Today I visited the Art Gallery of Ontario to see the Michalene Thomas show. On my way out, as I normally do, I detoured to the Henry Moore Sculpture Centre.
Nostalgia.
I spent hours during my university years sitting, drawing, and sleeping in this space. On most occasions, it was alone time; my quiet space in a noisy world. I loved it. I love it less now since it moved, about ten years ago, to a new home. Mostly disappointed that I have to share the experience with more people (I know!) and in a colder environment.
Introspection.
Henry Moore was a British sculptor who gifted a great many of his works (around 900) to the AGO after the controversial acquisition of The Archer by the City of Toronto. Although his semi-abstract figures were modernist, one can’t be in that room and not be taken back through the centuries and eventually land at the form of the Lady of Willendorf. The works have had a profound effect on my work and style over the years. His flowing free-line work in both his drawings and sculptural textured surfaces are never far from my pencil tip when it hits paper. He died in 1986, my last year of university.
Devastated.
Henry also visited me this week when the sculptures had a cameo appearance in the Netflix documentary Blurred Lines. I highly recommend this thought provoking - at times, sickening - look at the business of art.
Cautious.