THE PRAIRIE ART GALLERY An Interpretive Guide to the Exhibition . . .

JOHN KISSICK: A Nervous Decade November 18 - December 10, 2011 Opening reception: Friday, November 18, 2011 at 7:00 pm

This exhibition is organized by the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery.

NOTE: Several tles of John Kissick’s pain ngs contain coarse language.

INTRODUCTION The Prairie Art Gallery is deeply honoured to share the works of internationally acclaimed painter and writer John Kissick whose oeuvre has enjoyed recognition over the past decade for its ongoing attempts to position itself in a viable, if highly critical, dialogue with the historical conventions of abstract painting.

“One action leads to another on a haphazardly jumpy route of discovery that can start anywhere in the painting and lead in limitless directions.” – Roald Nasgaard

While experiencing this exhibit, please keep in mind that our interpretive guide is by no means a complete interpretation of John Kissick: A Nervous Decade. The way you interact with this exhibit by relating your own life experience and appreciating connections you make with it is how any artwork completes its circle and finds meaning in unexpected ways. Remember that specifically in this exhibit its investigation is the very complicated nature of interpretation. We welcome any comments and invite questions about the exhibit or the interpretive materials and activities. A comprehensive catalogue featuring full-colour reproductions and essays by Roald Nasgaard, Liz Wylie and Jason Lahr in concert with the exhibition has been published by the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery in partnership with the Kelowna Art Gallery and is available at The Prairie Art Gallery. THANK YOU FOR VISITING THE PRAIRIE ART GALLERY

Above: Groovefucker No. 3 by John Kissick, 2009. Acrylic and oil on canvavs, 84 x 78 in. Courtesy of Leo Kamen Gallery. Cover image: No.2 “ Then you chop it up small…” by John Kissick, 2004. Acrylic and oil on canvas, 66 x 66 in. Collection of Susan and Alan Torrie.

THE ARTIST & HIS WORK Trained as a painter and writer, John Kissick attended Queen’s University at Kingston, Cornell University and the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Institutes for Higher Education. He taught at Penn State University’s School of Visual Arts for thirteen years, where he was a Full Professor, Head of Painting and then Head of Critical Studies. He has also taught in adjunct capacities at University of Ulster (Belfast Art College), the University of California – Berkeley, and was Dean of the Faculty of Art at the Ontario College of Art & Design from 2000 to 2003. The author of numerous catalogue essays and articles for periodicals, he is the author of Art: Context and Criticism (1992/6), was a writer for the New Art Examiner from 1992-1997 and was editor of the Penn State Journal of Contemporary Criticism from 1990-1995. His exhibition record includes numerous solo exhibitions in Canada and the United States and his work is in a number of important national public collections. In 2005, Kissick was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy for the Arts. He is currently represented by the Leo Kamen Gallery in Toronto and Newzones Gallery in Calgary. John Kissick is currently the Director of the School of Fine Art and Music at the University of Guelph. 2

BASIC COLOUR THEORY Colour depends on light because it is made from light. There must be light for us to see colour. A red shirt will not look red in the dark, where there is no light. The whiter the light, the more true the colours will be. How do the many colours John Kissick uses make you feel? A ray of white light passing through a prism is separated into the hues seen in a rainbow. The human eye has only three types of coloursensitive receptors, which are called cones. These cones are sensitive to red, green, and blue light. All other colours, such as yellow or brown are made up of relative amounts of each of these three colours. The three primaries are added together to make white, and are known as “additives.” If three patches of light – red, green, and blue – are projected so that they overlap, the resulting colour is white. White, therefore, is an equal mixture of red, green, and blue light. Combining two additive primaries gives a secondary, or subtractive colour.

COMPOSITION An artwork which captures our attention and is pleasing to us, always has a good composition. A good composition includes many elements of design working with the principles of design. For example, space is an element, and movement is a principle of design. Movement uses colour, line and shape to direct the viewer’s eye from one part of a design to another. Pattern, also a principle, uses arranged or arbitrary repetitions of colours, lines, values, and textures to create a pattern.

WHAT IS ABSTRACT PAINTING? Abstract painting can be described as a departure from realistic or accurate representations, rather than recreating images from the visual world. Abstract images are often founded on design principles such as colour, texture, and movement. The emphasis of abstract images changes from a portrayal of facts and objects to a conveyance of more ethereal expressions such as music, emotion, imagination, as well as ideas.

