Painting meets poetry in ParkerArtSalon project
There’s a long relationship between poetry and painting. The great Italian artist Michelangelo also wrote verses. In a 1509 poem, he shared his feelings about the “torture” of painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
Another legend of Italian art, Leonardo da Vinci, is credited with this quote: “Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen.”
In the 20th century, American poet Sylvia Plath often examined paintings in search of inspiration. According to a paper written by New York University graduate student Molly Doomchin, Plath would examine the works of artists like Paul Klee, Paul Gauguin, and Henri Rousseau in great detail.
“Despite her apparent fondness of works of art and her poems they inspired, critics typically do not discuss Plath’s art poetry, nor her affinity for particular pieces and artists,” Doomchin stated. “Instead, the focus of both scholars and the general public is overwhelmingly centered around Plath’s personal life and the works that highlight her mental state and experiences.”
In June, Vancouver art lovers can also contemplate the relationship between poetry and painting as a result of a partnership between the Beedie Luminaries scholarship program and ParkerArtSalon. The second Poetry Project Exhibition and Book Launch will take place at Gallery George’s new location (1502 East Hastings Street), featuring the works of experienced Parker artists alongside poetry by students on the verge of entering young adulthood.
One pairing features painter Tannis Hopkins’s Red River Flood, which depicts two women lugging heavy sandbags. Alongside it, student Andy Nguyen’s poem, “My Red”, explores how it feels after a relationship goes sour.
Another pairing includes David Wilson’s painting of the exterior of Vancouver’s Hollywood Theatre, entitled What You Wanted. Beside it, student Katelynn Dang’s melancholy poem with the same title points out how dreams of Hollywood don’t always come true. Other Beedie Luminaries students’ poems appear beside works of 20 other artists.
The poetry project books will be on sale at Gallery George, which was created by painter Niina Chebry in response to the pandemic. She worried that artists like herself needed more exhibition spaces with floor-to-ceiling windows so that passersby, who might be reluctant to enter galleries, could still see the work.
Since its inception in 2018, Beedie Luminaries has awarded more than $12.5 million in scholarships to 330 students, including single mothers. In the book’s introduction, Beedie Luminaries founder Ryan Beedie declares that there’s no doubt that the world has changed greatly since the pandemic began.
“It is reasonable to contemplate how the art and poetry might resonate with this current state,” Beedie writes. “Perhaps the poem unravels the mystery of the art; perhaps it provides a sharp departure from the original artist’s intent. While the poem and the artwork may not match in direction, the meeting of the two generates another interpretation.”
For his part, Leonardo didn’t hide his preference for painting over poetry and music in his 16th-century notebooks. He, of course, was far more interested in the visual arts.
“I only wish for a good painter to figure the fury of a battle, and for the poet to write something about it, and for both to be put before the public,” Leonardo stated in one essay.
Were he alive today, Leonardo would get his wish in East Vancouver.
The ParkerArtSalon presents the Poetry Project Exhibition and Book Launch from June 1 to June 26 at Gallery George.