Saskatoon Star Phoenix
November 18, 1995. p.C18
Sheila Robertson, Visual arts
Regina - It's a Mooo-ving experience, visiting the Susan Whitney
Gallery this month, thanks to the bovine sculptures of noted Saskatchewan artist Joe Fafard.
Viewers will be wowed if not "cowed" by the variety, including the range of scale and media in this show, entitled From the Domestic to the Majestic. There are other creatures in this exhibition, but let's start with the cows, a longstanding motif for Fafard, and one for which he's best known.
It's easy to spot the gallery among the other houses on Lorne Street, because of the Fafard work permanently installed outside. It's always a pleasure to see this life-size laser-cut steel sculpture of cow and calf and it looks striking now, as the dark
metal contrasts with snow revealed by the cut-away areas.
Viewed from straight on, it resembles a perfectly flat drawing in space with highlights and details etched out of the metal. However, a side view reveals Fafard's tricks of perspective. The work is actually subtly bent, and the legs of the creatures, which look so straight, are in fact splayed to stabilize the work.
There are smaller laser-cut works in the exhibition, made in limited editions in several sizes. These have a particular charm, and of course the availability of some quite small pieces (priced from $150 to $1,200) makes Fafard accessible to a wider range
of collectors.
I haven't been a huge fan of these miniature steel sculptures, which when compared to the artist's fully modelled figures seem markedly flat, precious, and reminiscent of old-fashioned silhouettes. That said, I appreciate some of his new twists on this theme, incorporating the creatures' shadows or surrounding grass as part of the works, or curving the figures substantially for a more sculptural impact.
Fafard delights in challenging viewers, and reminding them that things aren't always what they seem. The gangly bronze calf, part of a limited-edition series called Nos Nouveaux Veaux, looks as though it's modelled in the round, but it's hollowed out at
the back. The piece, which stands about 75cm, is also beautifully shaded in ochre tones in such a way as to come into sharper focus when viewed from a distance.
This is an interesting effect, considering that so many Prairie people once had day-to-day dealings with farm animals, but now, given the migration to urban settings, see them only from a distance or in memory. Certainly, Fafard's ability to convey not just the look but the spirit of cows and horses and other animals is what makes his work so appealing. Viewers relate to his understanding of these animals and their typical stances, as well as his obvious affection for them.
Who could resist Mongoose, the little bronze calf with enormous eyes and velvety looking coat? Who, confronted by Hamish, the beautifully dappled gelding, doesn't almost expect to hear a whinny?
A set of nine figurines cast in bronze and arranged on a shelf is a healthy-looking herd of cows and calves, yet each is only whole-looking from a certain perspective, appearing otherwise flattened or misshapen.
Fafard uses the same approach for a series of glass-topped bronze tables. They feature a parade of cows fixed in diamond patterns, eternally pacing some pasture trail. Another corner table, with the same blue-green surface patina, takes a reindeer theme.
At first, one sees only the two deer cut-outs, facing one another, but gradually, the intricate patterns of the sky reveal a flock of geese, and fish shapes can be discerned in the water.
Another bronze table, a variation of the diamond shape, features tiny bison at each corner and a wolf at the centre. The legs are bronze, fashioned and colored to perfectly resemble twigs.
The glass-topped table as art object is something Victor Cicansky, a contemporary of Fafard who also lives in Regina, has been exploring for some time. While Fafard favors animal themes, Cicansky leans toward vegetation. The works are a neat marriage of
form and function. The glass not only permits easy viewing, it is also a device for providing distancing and framing.
The "majestic" creatures in this show include a statuesque zebra and two bison. One buffalo is a realistic figure shaded in rusts and drowns, the other a conceptual bronze monument seemingly constructed from buffalo skulls and bones.
Rounding out Fafard's exhibition are a relief wallwork in bronze of a pig and piglets; several pastel drawings featuring pigs and bulls; and two finely detailed bronze portraits of the artist Cezanne. These works of the seated figure are similar, but not
identical. One, cast in 1986, is perfectly three-dimensional, while the other, dated 1994, is hollowed out at the back.
There's a group show by gallery artists upstairs, including a recent mixed media on paper work by Saskatoon's Miranda Jones. Entitled No wonder cowgirls get the blues, it's a nice complement to Fafard's work, as the primary subject is a prancing Holstein. The silver ground and cluster of smaller cow images, including a silhouette border, lend a funky, tongue-in-cheek note.
Not content with that, Jones attached a secondary frame below the work, from which dangle three rubber gloves filled with air. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Udderly ridiculous.
The Fafard show, which continues until Dec. 5 , emphasizes what a wonderfully inventive artist he is. If you'll be in town for the Grey Cup, try to take this in, too. The Susan Whitney Gallery, near downtown Regina at 2220 Lorne St. is open 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 10:30 to 5 Saturdays.
