Book distils artist Ed Schleimer’s intense vision
Ed Schleimer has been a vital part of the regional arts community for longer than I can remember. By his own count, it has been 48 years since he was first “driven to draw; to paint; to carve; to think; to write; to rhyme, design and sign.”
I spent part of a weekend immersed in a borrowed copy of “Hair-Shirt,” a large format, 300page, limited-edition book, designed and edited by the artist. It draws on more than 15 previous publications to gather the “distilled merit” of those 48 years of work with “canvas, wood and word.”
The full title is “HAIR-SHIRT of a ‘bastard sun’ from the Radical/ Tradition of Edward SCHLEIMER and the ‘SPIRIT of the BLOC’.”
“Bloc” is a reference to woodblock printing, the artist’s specialty. He considers himself a master carver more than a printmaker, and as much a writer as a visual artist.
The title shows some of the eccentricities of Schleimer’s writing and typographical style: he is partial to double meanings, alternative spellings, exclamation points and lots of capital letters so that the words shout out from the page.
As a former director of the K-W Art Gallery observed early in Schleimer’s career, this is an artist who works with an intensity that no one else can match.
Other qualities that stand out in this life story are a remarkable consistency and steadfast loyalty.
The story begins in Gottschee, Austria, now in Slovenia, where Schleimer’s ancestors lived for 600 years. Refugees from the shifts and devastations of the war, his family settled in Kitchener. Edward was born here, shortly after arrival in their “New Heimat.”
A deep and enduring awareness of those origins is one of the factors that has shaped his work and thought.
His father worked as a carpenter. His mother helped make ends meet by taking in boarders. His upbringing was steeped in a deep rooted work ethic and discipline.
“From my high school Alma Mater came my destiny,” he says repeatedly: A remark from a teacher at St. Jerome’s about humanity lacking “a code of universal values” inspired what became a lifelong quest.
His search for new values began with his inner self and his immediate surroundings: “I sought the spirit of Waterloo Region,” he writes.
Another abiding influence is the man Schleimer calls “my Virgil,” John Sommer of Gallery House Sol in Georgetown, which has represented the artist and his work since 1976.
The results of those 48 years of seeking and working are difficult to summarize. They include a civic vision for the city that was originally known as Berlin, Ont.; for Greater Waterloo, and for Canada.
With local strengths such as the spirit of co-operation, frugality, work ethic, toleration, and the “motherlode of diversity,” this region can be an example for the world.
So can Canada, “untarnished by revolution” and “built with a peaceful emergence from a colonial past.”
A simple but profound phrase heard “from a young Mennonite friend” helps cut through the “Gordian knot” of different faith systems: “God has no religion.”
The book is a work of art in itself: Magnificently printed and bound here in Kitchener by Pandora Press, it includes 80 pages of colour illustrations, an embossed hard cover, and metallic dividing pages.
Distribution is by the author himself. “Hair-Shirt” is available on order, at cost, which works out to $175 per copy.
State of the art technology enables the printer to do runs of as few as 12 copies at a time. At present, the artist has sold 23 copies.
The book includes a set of prints by German Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer, published with permission from Princeton University but with a limit of 50 copies. So this will always remain an extremely limited edition.
There’s a website (edschleimer.com) where you can find a brief bio and examples of his work. The best way to reach Ed Schleimer is by email at omi_opi5@rogers.com.