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| The poster for 'Alles ist Miteneinander Verbunden' (Everything is Interconnected). This very special Art Show will take place on Thursday, April 30th, 2026 from 3:00 - 10:00 PM at Toronto's historic Foy House. |
Creativity is Vital
"Some say the world will end in Fire. Some say Ice. Me, I just see fewer birds, fish, and butterflies. Plenty of concrete, though. I run to Europe, I run to the Caribbean, but coming here is the best thing I ever did.
Miami, I love you." - Iggy Pop, New Atlantis
"Creativity is vital. By starting a dialogue this healing happens, and we start to come out of our corners." - Ethan Hawke, TED Talk, Give Yourself Permission to be Creative
Visual Art has been around for a very long time. Since our cave dwelling ancestors drew likenesses of themselves and the animals they hunted on rock walls, to more modern versions of representing the world from a personal point of view. Painters like Diego Velázquez, Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock and Luke Nicholson took to the canvas to create memorable images using formidable creativity.
Photographers such as Richard Avedon, Andy Warhol, Jearld Moldenhauer, and Nicholé Velásquez (no relation to Diego) put their eyes to a lens's viewfinder and gave us remarkable portraits that capture the Élan Vital of their subjects, vivid snapshots of everyday life from around the world, and complex photographic collages based on a multiple exposure technique.
Some individuals with little formal Artistic training, such as myself, have taken Faber Castell markers, pastels, and graphite to the page to render their own impressions of people and places meaningful in their lives.
One of my most memorable experiences viewing Art happened in October 2016 when I visited the Musée des Beaux Arts in Montréal for the show Focus: Perfection - Robert Mapplethorpe. His black and white photos capturing flowers, celebrities, and most notoriously his erotic journeys in New York City are powerful. In stillness and silence you're invited to contemplate and form your own opinions.
The exhibition was even more interesting for me because I had previously read Patricia Morrisroe's biography of the Artist and Philip Gefter's Wagstaff: Before and After Mapplethorpe. The latter is a biography of Mapplethorpe's boyfriend and patron Sam Wagstaff. It's one of my favourite reads of all time.
Why I Make Art
While attending high school in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, I had sketchbooks. Then I put down my drawing tools for several years. It took the COVID-19 Pandemic for me to return to drawing with real enthusiasm.
From 2018 - 2020 I lived in Berlin, Germany. After leaving Berlin at the end of September 2020 I moved to Saskatchewan, where I lived with my family for four months. Because of Covid-related lockdowns and other reasons I was left with lots of time on my hands.
When I was not contemplating the nature of life, along with why God had seen fit to place me in Purgatory rather than promote me to Heaven or send me down to the Inferno's 9th Circle of Hell to commune with Satan, I was tempted to drink.
Oh, was I tempted to drink...
The alternative was to use my time productively. Since wir alle haben die gleichen 24 stunden.
That something was drawing. During 2020 - 2021 I created some pieces that deal with relationships and homoerotic themes. I remain quite proud of those works. You can find some of them for sale on Saatchi Art here. My favourite Artwork from that time is Sean Ford Peeing in a Sink. It features American pornographic actor Sean Ford, and is a comment on selling sex for money. The world's oldest profession.
Alles ist Miteneinander Verbunden - an Art Show
Which brings me to the present. After some thought I decided to make a big project for myself in 2026. That project is Alles ist Miteneinander Verbunden, an Art Show that will take place on Thursday, April 30th, 2026 at Toronto's historic Foy House at 92 Isabella Street.
In English the theme means, "Everything is Interconnected." Something that is increasingly apparent on our fragile, beautiful planet.
Here is the show's Statement of Purpose:
"We are all connected in
this world. Human beings to each other through their relationships.
Humanity to the natural world that we have been entrusted to care for,
and the natural world to humanity in that we depend on its continued
good health for our survival.
This show
features a series of works by emerging and established Artists from Berlin, Germany, and Toronto, Ontario, that explore these connections - namely
those we have with each other, and those we have with the natural world.
It
is my hope you will leave tonight with a deeper appreciation of just
how complex, and interdependent, these life sustaining relationships
are."
This will be a very special evening. Featured artists include myself, Boris von Brauchitsch, Nicholé Velásquez, Flavio Belli, Paul Bellini, Josh St. John, Raymond Helkio, David Bateman, Luke Nicholson and Draga Jovanovic.
Alles ist Miteneinander Verbunden - An Art Show
Where: Foy House, 92 Isabella St., Toronto, ON
When: Thursday, April 30th, 2026. 3:00 - 10:00 PM
Art as a Way of Making the Future
"Tomorrow belongs to those who can hear it coming." - David Bowie
My personal hero and Patron Saint, David Bowie, lived a life characterized by continual transformation and growth. He gave many insightful interviews on any number of subjects. One of my favourite interviews had Bowie discussing taking risks as an Artist.
I agree with his insight that making Art is not about meeting other people's expectations. In this same interview he said the best place for an Artist to work is a space where you have swum out and don't feel your feet are quite touching the bottom.
"Always go a little further into the water than you feel you're capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth. And when you don't feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom you're just about in the right place to do something exciting."
Ladies and gentlemen - I give you Alles ist Miteneinander Verbunden (Everything is Interconnected).
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