Garry Neill Kennedy ranks among Canada's most significant modern artists. He鈥檚 a recipient of the Governor General鈥檚 award and the Order of Canada. He was the president of NSCAD for over 20 years. And he鈥檚 given the 麻豆传媒 Art Gallery a very exciting present 鈥� 10 presents, to be exact.
Kennedy鈥檚 recent donation to the Gallery consists of a set of paintings entitled Six Pink Paintings and a further four untitled works.
鈥淸It is] the largest single donation that the 麻豆传媒 Art Gallery has received in terms of value,鈥� states Peter Dykhuis, the gallery鈥檚 curator, who mischievously admits that there are 鈥渂ragging rights鈥� inherent in acquiring such a large and valuable donation.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e in storage for now. We did exhibit them in May of 2011, in an exhibition titled 'Materials and Space: A Selection of Recent Acquisitions 2007-2010,' but when we own works like this, it鈥檚 not uncommon for us to loan them鈥� not only are we storing the works, we鈥檙e exhibiting them as often as possible.鈥�
Mr. Dykhuis is effusive in praising the gallery鈥檚 new additions, calling Kennedy鈥檚 donated pieces 鈥渟hared cultural property鈥� and 鈥渁n intellectual gift to the nation.鈥�
A riddle of meaning versus spectacle
Part of the point of Kennedy鈥檚 works is that they鈥檙e hard to put into words. Luckily, I had the chance to take a trip into the Art Gallery鈥檚 vaults with Michele Gallant, the gallery registrar/preparator. The Dal vaults are rather special, as the Dal Gallery is one of only two 鈥淐lass-A鈥� designated art galleries in Halifax: galleries with the controlled lighting, climate control, security, and professional personnel required to safely display art which might otherwise be too delicate for a given space.
Given this rarified status, the gallery鈥檚 vaults are brimming over with art of all kinds, both hung on the vault walls and filed away. 鈥淥ur vaults are getting full,鈥� admits Mr. Dykhuis. 鈥淪o we have to be very fussy about what鈥檚 offered to us until we get larger facilities.鈥�
In the recesses of the labyrinthine vaults, Ms. Gallant unveils Mr. Kennedy鈥檚 works. 鈥淭he end result is kind of the by-product,鈥� she explains of the chipboard and canvases. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all part of the process 鈥� a process the artist establishes, rules of the game.鈥� The latter phrase seems to me the key to unraveling Kennedy鈥檚 intentions: the paintings are something of a game he enters into with the spectator, a riddle of meaning versus spectacle.
Deceptively simple works
Six Pink Paintings is exactly what it sounds like: six chipboard squares painted neon pink, first displayed in Toronto in 1994. The squares are individually named after skin diseases: Scabies, Impetigo, Eczema, and so on, and the layering of rosy paint on chipboard does indeed resemble a cartoonish interpretation of inflamed human skin. The other four untitled works were finished in 1975: each piece is a grayscale manipulation of a base canvas, using materials such as gesso and graphite pencils.
鈥淭here鈥檚 an incredible elegance,鈥� explains Mr. Dykhuis. 鈥淗e takes a four-foot piece of canvas and, in one case, with a pencil traces each strand of the canvas weave鈥� from a distance, then, it looks like a somewhat uniform grey finish.鈥� Searching for meaning in the canvases, they resemble a city fog, or perhaps a misty horizon 鈥� but, of course, part of the point is that they weren鈥檛 consciously intended to resemble anything but what they are.
鈥淲hen described with words, Kennedy鈥檚 process may be found to be very simple鈥� but the results are not,鈥� Mr. Dykhuis says of Kennedy鈥檚 deceptively guileless works. 鈥淗e is criticizing the artists who were doing expressionistic-abstract paintings. He鈥檚 expressing nothing more than what can be created by playing with the material.鈥�
Keep an eye open for Six Pink Paintings and the 鈥渦ntitled鈥� works鈥� next turn in the limelight. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but no article can do justice to the works of one of Canada鈥檚 best-established (and most generous!) artists.