graham

GRAHAM METSONLeaving his native London in 1968 Graham Metson arrived in North America with a Rolls Royce,a body of accomplished work, two young sons, a great wealth of optimism. With a dramatic sense of occasion, Metson sold off most of his worldly possessions in London to acquire the elegant car and become “The artist as a Star” The satirical piece was also a highly imaginative calling card.With a ten year exhibition record in Britain and on the continent behind him, Metson lectured, taught, and exhibited in various universities and art schools throughout the eastern and southern United States from 1968- 1972. During this busy period of his life, he used the constant challenges of new contexts to generate diverse works in painting, drawing, installations and performance. Exhibitions were mounted and events staged at commercial galleries and museums from Georgia to New York and from Chicago to Paris, culminating in a exhibition at The Institute Of Contemporary Art in London in 1972. Several of Metson’s inter media activities gained him the critical notice that often eluded his painting. In particular, the ambitious project. Blood networks a symbolic and literal giving of Blood by the art community, was hosted by the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and received enthusiastic attention Metson with much help developed this project into an international occasion where galleries ringing the world held a blood giving on the same dateSubsequently Metson’s, photo-work, Rebirth a metaphorical return to the womb of Mother Earth, also gained him a visible place in contemporary art. a reproduction of Rebirth was first published in Jack Burnham's widely read book Great Western Saltworks It was also published in Lucy Lippard’s Overlay a study of the relationships between contemporary art and ancient cultures of 1982 A book that is still used in art schools todayWhile in London exhibiting at The I.C.A . Graham Metson was invited to teach at Nova Scotia College of Art and he and his two sons took up residence in Halifax. Nova Scotia becoming a Canadian citizen. In 1976 he married photographer / Lawyer Cheryl Lean. Since emigrating to Canada Metson has exhibited regularly across Canada and Internationally .. He hascompiled three books of Canadian cultural history curated exhibitions, presented performance pieces and participated at the Banff Center of the Arts activities as visitor, participant and in 1991 as the summer head of the visual arts programme. In 1976 Ron Shuebrook curated wrote the catalogue essay for a retrospective of Graham Metson Paintings at St. Mary's University. Halifax . Nova Scotia . Canada. Graham Metson moved from Halifax Nova Scotia in 1986 to Montreal where he made his home and maintained a studio From 1990 - 2004 After 1994 he divided his time between Ottawa and Montreal. Teaching Painting and Drawing at Concordia University in Montreal and occasionally at University of Ottawa.In 1992 in acknowledgement of Metson’s achievement as a painter of considerable importance to figurative expression in Canada .The Beaverbrook Art Gallery organised “IMMOLATION” Curator Tom Smart “Metson has engaged viewers on an emotional level through content and imagery. His art is an art to be appreciated by the senses. His subject matter ranges from the banal to the dramatic involving couples, sportspersons, figures placed in friendly and unfriendly situations, inviting or threatening landscapes and interiors. His imagination and imagery are practically limitless, there are nevertheless binding forces permeating his work. Colours are chosen and applied to give substance and credibility to the situations depicted: drawing is willfully adapted to the matter at hand; and compositions are made to serve the paintings statments.In 1996 Carleton University Art Gallery hosted a 40 year retrospective of Graham Metson's Photomontage Speculative Fictions: Graham Metson is an exhibition of photomontage and collage made over the past four decades.The current discussions revolving around the potentials and risks entailed in the wholesale adoption of technology founded upon the paradigms of science have a particular resonance with Metson’s work . While he does not judge, he does offer us a provocation to consider the moral and ethical dilemmas such wholesale adoption brings to the fore The exhibition included images taken with him to East Berlin in 1956 where he met John Heartfield ... Dadaist and creator of photomontageIn May 2002 Metson was the featured artist of the 50th Anniversary annual Ottawa Ontario Tulip Festival held at Musee Montcalm. The Exhibition was opened by the Queen of Netherlands . The Tulip Festival attracts over a million visitors to Ottawa each year. Curator Dominique Laurant. “Metson’s pictorial world seems based on concepts of duality and/or opposition between two fundamental, easily identified visual principles, which the artist almost systematically highlights: drawing & painting, figurative & abstract art, as well as contrasts of complimentary features taken to extremes in corresponding colors. Each of these elements appear in close relation to its opposite. The process is somewhat similar to yin & yang, feminine & masculine elements differentiate while complimenting each other to create an equilibrium. Metson generates ceaseless movement within the painting .In May 2002 Graham Metson participated in "Memories and Testimonies" curated by Dr Loren Lerner a group exhibition exploring the experience of exile or displacement as felt by immigrant artists arriving in CanadaIn the summer of 2003 Graham Metson & Cheryl Lean moved from Ottawa to beautiful Prince Edward County Ontario where he keeps a busy schedule in his spacious new studio. Metson has had more than 25 solo exhibitions of his work . He has participated in dozens of group shows over the years Metson exhibits his work in Canade, U.S.A, United Kingdom, Europe and Japan His work is in many public and private collections through out the world.Adam Adami London 2007