A strange serenity
Published Saturday March 7th, 2009
Balloons a thematic thread joining works in 'Vacated Spaces,' an exhibition by Eric Budovitch opening Monday at Gallery 78. Story by Kate Wallace
Balloons, those cheerful markers of a good time, are transformed on Eric Budovitch's canvases into uneasy, almost intrusive objects, whose meaning, in the context of his paintings, is not entirely clear.
The effect is simultaneously captivating and unsettling.
"I find the balloons interesting because when the party starts, the balloons are happy and exciting and they add to the scene," the Fredericton native says by phone Wednesday from Toronto, where he lives, "but after the party ends, the balloons are still sort of hanging around, and then they become these slightly awkward objects that no longer have a place."
The balloons are a thematic thread joining a number of works in Vacated Spaces, Budovitch's solo show at Gallery 78 in Fredericton that will open Monday and hang until March 31. The glossy orbs show up in a number of scenes, from life drawings to the still life studies of porcelain pieces Budovitch, 32, has been painting since he graduated from the New York Academy of Art in 2002, with a master of fine art.
He is drawn to the serenity and the sense of endurance an old sugar bowl or vase imparts.
"They've made their way through history undamaged, for the most part. I think that they're interesting to see as life sort of moves around them, they remain isolated, they remain by themselves."
The atmosphere of his more recent figurative work is not altogether unlike that of his china series.
"There is a strange energy that flows between the figures," he says. "It's a very uneasy feeling, but it taps into that same kind of serenity that the porcelain pieces come from."
The human figures he paints have a sense of isolation about them, "and the balloons move through those pieces in the same way they move through the china pieces, just sort of nonchalantly drifting around."
The balloon as symbol and subject developed from round, mechanical shapes and, later, sports balls that Budovitch used to paint.
"In the future I see them turning into bubbles," he says. "That's the interesting thing about art, that it does evolve and it does change."
Budovitch uses a kind of "cut-and-paste" approach to create the figurative works, making pictures of his models in studio then superimposing them into a set he's designed using perspective models. Likewise, the balloons are layered in the painting.
"Basically, I treat the balloons like still life, but I treat the models, obviously, as life drawings."
The technique is borrowed from the old masters, who used "cartoons" to transfer a drawing onto the scene of a canvas or mural.
Budovitch's practical arts education is deeply based in traditional training. After completing a bachelor of fine arts at McGill, he continued his studies at York and Concordia, but was dissatisfied by the lack of foundational training offered there.
"I really had given up hope of pursuing a career as an artist, because there was no one out there to train me."
When he was 23, he was accepted to the New York Academy of Art, where his studies included practical anatomy and foundations in drawing.
"I guess you follow the direction that you admire, and I admired artists from history; I admired Rubens, I admired Rembrandt, Van Dyck," he says. "Even Matisse, on his sick bed, when he was doing his cutout paintings with construction paper and scissors and glue, said that 'My greatest fear in life was that students would see my work and think 'I don't need the education.'" And, of course, that's what's come to fruition."
At his Toronto atelier, Budovitch is passing on the lessons he has learned from teachers and mentors to a new generation of students, who come to him for a foundation in drawing and painting.
Many people in the traditional world of fine art have two categories, he says: painters and artists.
"Working toward combining those two things is the goal, I think, of anyone in this industry," he says. "I've been fortunate to study with a few people who have combined them, and as I mature as an artist, that's my aim."
In the Galleries features an art exhibition currently on display or soon opening in New Brunswick.
To be featured please submit a high resolution image and details of the exhibit to salon@telegraphjournal.com.
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