[Bcma-l] Bill Featherston at the Art Gallery of the South Okanagan

[bcma-l@museumsassn.bc.ca]

NEWS RELEASE

For immediate release

January 12, 2008

*Contact: Paul Crawford, Director/Curator*

The Art Gallery of the South Okanagan

199 Marina Way, Penticton, BC

Phone: (250) 493-2928

E-mail: agso_curator@shawbiz.ca

*The Art Gallery of the South Okanagan presents New World Order, the 
latest body of work by the renowned BC painter William Featherston *

This important art exhibitions open at the Art Gallery of the South 
Okanagan on Friday January 18^th , 2008 the artist will be in attendance 
and will give a free artist talk on Saturday January 19^th at 1 pm.

At 80 years of age, William (Bill) Featherston remains something of a 
mythical figure in the Vancouver art scene. Moving to the west coast in 
1971 he turned his back on abstraction in favor of creating large scale 
figurative paintings which document the social concerns of the 
working-class heroes and characters that populate his community. As an 
educator Bill taught for ten years at the Vancouver School of Art where 
he inspired a whole generation of artists. Never one to hold back, his 
straightforward criticism pushed his students to stretch themselves 
beyond their comfort level to make a statement with their work and 
challenge social conventions. During a time when conceptual and abstract 
art ruled the day Bill provided an oasis, attracting and inspiring a 
generation of painters including Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, Laurie 
Papou, Attila Richard Lukacs, Derek Root, Angela Grossmann and Graham 
Gillmore to name a few. As a testament to his influence as a teacher he 
remains friends with many of the students he inspired and encouraged.

The first part of this exhibition introduces the viewer to the artist 
through an introspective examination of the self, illustrated through a 
series of self-portraits, which document the passage of time in a direct 
and honest fashion. These works represent the nature of the artist?s 
creative process, illustrating the concern he has for process, art 
history, composition, colour, material and accessibility. These works 
are frank depictions of the self which are neither beautiful nor ugly 
but honestly display the a sense of vulnerability both physically and 
politically to the world in which we live. Living in a society where the 
level of anxiety, fear and paranoia belies a general state of resigned 
indifference, these works could represent anyone of us. Fear, it seems, 
is the new opiate of the masses.

The second part of the exhibit combines all of the social and political 
concerns which have deeply affected the artist over the past 20 years. 
At the conclusion of World War II, Bill was an uneducated war veteran 
having dropped out of school at 16 to join the navy. Veterans Affairs 
paid for Bill to return to school where he eventually received a 
teaching certificate. A short stint teaching at a reform school gave 
Bill a social conscience which was further fueled after a job at the 
Ontario Collage of Art. In England and Wales Bill became very active in 
the peace movement and further engaged himself in political activism. 
This innate social concern began to work itself into his work and upon 
his return to Canada he gave up abstraction in favor of social realism 
creating heroic paintings documenting the everyday working class hero.

Drawing the basis of their composition from art historical references 
Bill pays homage to artists whose work and vision he admires. These 
works are also about process, materials, composition, mark making and 
theater which combined create a richly complex and layered surface and 
set where the messages both direct and indirect play out before you. 
Using political satire Bill questions the ongoing conflicts propagated 
by imperialist and corporate forces, addressing the issues of torture 
and social / political injustice. The paintings serve a cautionary 
warning, illustrating the artist?s own fears and suspicions caused by 
the rise of neo-conservatism and the political interference propagated 
by the military-industrial complex.

The earliest work pays tribute to Harvey Milk, an American politician 
and gay rights activist who was assassinated in 1978 by Dan White, a 
troubled anti-gay conservative. In another painting entitled Adultery is 
a Sin, Bill pays homage to Jean-Auguste Ingres, La Grand Odalisque 
replacing the main figure with a nude depiction of Condoleezza Rice 
reclining on a chaise lounge with her two administrative cohorts looking 
on from the balcony. Like Edouard Manet?s quasi erotic painting Le 
Déjeuner sur l'Herbe, the men are fully clothed begging the question of 
what is the real relationship between these people. These works are 
meant to push and challenge the viewer and evoke a strong emotional 
response. While they deal with harsh and brutal subjects, they also 
utilize satire and humor to ease the discomfort and provide some welcome 
relief.

This exhibition is intended to provide food for thought and asks us all 
to question the state of the world in which we live. Bill Featherston 
doesn?t pull punches and this body of work while not pretty and 
beautiful, offers one perspective to consider and begs the viewer to 
question their thoughts on what we are led to believe and understand 
from the political spin provided by the government and the media.

*For more information or to arrange an interview with the artist, please 
contact Paul Crawford Director/Curator at (250) 493-2928 or by e-mail @ 
agso_curator@shawbiz.ca*

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