Ted Godwin 23 May - 17 June, 2020
Ted Gowin - Galleries West 2003
23 May - 17 June, 2020
TED
GODWIN a retrospective
about Ted Godwin Ted Godwin was born in Calgary in 1933. He studied at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (and Art) in 1955. Godwin, “The Kid”, was the youngest member of the group known as the Regina Five.
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In 1964, Ronald Bloore, the curator of the Mackenzie Art Gallery, together with four of his professor friends staged an exhibition that would change the course of each of these artist’s lives. Ronald Bloore, Kenneth Lochhead, the head of the art school at the University of Regina, Arthur McKay, Douglas Morton, and Ted Godwin collectively came together for this exhibition. The director of the National Gallery of Canada at the time, Richard Simmins, was so taken by the exhibition that he asked to have the show exhibit at the National Gallery of Canada and the “Regina Five” was born. Godwin was 28 years old at the time. It was an innovative time and the abstract expression movement was going strong in the 60s. Bloore and Lochhead started the Emma Lake workshops in northern Saskatchewan in which New York art critic, Clement Greenberg, Barnett Newman (1959), Jules Olitski (1964), and so many other significant art figures attended and taught. It changed the course of Godwin’s painting career. He taught and influenced many young impressionable artists at the University of Regina until 1985 (a heart condition forced his retirement).
Matisse Remembered 1962 oil on cardboard on hardboard 38.5” x 23.5”
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“A painter must be involved as deeply and completely in life as possible for it is only through living that ‘life’ can be assessed, re-arranged, or mirrored. My painting is a process of discovery and evaluation of the internal and external forces I apprehend. These stimuli are re-arranged to become part of my personal vocabulary of abstraction. The success of a work is dependent upon how well the stimulus has been absorbed and the degree of command I have established over the image and the artifices used to create it with.” - Ted Godwin (Stratford Exhibition 1962)
Exploded Sherbert 1963 acrylic & oil on canvas 55” x 23”
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Photo Credit: Alan Hustak, The Globe & Mail, Jan 14, 2013
Over the years, Godwin exhibited extensively across Canada and in the UK. Ted Godwin was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy (RCA) in 1974, and was awarded the Queens Silver Jubilee Medal 1978. He was awarded by the Alberta College of Art and Design Board of Governors, the Award of Excellence, and was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Regina in 2001 (along with all the Regina Five). He received the Lieutenant Governor’s Award in 2010. He published, in 1999, “A Handbook for the Emerging Artist”, and won the Saskatchewan Book Award for best new publication (Educational). In 2004, for his excellence in the field of visual arts, Godwin was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and in 2010, and he was chosen Artist of the Year by Trout Unlimited that same year. Ted Godwin had been exhibiting his work since 1955 and had more than 60 solo exhibitions trhoughout his career. He was a devote writer, painter, fly-fisherman, practiced Tai Chi, and was a significant figure, and mentor in Alcoholics Anonymous.
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“At Times Godwin was known to be brash and boisterous but once you got past the harsh exterior, he was actually quite kind.” - says director, Colette Hubner Godwin was an educator and influenced a number of artists during their careers. Perhaps it was important for him to help and encourage others because of his problems as a child with dyslexia. A misunderstood condition during his time. He struggled during school. He immersed himself into art and music. As early of an age that Godwin could remember he wanted to be in the arts. 10
He was always playing jazz music in his studio while he painted. He loved music and was a huge supporter of the jazz community. He played the piano but never in public, maintaining he was not good enough to play live. However, his art seems to have a lyrical and playful, perhaps musical quality. Many people comment on the diversity of Godwin’s work. There are seemingly three distinctive periods of his oeuvre, as Anne Davis points out in her essay in “Ted Godwin - The Regina Five Years: 1957-1967”. The first being; known as his Regina Years, the second; the Tartan Series, and the third; his landscapes.
