By Marusia Kaweski with Garry Bradley
The Shurniak Art Gallery in Assiniboia opened a unique exhibition featuring Saskatchewan artist Richard Thatcher on May 6. The exhibit features 18 handpicked works by Thatcher, including 11 original pieces of abstract expressionism and seven representational works.
Currently, Thatcher is devoting most of his art-making time to mixed media abstractions, while continuing his interest in landscape work and a variety of other subjects, including the occasional experimental and surreal piece, or even an evocative or provocative portrait.
This exhibit provides a taste of something for everyone, being aptly named 鈥淓clectic Art鈥�. It features a mixture of styles and sizes including large landscape acrylics, bright multi media expressionist pieces and small portraits. But all of Thatcher鈥檚 works feature bright colours. Even 鈥淣ight Train, Small Town鈥�, which depicts a head-on view of a train entering a small town station under a moonlit sky, displayed a brightness of light and colour.
The exhibit shows several of Thatcher鈥檚 landscape works with brilliantly hued skies. 鈥淧rairie Field Scene鈥� shows a glorious sunset over a field. While the sun itself is almost gone, its rays take over the canvas, lighting up the sky in brilliant orange, red and deep gold. In this work and another, 鈥淧rairie Harvest鈥�, the sky takes up three quarters of the canvas space, a testament to the role of the sky in the Canadian Prairie landscape.
Thatcher鈥檚 exhibit also includes pieces like 鈥淩ockin鈥� in the Garden鈥�. This mixed media work shows bold colours and media like gold glitter and shells to create an abstract, emotive work. 鈥淭he Baroque n鈥� Roll鈥� is the largest piece in the exhibit. It features a riot of pleasing colours in violets, pinks, turquoise, blues and lime greens along with circles and glitter. And the 鈥淪ummer Symphony鈥� mimics sound waves floating across the canvas in muted hues. The exhibit runs until Thursday, June 22. Thatcher, who was raised in Saskatchewan, commented on the province鈥檚 extraordinary beauty and ability to inspire.
In addition to being an artist, Thatcher is a sociologist, social policy analyst and a non-fiction writer who lives with his wife and best-friend Myrna. The Thatcher family currently resides in Craven, a village located in the Qu鈥橝ppelle Valley, 20 miles north of Regina.
