The featured exhibit runs March 1 – 31, 2023 in Metro Gallery in the Garneau Theatre lobby.
Artist Reception: March 10 at 5:30PM.
Artist: Jimmy Golden
Artist Statement:
Making art is a curious and often wonderful occupation. It can also be frustrating and infuriating, but all in all it does make for an interesting life. It can engage the deep belly of the soul, and aid in the self discovery that is inherent in the creative process. In my earliest years at elementary school, I spent so much time and energy drawing in the margins of my scribblers that my teachers took note. They called my parents to suggest that I enrol in Saturday morning art classes at the Art Gallery of Edmonton which was in a house on 105th Street at the time. I took to it like a duck to water, attending Saturday morning classes for many years. My education and most of the work that I have done has always been meant to enhance my art, and ultimately my enjoyment and the quality of life. Enjoying and delving into the infinite fascination of “the chemistry of colour” and the observation of the natural rhythms of Nature has been at the core of my entire life, and practice.
Our local universe is filled with an unending pageant of form and colour that I have always used as source material for my art. The myriad variations of animate life provide me with more than ample inspiration to reflect the infinite wonder that we are witness to in this finite existence. I have long been drawn to the ancient Chinese philosophy called Taoism. It is based on the observation of the natural opposites that comprise this world and indeed our lives. Life is created when these opposites meet and dance. In almost all art, there are both positive and negative spaces. The empty, or negative, spaces are of the same importance as the solid, or positive spaces. Their value is identical. Yin equals Yang. “Insalata Mista” is Italian for “mixed salad”. The paintings that I present here are indeed a mixed bag of my response to living here in this amazing world. There is always something new to witness and experience, amidst all that is old and familiar to us. For me, making art has always been a personal reflection of the mystery and majesty that we are all heir to.