Groovefucker No. 2 by John Kissick, 2009. Acrylic and oil on canvavs, 84 x 78 in. Courtesy of Leo Kamen Gallery.

VISUAL TEXTURE PATTERN Pattern is another design principle. It uses planned or random repetitions of colours, lines, values, and textures to create pattern. It is often used to enhance surfaces of drawings, paintings or sculpture. Patterns often occur in nature, and artists use similar repeated motives to create pattern in their work. Pattern increases visual excitement by enriching surface interest. Pattern comes to us from pater, Latin for father, and shares this origin with patron, paternal, and patriarchal. The Latin patronus means defender, protector, or master. What pattern shares with each of these words is the notion of a role model. A pattern presents an idea that is highly worthy of imitation. How many examples of pattern can you find in John Kissick’s paintings?

Everything around us has texture. If someone was asked to define texture, they might reply, “…the feel of an object’s surface.” This is an example of the way in which we often assume texture is something which we feel when we interact with our surroundings. But, our understanding of texture is not limited to touch. Texture can be “sensed” with our eyes also. John Kissick provides many examples of “visual texture” in the way he applies paint to his paintings. When you look closely at Re-mix No. 4, can you see the raised dots beneath the blue organic shapes? What other examples of texture can you find throughout this exhibition? 3

A WALK THROUGH THE EXHIBIT

NOTE: Several tles of John Kissick’s pain ngs contain coarse language.

A Nervous Decade brings together sixteen paintings on canvas and panel from public and private collections throughout Canada. Originally conceived as a midcareer survey, this exhibition traces Kissick’s early exploration and re-assembly of an abstract expressionist lexicon, through a current immersion in hybrid painting derived from tropes gleaned from popular culture. His focus on complicating the interpretive procedures at play in viewing painting has evolved into a current interest in sentiment in the supposedly raw experience of looking. A Nervous Decade is just a glimpse into Kissick’s intelligent and dynamic practice.

Re-Mix No.4 by John Kissick, 2009. Oil and acrylic on canvas, 66 x 66 in. Courtesy of Leo Kamen Gallery.

What Kissick does with such agility is weave the familiar (the supergraphics on 1960’s civic architecture and contemporary popular music are just two examples) into a much more expansive conversation about circuitous quotation and the institutionalization of artistic processes. Cynicism and sentimentality (often associated with pastiche and contemporary abstraction respectively) are abandoned in favour of a knowing – and constantly evolving – body of work. (Text based on Crystal Mowry, Curator of the exhibition John Kissick: A Nervous Decade.)

“…these paintings are at their best when you are not sure whether they are really good or really bad… there is usually that dynamic between the two of them.” - John Kissick 4

As you enter this exhibit, the bold colours and frenetic paint strokes of these huge paintings may at first feel a little overwhelming, or simply it may feel invigorating. Each painting offers so much to the viewer. The large shapes draw us in, and then the smaller, intricate details cause us to stay and reflect on what John Kissick wishes to communicate to us. A Nervous Decade, the title the artist chose for this exhibit, may offer the beginnings of an explanation of what Kissick thinks about how society has reacted to the events of the last ten years. The last decade certainly has been a time with much to worry about. From the tragic events of 9/11 to the many conflicts around the globe to the economic crash of 2008, our culture does, at times, seem consumed by fears and doubts. What sorts of fears are represented in these paintings?

The painting, No. 3, has a very different feeling than many of the other paintings in this exhibition. Painted in 2001, it is one of the earliest works included in A Nervous Decade. How would you describe the mood of this painting? John Kissick is very aware of the composition of each of his paintings. A good composition is pleasing to us and catches our attention. How do the colours and shapes move our eyes in the painting, No. 3?