Night Bone 1964 oil on canvas 78” x 66”
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Rising, 1966, acrylic & oil on canvas on board, 25.5” x 20”
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Untitled 6, 1962, mixed media on paper, 11.5” x 17.5”
Untitled 171, 1961, pastel & ink on paper, 12.25” x 17”
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Big Pink, 1966, sumei in and watercolour on paper, 19� x 28�
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Sherwood Green, 1963, mixed media on paper, 21.5” x 27.5”
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Dragon Party Time, 1961, mixed media on paper, 13” x 20”
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Organic Study, 1961, mixed mdedia on paper, 9.25” x 14.5”
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Time Thing, Molyvos, 1963, sumei ink on paper, 19.5� x 27.5�
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“As artist, my mission is to effect, reflect and chronicle my understanding and comprehension of the human journey using a variety of iconic symbols that others can relate to. I believe that over the past three decades there has arisen a tragic misunderstanding of the purpose of art and its ultimate mission. The (Cult of New) has become confused with the Avante Garde. In the ensuing chaos, many have lost their way and forgotten that sometimes the Emperor really is naked; what was taken for magic and import, is only smoke and mirrors after all. 20
While the current state and the future of art may be a trifle murky, its history sure as hell isn’t. ...” “These works [the Tartan’s] are from a time when I had the vigor, strength, commitment, and intellectual curiosity of youth - marking them as being from a time when I was at the height of my creative potential.” - Ted Godwin, 1999 from Ted Godwin: The Tartan Years, 1967-1976
A Tartan for Apoolo Rising, ca. 1970s, elvacite on canvas , 72” x 54”
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NFS
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A Tartan For Phyllis, ca. 1970s, Elvacite on Canvas, 72” x 54”
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Blue Molyvos ca. 1970s Elvacite On Canvas 79” x 67”
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Tartan Plains, 1969, ink on paper, 18” x 18”
Tartan For Will, White Center, ca. 1970s, pastel, ink on paper, 23.5” x 30.5”
Godwin was an avid fly-fisherman. Thus, the attraction to painting landscape came natural to him. His landscapes, or perhaps more accurately described as waterscape paintings, are but snippets in time. For Godwin they are compilations on memories and experiences and thus each work is more about what exists in the mind than that of reality. The environment always changing & the draw to a new watering hole always and forever present for him, his subject matter endless. Godwin’s waterscapes were not only a reflection of his passion but also spiritual and with times a historical or environmental ideology attached. 26
As Geoffrey Simmins writes in “Lower Bow - A Celebration of Wilderness, Art and Fishing”; he eloquently points out, “The river itself changes. Eddies and backwaters become rapids during high water. To know a river, is paradoxically, to realize that one cannot know it - except to recognize its ever changing aspects”. Water by its nature is abstract. It holds a whole new world; an unknown and it is mesmerizing. To capture the essence of water is unto a challenge in itself for the artist. After all Godwin always said to me, “my landscapes are abstract cunningly disguised as landscapes” (art director, Colette Hubner). There is always something deeper to these works than at the surface with Godwin and his work. As Godwin always said, “you have to give a painting time to talk to you...” The challenge to captivate water through the eyes of a fisherman was too luring...
