The Body is a Temple / The Human Condition / from vinyl to mp3

Opening Reception: March 7, 7-9:30pm

Ben Burchert: The Body is a Temple

Ben Burchert is an amateur portrait artist. Ben’s current show, The Body is a Temple, shows a reverence for the human form as the Seat of Soul. His latest paintings explore the spiritual nature of life. Ben sees art as a contemplation of the love he has for the world.

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Ryan Clark: The Human Condition

“I am an artist because I am. All my life I have associated a huge part of my personal identity with being an artist, and that is what the statement preceding this means.  It is inherent to who I am… I don’t specialize in any one medium and throw them together as I see fit as the piece grows and develops. The work flows from a raw and physical studio practice, and seldom does my project become what it began as, in the artistic process. This is one of my favourite things about what I do, as I am just as surprised at the result as anyone else may be.  I get up the next morning looking at them with fresh eyes and amaze myself often. My creativity is raw and flowing and the meaning often (though not always) reveals itself at a later time, or in relation to the production of a series of works.” Ryan Clark is unschooled in the use of paints and, without the use of models, creates vivid images ranging from the serene to the lascivious. He has been drawing and creating vivid images as long as he could hold a pencil.  His Tattoos adorn the dermis’ of hundreds of people, though in the past few years he has focused on custom pieces. For years his art has been peddled amongst his circle and decorates more than a few private collections. He has done sculpture and wood carving as well. In his work Ryan practices raw creativity, often changing mediums and concepts all through out the artistic process. As a victim of childhood abuse he struggled through a life most people only read about. Often incarcerated he had time to practice in an environment bereft of inspiration leaving only his mind. The art was a therapeutic form of self-expression and the time to practice…During a still occurring spiritual growth he is compelled to expand his life, and present himself to the world.  He also practices photography, is currently anthologizing a coffee table book of Toronto graffiti and planning a print project based on his photography from a cross Canada trip.

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Bill Wehrens: from vinyl to mp3

"Musicans do COVERS, why can't artists? Most Musician do covers, for example the Rolling Stones cover Chuck Berry songs, U2 do a Beatles cover. All the singers on Canadian Idol do covers. However, there is discrimination against an artist doing a cover of another artists work. People can say “you just copied that “ but the classical way of learning painting was by making copies. In doing these covers I have improved my painting skills. I believe that there is a close relationship between art and music .There are artists who do artistic performances in front of  an audience while musicians play. As well, I have bought records just for the art work on their covers. Hopefully these paintings will provide a statement on the current state of music media. In the last decade or so, we have gone from a large vinyl sound to a compressed MP3 sound.

In addition, I also wanted to pay tribute to the artists that did the album art by doing a l'hommage of their work.  The artists are Neon Parks who did the Mothers of Invention, Barry Godber who did King Crimson and Stanley Donwood & the white chocolate farm who did Radio Head

Since I was a boy,  I have always loved cartoons, art and music. In my spare time,I have self-published 9 comic books.  I can't tell you the name of the comic books as it would give away my secret identity.  In addition, I have also done 3 perzines which are personal magazines which include poetry, art and quotes.  I have no formal education in art except a night course taken at George Brown College on cartooning.  While taking this course, I realized many cartoonists are what you might call failed artists because there was a student taking the course who was a syndicated cartoonist who couldn't draw.  I'm trying to improve my artistic skills by attending Life drawing classes on James Street and litho and etching courses at Centre3.'"