BC painter Richard Reid began art school as a printmaker. But as the essence of his work had clear ‘painterly’ qualities, he found himself turning to oil, acrylics and eventually watercolour as the media that best complemented his sensual approach to figure and landscape, and the transfiguration or metamorphosis of one into the other. Reid has said that he paints from rather than on and the lyrical strokes in his artwork hint at tangible and intangible attributes.
Reid holds a Diploma in Architectural Drawing from the Manitoba Technical Institute and a BFA from the School of Art at the University of Manitoba. He lived and worked in Mexico and then in Europe for several years, before returning to Canada in 1964. He taught with the Vancouver School Board’s Adult Education Program, then was Assistant Professor and Chairman of the BFA Program at UBC’s Fine Arts Department. In 1984, he became the founding Director of the Grand Forks Art Gallery and taught in Emily Carr College of Art & Design’s Outreach Program. Reid’s work has been widely exhibited nationally and internationally in over 80 solo and group exhibitions. Public collections include Edmonton Art Gallery, Grand Forks Art Gallery, Leighton Foundation, Penticton Art Gallery, Richmond Art Gallery, Sarnia Art Gallery, University of Manitoba, University of British Columbia, Maltwood Art Museums and Gallery and numerous private collections. He has received awards from the Canada Council for the Arts and the BC Arts Council. In 2004 he was inducted into the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
“When I look at something, even study it; then turn my head away for a moment – perhaps intending to paint or draw my response; in that moment, everything changes. I may retain a memory of what I saw, but it’s not the same thing. I’m interested in that transformative space between; between that momentary, fleeting glimpse, and then it’s translation with paint into marks, made with the end of a brush at the end of my arm, onto canvas – between thought and object. I am intrigued by the almost magical and not exactly in control, appearance of fascinating combinations of colour, shape, texture, suggestive forms that happen when marks meet paper or canvas.” Quote from Artist Biography, richardreid.ca
For all you deep art divers out there.
Artist’s website
Grand Forks Art Gallery website
Video – A Conversation with Richard Reid, Grand Forks Art Gallery
Video – Liminal Space, Richard Reid, Penticton Art Gallery
The Canadian Art Preservation Foundation posts short biographies and information on artists and artwork from its collection in a not-so-subtle attempt to capture your attention and interest in our mission, but we also just want to keep this artwork in view. We are excited about the art we collect and want to share it with you. CAPF is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the artwork of Canada’s superstar artists for future generations to examine, study and exhibit – the ones you know and the ones you might not know so well. We accept artwork, journals, notes, letters, exhibition catalogues and anything else that might comprise a visual and/or intellectual “portrait” (ahem, please pardon the pun) of a particular artist.
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