Zoomorphism D ca. 1980s oil on canvas 81” x 59”
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Dance Of Nataraja 1993 oil on canvas 78.5” x 39”
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Beaver Pond ,Kananaskis, ca. 2000, oil on panel, 12” x 16”
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Kluane Bones, ca. 1995, oil on canvas, 15.75” x 20”
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Bright Waters, Kenauk, 2001, oil on canvas, 45” x 64”
NFS
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Wild Rice, Lily Pads & Summer Breezes Farewell #23, ca. 1970s, sumei ink & watercolour on paper, 17.25” x 23.25”
Wild Rice, Lily Pads & Summer Breezes Farewell #8, 1973, mixed media on paper, 17.25” x 25.25”
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Wild Rice, Lily Pads & Summer Breezes Farewell No#, ca. 1970s, pastel on paper, 19” x 25.5”
Wild Rice, Lily Pads & Summer Breezes Farewell #4, ca. 1970s, pastel on paper, 19” x 25”
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Pallette Painting Landscape ca. 2000s oil on board 7” x 9”
Untitled (Portal Series) ca. 1980s oil on canvas 45” x 61”
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Nova Scotia Tapestry, 2004, oil on canvas, 54” x 69”
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C.V. (select) SELECT SOLO EXHIBITIONS & GROUP EXHIBITIONS (*solo): 38
1965 1965 1966 1966 1967 1967 1967 1967 1967 1968 1968 1968 1968 1968 1970
Regina, SK- N.M.A.G. Ottawa, OT- 6th Biennial Canadian Art* Winnipeg, MN- Univ. of Man. Ontario Art Circuit - (touring) Atlantic Art Circuit - (touring) Calgary, AB- Allied Art Centre Fredericton, N.B. - Saskatchewan Painters Lord Beaverbrook Gallery* Ottawa, OT - Blue Barn Gallery Montreal P.Q. - Canadian Pavillion Expo 67 (group)* Regina, SK- (Tartans) Dunlop Gall Toronto, OT- Painting 68 AGO (group)* Winnipeg, MN - The Winnipeg Show W.A.G. (group)* Regina, SK - Faculty Exhibition NMAG (group)* Montreal, P.Q. - Selected Sask. Painters Waddington* Regina, SK - Regina Invitational Exh. NMAG (group)&
1971 1971 1971 1971 1971 1974 1974 1974 1974 1974 1976 1976 1976 1976
Vancouver, BC - Bau-Xi Gallery Selects (group)* Toronto, OT- York University Vancouver, BC - Bau-Xi Gallery Edmonton, AB - Edmonton Art Gall. Galway, Eire - Two-Person Show (Phyllis & Ted Godwin Kenny’s Art Gallery* Regina, SK - Dying Orchids Perry’s Art Centre Hamilton, OT- 9 out of 10 (survey excl. Ont.)* Victoria, BC - Bau-Xi Gallery Toronto. OT- Ontario Community Collects 1776-1975* Moose Jaw, SK - Landscapes * Ottawa, OT- Emma Lake and after Nat. Gall.* Waterloo, OT- Two Person Show (Phyllis) Univ. Gall.* Montreal, PQ - Saskatchewan at the Olympics (group) Mendel Saskatoon - Dunlop - Regina* Winnipeg, MN- 64-74 Survey - Subway art Gall.
1976 1976 1977 1977 1977 1977 1977 1978 1978 1979 1979 1979 1980 1980 1980
Winnipeg, MN- Rocks, Flowers, Scissors Subway Gall. Regina, SK - Rocks, Flowers, Scissors & Sculp. Dunlop Art Gallery Toronto, OT - Dying Orchids & Tartans Bau-Xi Gall. Calgary, AB - Canadian Art Gall. Edmonton, AB- Lefebvre Gallery Calgary, AB - Western Summer #1 Canadian Art Gall. Winnipeg, MN - Western Summer #2 Subway Art Gall. Toronto, OT - Western Summer Bau-Xi Gall. Calgary, AB - Canadian Art Gall. Toronto, OT - Bau-XI Gall. Winnipeg, MN - Phoenix Group sh. Cardigan-Milne Gall. Vancouver, BC - Bau-Xi Gallery Toronto, OT - Western Summer #3 - Bau-Xi Gall. Calgary, AB - Western Summer #4 Canadian Art Gall. Vancouver, BC - Bau-Xi Gallery
1980 1980 1980 1980 1980 1980 1981 1981 1981 1981 1982 1982 1982 1983
Calgary, AB - Glenbow Art Museum Calgary & Edmonton, AB - Alberta Now (group tour)* Calgary, AB - Historical Survey of Watercolour in Alberta Glenbow Art Museum (group)* Saskatoon, SK - Saskatchewan Watercolour 1905-1980 Mendel Art Gallery (group)* Toronto, OT - Western Summer #5 - Daysend on Moab Bau-Xi Gallery Edmonton, AB - The Big Picture Edmonton Art Gallery* Vancouver, BC - Western summer #6 Bau-Xi Regina, SK - Two-person Show (phyllis) Assiniboia G.* Creemore, OT- The Regina Five 1961-1981 (touring)* Regina, SK - Faculty Exhibition N.M.A.G. (group)* Toronto, OT- Spiritscapes Bau-Xi Gallery Calgary, AB - New Work Canadian Art Gall. Vancouver, BC - New Work - Bau-Xi Gallery Toronto. OT - A day on the Highwood Bau-Xi Gall.
