Figure It Out
The Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling Program
For over 40,000 years the human figure has been a vital subject in humanity’s artistic endeavors. Often focusing on history, mythology, allegory or the imagination, most cultures on earth have recorded depictions of the human figure while in the visual arts produced in Alberta, the human figure has become one of the most prominent expressions among contemporary artists.
Figurative painting, referring to a type of representational art based on figure drawing, typically includes depictions of people in informal situations. At its most rudimentary level the TREX Region 2 exhibition Figure It Out, featuring paintings by three contemporary artists from Edmonton, is thus simply a collection of paintings that contain human figures.
The exhibition Figure It Out is therefore, about more than just human figures: it is also about story telling. Throughout history, artists have used the human figure to document the lives of people and everyday situations; explore political or social ideas; express beliefs; or investigate what it is to be human. Prior to the nineteenth century most figurative works were didactic in nature where the narrative, designed to teach moral lessons or record the exploits of ‘heroic’ figures, was usually discernible to most viewers. With the advent of impressionism and later artistic styles such as expressionism, symbolism and surrealism, however, the narrative nature of paintings became more ambiguous and the role of figures within paintings elusive.
The exhibition Figure It Out features works by Riki Kuropatwa, Jennie Vegt and Campbell Wallace. Each of these artists, while operating in different painting styles, use the human figure to create stories. The meanings of the stories they construct, however, are obscure. Rather than fabricating narratives that have only one precise meaning, these artists actively engage viewers, pulling them into the paintings to try to figure out the narratives while inviting them to create their own tales based on the scene. Through this active participation the stories presented, rather than being isolated incidents in intangible narratives, become the viewers’ stories and the ‘characters’ portrayed…perhaps the viewers themselves.
