Solo travelling exhibition by Bert Weir
Organized by Laurentian University Museum & Arts Centre, Sudbury, Ontario
Curated by Pamela Krueger
1985
Itinerary:
Laurentian University Museum and Arts Centre, Sudbury, ON
Thunder Bay National Exhibition Centre and Centre for Indian Art, Thunder Bay, ON
Art Gallery of Algoma, Sault Ste. Marie, ON
Art Gallery of Windsor, Windsor, ON
Curatorial Article
In 1946 Bert Weir worked in the lumber camps of northern Ontario. He wanted to share his experiences and thought he would become a writer. After a visit to the Art Gallery of Toronto (now Ontario) and the Ontario College of Art (OCA), he realized his form of expression must be as an artist. He set out as a student at OCA (1952) to learn those skills.
Although his first major show was of sculpture (1973), it was his permanent move to Parry Sound in 1974 that brought him to painting. Although other subjects have intruded in his painting, he almost always returns to the landscape and nature as his source.
The paintings in this exhibition represent his work from 1976 to 1984. Around 1976, Bert Weir was investigating the communications between man and nature. For example, could he express in his paintings the signals nature was sending to warn of an impending storm? He soon realized that he must begin again to examine the landscape and nature. His response was both personal and literal: it is also, where this exhibition begins.
The first three works (Golden Rod Waves, Tamarack Gold, Spring Wind) deal with the landscape and the natural elements-movement, growth, colour changes, etc. Details such as tree trunks are eliminated by the artist to better express his impression of nature. As his work progressed, he eliminated all references to natural details in lieu of expressing a visual image such as Spring Burst (1979) – the essence of spring, the early leaf colour, the organic renewal.
The human form begins to emerge in the landscape with Dual Spirits (1980), as Weir studies the spiritual relationship between man and nature. Through his friendship with a number of Ojibways from the Parry Sound region, he realized that the natives had the closest living bond with nature. He researched their myths and legends and their influence appears in such works as Forces (1980) and Ojibway Forms (1981).
By 1982, Weir’s colour change is evident and although still based on the landscape, the works deal more with his desire to see beyond the landscape and to incorporate his own experiences, for example Pileated Explosion (1982).
An interest in the figure reappeared in 1984 (Human Forms, Nature Forms). The artist began breaking down the human form similar to his analysis if the landscape, and then combining the two. Eventually, they became inseparable as nature and human form combine to produce Earth Spirit (1984).
In his work, Weir has established a circular development akin to Ojibway beliefs. There is no beginning and no end, no today, no tomorrow. When he paints it is in the sense of a performance. He needs a large surface with which to work, a surface to absorb the physical action of his work. He has little concern for such details as colour theories, as they only hamper his involvement. To him colour is only ‘the colours of nature’, slightly softened by his vision and experiences.
Bert Weir symbolizes many of the artists who reside in northern Ontario, who were drawn here by the landscape, work in solitude and away from the mainstreams of art.
We are pleased to present this exhibition in conjunction with the other exhibiting centres and to provide the opportunity for others to view his work.
Curatorial Article
Pamela Kruger
Director Laurentian University Museum and Arts Centre
Sudbury, ON
Bert Weir 