John Kissick uses both very Groovefucker No.1 by John Kissick, 2009. dark, moody colours as well as some Acrylic and oil on canvas, 84 x 78 in. Courtesy of Leo Kamen Gallery. brighter colours to move our eyes throughout the painting. Why do you think he used the colours he did in this piece? There is also a lot of the painting. What do they remind texture in this painting, which is anyou of? other fundamental element of design. What kinds of texture can you Another artist, Roy Lichtenstein, used According to Liz Wylie, Kissick see in No. 3? What does this paintdots like these in his art as well. He “[brings] the nervousness into his ing say to you? used them like comic book artists very process – welcoming it, emdo, to create depth with various colbracing it, thereby somewhat disTake a look at the painting ours layered on top of each other. arming it.” There is a certain buoyGroovefucker No. 1. Why do you think John Kissick uses ancy to each of these paintings exso many dots in his paintings? pressed in the colours chosen and What is the first thing you notice playful marks made by John Kissick. when you look at this painting? The third and final painting we will look at is Re-mix No. 4 (see opposite This painting seems to move so page.) The three Re-mix paintings in quickly, perhaps because of this exhibition have strong referthe shapes placed overlapences to popular culture and graffiti ping each other, the painting art. Just like in the painting seems to flow swiftly from one Groovefucker No. 1, there are many organic shape to the next. dots in this painting, but here, they There are few empty spaces in seem to be in the shape of camouthis painting giving it the feelflage. Could the artist be referring ing of fullness, nearly to overto the many wars fought in this decflowing. From a few steps ade? The painting is separated diaway, one can have glimpses agonally by flat, organic shapes as of perspective. Can you spot well as thinner squiggling lines. Thethem? The yellow and orange se lines create movement in this starbursts recede, while the painting by drawing our eyes along ovoid shapes overlap them, their many curves. giving the painting a strong sense of space. Finally, note Where do your eyes travel throughthe stippled dots throughout out this painting? ■ No.3 by John Kissick. 2001. Oil on laminated plywood, 48 x 48 in. Courtesy of the artist.

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Why does John Kissick title some of his work Groovefucker? “John Kissick's abstracted paintings derive inspiration from the musical genres that defined his early adulthood, specifically disco and punk.
 Considering the attributes historically accredited to each movement, from disco's
hyper-produced repetitive pop to punk's defiant DIY ethos and anti-establishment
posturing, Kissick's paintings are self-contained contradictions, both formally and conceptually.” (www.artslant.com)

tive indifference
might be a reasonable starting place for any serious commentary on the critical
 dynamics of abstract painting today. It is here that the disco of our collective
contemporary discourse appears to trump our personal punk of individual expectation."



Groove is the sense of propulsive rhythmic "feel" or sense of "swing" created by the interaction of the music played by a band's rhythm section (drums, electric bass or double bass, guitar, and keyboards). Groove is a consideration in genres such as salsa, funk, rock, fusion, and soul. The word is often used to describe the aspect of certain music that makes one want to move, dance, or "groove". Musicologists and other scholars began to analyze the concept of "groove" in the 1990s. They have argued that a "groove" is an "understanding of rhythmic patterning" or "feel" and "an intuitive sense" of "a cycle in motion" that emerges from "carefully aligned concurrent rhythmic patterns" that sets in motion dancing or foot-tapping on the part of listeners. In direct response to his own conflicts with the tradition of abstract modernism,
Kissick's visual language has marked its territory somewhere between idealism and cynicism, in an ironic search for the "authentic." In his "anti-manifesto manifesto",
 Kissick writes, "since authenticity is so pre-Twitter, I'm beginning to think That a good, honest fake, a heartfelt lie, or some good, honest introspec-

No.4 “Just as they chance to fall…” by John Kissick, 2004. Acrylic and oil on canvas 66 x 66 in. Collection of the University of Guelph at the MacDonald Stewart Art Centre.

John Kissick's abstracted paintings derive inspiration from the musical genres that
 
 defined his early adulthood, specifically disco and punk.

“For Groovefucker, Kissick presents a new body of work that continues his stylized
interpretation of these themes. Often reworking or "remixing" older canvases, Kissick
 has developed a signature aesthetic that vacillates between pop and expressionism, between glossy, sugarcoated order and rebellious, unpredictable chaos.” (www.artslant.com)

“I seem to want to punk my disco and disco my punk.” - John Kissick

“If the limitations of the twelve -tone scale in western music can give us cultural forms as varied as Beethoven, Queen, and the Wu-Tang Clan, can’t the same expansive utterances be possible in abstract painting’s limited visual vocabulary? With these most recent paintings, the interwoven pop cultural landscape that enriches our everyday lives is the underbelly that sits on the surface and we arrive at abstraction’s mash-up with contemporary culture.” – Jason Lahr 6

