be morbid. Madrona Gallery on View Street is showing the work of Meghan Hildebrand and Colin Macrae until April 16^th.  Both these artists live in Powell River and they both seem to have something to say other than a desire for mere self-expression.

I’m pretty sure Fran Willis used to show Hildebrand’s work at North Park. It was more abstract then if I recall. Now she is adding intricate collage to tell stories. Quilting is obviously a big part of it but Hildebrand sees abstraction ‘as a natural and automatic way to turn complex subjects into simple symbols’ [1]. Specific things happen on and around Hodgkin-like swathes of paint, other undefined areas act like background music. So she has found a way to blend the abstract with the figurative to suggest a mood. The paintings are full of life. Totems poles, boats, land-claims, privatization and mill-town politics, the imagery is both naive and sophisticated, innocent and knowing. The way Hildebrand uses colour to tie the various elements together made me think of Hundertwasser. Her collaged boats and clouds like balls of yarn are delightful.

Colin Macrae uses bits of found metal welded together to tackle major themes. This limits him to metallic colours…browns, greys and black and gives the work an industrial texture but the result is surprisingly polished. His subjects include animals and environmental concerns. A lot of the works feature an anonymous everyman kind of figure, in a landscape, getting some medical attention or talking to a skeleton. The work is weighty in more ways than one but not downbeat. There’s a fierce energy and dark humour about it….if you like your art both rugged and refined Macrae is your man. Showing these artists together makes for some interesting dialogue.

And there was an opening night bonus. If your taste runs to tall masked guys in goggles who carry their dead girlfriends around in garbage bags and half-deer, half-human forest creatures that tap-dance and play the saw (and occasional theremin) you would have enjoyed the multi-talented singing duo Hank and Lily. Vaudeville is their thing and their ‘act is based upon the tragic and hilarious adventures of their comic book series. Like the great acts of old, the music covers many genres, yet all stems from a punk rock ethic, and an appreciation for the delicate art of entertaining.’ Yes indeed, very entertaining. Unfortunately I had to leave early so if there was any necrophilia I missed it.

1] From an interview with Patrick Iberi in The Maple Tree Literary Supplement. http://www.mtls.ca/issue6/art.php.