VIDEO PORTRAITS
Tony Urquhart
Video © CCCA & Linda Corbett_Eyeris Inc. 2005
Video clips are in English only.
Note: some videos may take 15-30 seconds to preload before playing.
First Boxes
Inspired by the three-dimensional quality of the Italian Primitive painters,
Tony Urquhart noticed that by 1963 his "paintings began to change shape".
The first boxes he made were of simple folded paper with painted landscape
elements on each of the multiple two-dimensional panels.
running time: 03.40
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Painted Objects
In 1967, Tony toured Europe and Ireland, seeing some of
the fabulous altarpieces and reliquaries of which he is so fond. Returning home,
he began to cut his boxes open and place things inside, fascinated by the ability
of these "painted objects" to change shape, colour, and texture.
As his technical skills as a sculptor evolved, he worked with white glue,
rags, chicken wire and polyfilla, earning a reputation as the
"master of polyfilla boxes".
running time: 08.25
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Nose Wiggle
Urquhart doesn't play by any rules in his approach to making
art. Its through a process of intuition and experimentation that
he arrives at what he likes - what his wife Jane says, makes his
"nose wiggle".
running time: 03:04
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Theme
Using an abstract, non-linear approach, Tony may work on a
theme, drawing or painting over the course of many months,
or years, returning to add just a few lines to complete the
piece.
running time: 01:44
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Process
Urquhart's process is two-fold. At the beginning of a drawing,
he will render what he sees. After a short time, he stops
looking at the subject and begins to look more at the drawing,
listening to what it says. Next, he begins working in an abstract
way inviting imagination to play a role. Working a drawing over
time is how a "work of art should grow" and take on "a life of
its own".
running time: 04:31
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CARFAC
In this clip, Tony Urquhart shares his recollections of the
founding of CARFAC. In 1968, a simple unregistered letter
from the National Gallery involving copyright lead to the
founding of what was to become CARFAC. "It was Jack
Chamber's baby" says Urquhart, "Jack was the godfather".
What began as an issue of copyright went well beyond
Canadian borders.
running time: 06:00
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, Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art. All rights reserved.
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