In her art,
Betty Goodwin reflects on the fragility and resilience of human life.
She often worked with found objects,
such as clothing, which holds traces of the body and
that evoke loss and the passage of time.
While walking through Montreal in the 1970's, Goodwin noticed the large industrial tarpaulins that cover transport trucks,
their visible rips and marks a reminder of many journeys travelled.
The artist bought several repaired tarpaulins and reworked their surfaces with gesso, chalk and oil stick,
folding and refolding the canvas to add to the existing stains, scratches and seams. By transforming this everyday object, Goodwin made it her own.
Tarpaulin #8, 1976 tarpaulin, gesso, rope, wire
by Betty Roodish Goodwin, born and died Montreal, Quebec, Canada. 1923 - 2008
(text quoted the gallery'swall signage)
I spent an entire day at the Art Gallery of Ontario and am now filled with inspiration, moved by the emotional authenticity of the contemporary art I saw there and of the respectful and intelligent way it was presented for the viewer.
8 comments:
Thank you for sharing this work by Betty Goodwin. Trying to convey traces of where we have been.
these images bring to mind the mytho-poetic printmaker Glen Skien's "Object Poems" made with an old tarp back in 2012
http://silentparrotpress.blogspot.com/2012/08/
WOW-this is amazing! Thanks for sharing, I learn something new and my mind is broadened every time I read your BLOG-you are an inspiration
Thank you for the intro to an artist working with industrial materials. I am enchanted.
Hi Judith - thank you for sharing this. I was also at the AGO in October and came across this same piece by Betty Goodwin. When I saw it I wanted to know more. I was mesmerized by how she redefined the found tarpaulin, presenting a balance between the complex and the simple, the ways in which elements like the machine stitched repairs, bent grommets, the pungent odor of the oil canvas tell a story, and for me ultimately creating a space in which I could step into or not.
Arts Editor: Mundane Secrets. Reflecting on the artist Betty Goodwin. By Zachary Pelham.
http://artseditor.com/site/mundane-secrets/
Not many can understand or can appreciate this.
Dear Michelle, i have finally read through the article by Zachary Pelham, and want to thank you for the link. Really interesting, and after my own heart about mundane everyday objects and materials of our lives, being witnesses and informants for human beings, and provide artists with content and concept. xo
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