History of Abstract Art

Did you know? In the 19th Century, because the patronage of the church declined and public support rose for artists and art making, artists began to employ methods of art making that few had explored, including abstract painting. For as long as people have created art, abstraction has existed; from the earliest cave paintings to the beautifully crafted designs Muslim artisans have incorporated into Mosque décor for millennia. The carnage of World War I was so horrific that by the end of the conflict, artists were so disgusted with a society that would condone such slaughter they began to create deliberately chaotic, nonsensical works. This art was called “Dada” and it has had a lasting impact on abstract art.

I try to apply colors like words that shape poems, like notes that shape music.

- Joan Miro (1893-1983) Spanish Surrealist artist

What are your thoughts? After looking at each of these paintings for a while, has your perception of them changed at all? How would you describe the mood of this exhibition? Which paintings are you drawn to? What draws you to them? How do John Kissick’s paintings speak to you?

“The paintings collected in the exhibition John Kissick: A Nervous Decade function as an acknowledgement that elements of abstract painting are identifiable collective cultural knowledge; they are rooted in our encounters with art history and the distillation and proliferation of Modernist visual language into common experience” - Jason Lahr

1. Early Abstraction - 19th Century – James McNeill Whistler, Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket, 1872. 2. Post Impressionism – Late 19th Century – Paul Cezanne, Still Life with Basket of Apples, c. 1895 created paintings from a single visual point, while they were largely representational, objects were skewed by his exploratory style. 3. Cubism developed by George Braque Violin and Candlestick, 1910 and Pablo Picasso Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, 1907. 4. Expressionism – Early 20th Century – Wassily Kandinsky fuses his love of music with his mastery of abstract design to create Composition #7, 1913 often considered to be the first completely abstract painting. 5. Fauvism – “Wild Beasts” expressive use of colour and free and imaginative drawing – Henri Matisse, French Window at Collioure, 1914. 6. Abstract Expressionism 1940s and 50s – a painting movement in which the artists applied paint rapidly, and with great force to their huge canvases in an effort to show their feelings and emotions – Jackson Pollock, No. 5, 1948. 7. Op Art 1950s and early 60s – Or Optical art makes use of optical illusions – Bridget Riley, Movement in Squares, 1961. 8. Pop Art 1950s and 60s – employs aspects of mass culture such as advertising and comic books and mundane cultural objects. Artists would often take these items out of context to create new meanings – Roy Lichtenstein, Whaam! 1963. 9. Modernism 19th and 20th Centuries – modern thought, character or practice, a revolt against the conservative values of realism – Hans Hoffman, The Gate, 1959-1960. 10. Post Modernism 20th and 21st Centuries – a term used to describe an art movement which was thought to be in contradiction to some aspect of modernism, or to have emerged or developed in its aftermath – Lawrence Weiner, Bits & Pieces Put Together to Present a Semblance of a Whole, 2005.

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GALLERY TOURS The Prairie Art Gallery offers free guided tours of our current exhibitions to all schools and community groups. Interactive activities are available to compliment the tours. Activities vary according to current exhibition theme. Please contact Sabine Schneider by emailing [email protected] or calling (780) 357-7487 for more information and bookings. We require a minimum of 2 weeks advance to ensure staff availability.

THE GREEN SPACE Since September 2009, we have dedicated a space to the interactive exploration of and response to art. Visitors of all ages have the opportunity to enjoy responding to the gallery’s current exhibitions through free art activities that are designed to encourage reflection and inspiration. Activities in the Green Space are free and open during gallery hours.

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Works Cited Bader, E., Visual Texture. Drawing1 Course Handout. Grande Prairie Regional College. John Kissick: A Nervous Decade, Kitchener-Waterloo: Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, 2010. Exhibition catalogue for John Kissick: A Nervous Decade. Schneider, S., Spring Hurlbut: Le Jardin du sommeil (Interpretive Guide, 2010). Schneider, S., Olivia Kachman: Out of the Blue & Into the Red (Interpretive Guide, 2010). Art History Timeline. 22 July 2011. Groove. 27 October 2011. Groovefucker. 1 November 2011.