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C.V. (select, continued) 40
1983 1983 1984 1984 1985 1985 1985 1986 1986 1986 1987 1987 1988 1988
Calgary, AB - The Portals - Canadian Art Gall. Regina, SK - New Work Phyllis and Ted Assiniboia Toronto, OT- New Work Bau-Xi Gallery Vancouver, BC - New Work Bau-Xi Gallery Regina, SK - Phyllis and Ted Assiniboia Gallery Toronto, OT- Irish series & Ophelia Observed Bau-Xi Gallery Calgary, AB - Wild Rice, Lily Pads, & Summer Breezes - Canadian Art Galleries Regina, SK- Assiniboia Gallery Vancouver, BC - Bau-Xi Gallery Calgary, AB - Founder’s Show Alberta College of Art * Regina, SK - Wild Rice, Lily Pad, & Summer Breezes Farewell - Paper works - Assiniboia Calgary, AB - Wild Rice, Lily Pads, & Summer Breezes Farewell - Canadian Art Galleries Toronto, OT- Gallery Moos Limited Ottawa, OT- National Gallery Inaugural Exhibition*
1988 1989 1989 1989 1989 1992 1992 1992 1992 1992 1992 1992-94
Calgary, AB - From the Landscape - Alberta College of Art * Vancouver, BC- Recent Painting Bau-Xi Gallery Vancouver, BC - Recent Painting Simon Fraser University B.C. Calgary, AB - Landscape into Painting Alberta College of Art * Saskatoon, SK - flat Side of the Landscape: The Emma lake Artist’s Workshops * Vancouver Art Gallery, Edmonton Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Windsor, and the Mackenzie Art Gallery Regina.* Regina, SK- Lower Bow (four One Man shows ensemble) Lower Bow book Launch MacKenzie Art Gallery Calgary, AB - Lower Bow Canadian Art gallery Mar 10-28 Regina, Sask. - Lower Bow Assiniboia Art Gallery Mar 10-28 Toronto, OT- Lower bow Bau-Xi Gallery Mar. 10-28 Vancouver, BC - Lower Bow Bau-Xi Gallery Mar. 10-28 Toronto, OT McMichael Canadian Art Centre June 28- Sept.13 (group) Quebec City, PQ Crisis of Abstraction Musee de Quebec, National Gallery of Canada Ottawa OT, Mackenzie Art Gallery Regina, SK, Glenbow Museum, Calgary, AB, Art Gallery of Hamilton Hamilton, OT
1993 1993 1993 1993-94 1994 1994 1995 1995 1995 1995-96 1996 1996 1997
Toronto, OT Zoomorphism - Bau-Xi Gallery February 16 - March 6 Taejon, Korea Expo 93 Reflecting Paradise* Calgary, AB New Work - definitely Canadian Art Galleries Dec.4th -31 Winnipeg, MN Achieving the Modern - Wpg. Art Gallery, Confederation Art Centre PEI, Mendel Art Gallery Saskatoon SK, Edmonton. Art Gallery AB, Art Gallery of Windsor OT* Vancouver, BC - Telegraph Cove Bau-Xi Art Gallery Sept. 5 - 24 Mandalas Bau-Xi Van., Candadian Art Galleries Calgary, Assiniboia Art Gallery Regina SK, Bau-Xi Art Gallery To. OT 50 years - Canadian Art Galleries - Fall* Kluane Assiniboia Art Gallery Regina SK October Kluane Canadian Art Galleries Calgary AB November Over there, Out here: Paris, Emma Lake, Banff, Calgary - Glenbow* Ted Godwin’s Kluane Yukon Arts Centre Whitehorse, Yukon Spring Kluane double show Bau-Xi Toronto - Bau-Xi Van North and Northwest images from the land of the Dene, Kwakiutl,
and T’iemshian, Bau Xi Toronto 1998 Introduction Wallace Galleries, Calgary AB 1998 Drohan, Godwin and Lochhead Landscapes Wallace Galleries 1999 Regina Five historical - Wallace Galleries (Mckay Retro tie in) 1999 Ted Godwin RCA The Tartan Year 1967 - 1976 opening Nickle Arts Museum September 24th 1999 Ted Godwin Beyond the Tartan Years Wallace Galleries September 24 1999 - 02 Ted Godwin RCA The Tartan Years 1967 - 1976 tour Mackenzie Art Gallery Regina SK Spring 2000 Carleton University Art Gallery Ottawa, OT Fall 2000 Confederation Art Centre Charlottetown, PEI Winter 2001 Robert McLaughlin Art Gallery Oshawa OT, Fall 2001 2000 One man Assiniboia Gallery 2000 One Man Bau-Xi Gallery Toronto Fall 2000 “In the Land of the Kutenai”, Wallace Galleries, Calgary, AB 2000 Assiniboia Gallery, Regina, SK, New Work 2001 Bau-Xi Gallery Vancouver, “Lost Lake and other Considerations 2001 Wallace Galleries, Calgary AB “Kenauk” series September
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2002 2002 2003 2004 2005 2007 2007 2008 2008 2009 2011 2014
Bau-Xi Vancouver & Toronto “Kenauk Two” Assiniboia Gallery, “Regina Kenauk Three” Wallace Galleries, Calgary, “The Newfoundland Suite” Bau-Xi To. And Van. The waters of Nova Scotia Wallace Galleries Calgary scheduled for Fall - Eastern Considerations Bau-Xi Gallery Toronto May5th Nootka Sound Assiniboia Gallery Regina Three person with wife and daughter September Ted Godwin: The Regina Five Years, 1957 - 1967, Nickle Arts Museum, Calgary, AB Ted Godwin: The Regina Five Years, Wallace Galleries, Calgary, AB Ted Godwin: The Regina Five Years, 1957 - 1967, Mackenzie Art Gallery, Regina, SK Ted Godwin: The Regina Five Years, 1957 - 1967, Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, NB Ted Godwin Remembered, Wallace Galleries, Calgary, AB Bau-Xi, Vancouver, BC
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HONOURS & AWARDS:
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS & COMMISSIONS:
1958 Second prize N.E.S.A. (international neon design competition) 1964 Merit Award - Winnipeg Biennial 1968 Winnipeg Show Purchase Award 1970 Organized Regina invitational Exhibition N.M.A.G. 1974 Royal Canadian Academy (R.C.A. elect) 1978 Queen Elizabeth Jubilee Medal 1987 Inducted Fine Arts Archives - University of Regina 1988-91 Member Calgary Allied Arts Foundation 1990-91 Chairman Calgary Allied Arts Foundation 2000 Professor Emeritus University of Regina 2001 Award of Excellence Alberta College of Art “Governors’ Award of Excellence” 2001 Award of Honorary Doctorate University of Regina, Regina SK Fall convocation 01
Alberta Art Foundation Art Gallery of Ontario Art Gallery of Hamilton Bank of Montreal Bennet Jones BP Canada Canada Council Art Bank Canadian Embassy Washington Canadian Embassy Kiev CBC City of Toronto Confederation Art Centre Esso Resources Canada Glenbow Art Museum
Gulf Oil John Shaw Hong Kong Lord Beaverbrook Art Gallery National Gallery of Canada Peter Whyte Foundation Robert McLaughlin Art Gallery Saskatchewan Arts Board University of Regina University of Sask. University of Calgary University of Manitoba
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directors: Heidi Hubner & Colette Hubner design & text & contributors: Colette Hubner
Cover image: Nova Scotia Tapestry, 2004, oil on canvas, 52� x 69