Harley Valentine

Last updated
Harley Valentine
Born
Darryl Wilson

(1983-11-04) November 4, 1983 (age 40)
Grimsby, Ontario, Canada
Known forsculptor, photographer

Harley Valentine (born November 4, 1983) is a contemporary Canadian artist based in Toronto, Ontario. Valentine is best known for his metal-plate biomorphic sculptures that build on the formalism of mid-century American sculptors, such as Alexander Calder, and John McCraken. [1] His sculptures have been internationally recognized. [2] and commissioned by the federal government of Canada. [3] He is currently[ when? ] completing a major sculpture commission The Dream Ballet, for the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts Plaza, in front of Daniel Libeskind’s L Tower residence building in Toronto, Ontario.

Contents

Important sculpture works include: [4]

In 2014, alongside architect David Binder, Valentine unveiled "The 30 Carabob Quartet", which was the first outdoor sculpture park in Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario. The four sculptures of the series came from Valentine's first large scale sculpture series The Barbarians. That series was first exhibited at The Campbell House museum in 2013. [5]

Aside from sculpture, he sparked his early career with photographic collages of iconic urban topographies, such as Parisian landmarks and American Architecture.

Style

Valentine often invites the role of performance, film and photography in the creation and presentation of his works, as seen in his 2014 short video project, "The Dance of The Dove", featuring a stop motion collage of a Canadian ballerina dancing around Valentine "Dove" sculpture.

Valentine employs 3D modelling and printing in the creation of his monumental works. He uses the Makerbot z18 to make these 3D printed maquettes, which Valenitne has said he considers as artworks themselves, staging the prototype prints next to full scale works in exhibition. [6] This style of working from model to monument is profiled in the video From Model to Monument.

His sculptures and photo-sculptural works focus on the theme of collapse and the rebirth of civilizations, while questioning the constructs of a glorious, unattainable past. [7]

Inspiration

In a national newspaper interview profiling Valentine when he was named among Canada's "Worthy 30", the artist said he takes his inspiration every morning from a Picasso lithograph, his most prized possession. [8] "It’s my golden chalice. I drink from its creativity every morning. [8] " He has said that two seminal ancient sculptures, "The Diskobolus of Myron and Lacoön and His Son, serve as his ongoing "spiritual navigators. [9] " Canadian painter, and co-Toronto citizen, Charles Pachter also inspired and influenced Valentine's work.

Selected works

Parisian Mirrored Gateways

Gateways is a luxurious, experimental series of digital photo-sculptural work, deconstructing iconic Paris landscapes on large-scale mirrors. The project dealt with the illusions of a Parisian promised land, every artist's and hopeless romantic's fairytale of a creative Elysium. [7] By re-arranging, inverting, and folding in upon themselves iconic Paris landmarks, such as the Champs-Élysées and Pont Neuf, the city and its myth are dissected into its molecular building blocks. Printed on door-sized mirrors [10] using an experimental process, Valentine challenges the viewer to reflect on their own complicity, and desires, in creating the Paris myth. [11]

Sony Center/ L-Tower

In 2013, Valentine completed production of his first major public art installation, The Dream Ballet, [12] which is to be unveiled at the Claude Cormier-designed Sony Centre Plaza, in front of Daniel Liebeskind's L-Tower residence. For Valentine, being awarded this commission was "nothing if not a career-defining project for an artist not yet out of his 20s. [12] "

The project consists of a triptych designed in homage to the National Ballet of Canada's four-decade residence at the site; the three sculptures depict abstracted ballet dancers in various dynamic positions [12] [13]

The North Pole

In February 2013, Valentine unveiled his controversial sculpture The North Pole, which plays on themes of aboriginal art and global warming, at the De Luca Fine Arts gallery. [12] For it, Valentine cast in bronze a seven-foot, 100-year-old narwhal tusk. [14] Drawing on a desire to bring attention to the receding arctic ice floes, as well as the controversial decision to re-appropriate a symbol generally reserved for Aboriginal artists, he insisted he " wanted to emphasize that the tusk is a miracle of creation in its own right, not just the source of a luxurious material for doing other things [12] "

Riflessi Monument

Unveiling of Riflessi Monument Riflessi Unveiling.jpg
Unveiling of Riflessi Monument

Valentine's Riflessi: Italian Canadian Internment Memorial, was unveiled on Wednesday, June 26, 2013 at the Columbus Centre. [3] The reflective, metal plated monument, standing atop a checkered marble platform, [15] "explores the struggles and successes of the Italian Canadian immigrant story and the Italian Canadian internment history. [3] "

Funded by the government of Canada, the event was attended by Hon. Julian Fantino, Minister of International Cooperation, and former Canadian Senator Hon. Consiglio Di Nino, as well as families of interned Italian-Canadians. The Canadian minister said Valentine's work helped "us all recognize the experiences of the Italian-Canadian community and ensure that the stories are not lost. This is the reason why today’s unveiling […] is such an important contribution in helping to preserve this part of our national narrative. [3]

Persephone

Valentine’s Persephone was the first public sculpture acquired for Humber College's Lakeshore Campus. [16] [17] It features a modern interpretation of Persephone, the Greek goddess of Spring. The nine-foot tall sculpture is prominently placed in a high traffic area of the college campus, allowing students and faculty to interact with it. [18] "Sometimes the sculpture adopts a tall, quiet presence, while at other times students purposively interact with it through observance and discussion. [16] "

Barbarians at the Gate

This outdoor public installation was named as one of the Best Art Shows of 2013 [19] by the Huffington Post.

Barbarians is a series of five colorful, abstract metal sculptures installed throughout the grounds of the historic Campbell House Museum in downtown Toronto. [19] [20] The show created a stark contrast between the Campbell's 19th-century architecture and Valentine's 21st-century sculptures. Inspired by the mythical creatures of ancient Greece, including the Minotaur and Cerberus, the exhibition "raised questions about the collapse and rebirth of civilizations; about creative destruction; and whether the new replaces the old, or the old is the hidden engine of the new. [21] "

The 30 Carabob Quartet

This sculpture park was the first of its kind to be created in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough. A co-operative effort with architect David Binder, Valentine transposed the sculptures from the Barbarian series to this residential tower landscape, for this permanent, free public exhibit. The creators of the project both say they were inspired and driven to enliven the urban landscape with this installation. [22]

Exhibitions

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederic Leighton</span> English painter and sculptor (1830–1896)

Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton,, known as Sir Frederic Leighton between 1878 and 1896, was a British Victorian painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. His works depicted historical, biblical, and classical subject matter in an academic style. His paintings were enormously popular and expensive, during his lifetime, but fell out of critical favour for many decades in the early 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toronto-Dominion Centre</span> Office complex in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The Toronto-Dominion Centre, or TD Centre, is an office complex of six skyscrapers in the Financial District of downtown Toronto owned by Cadillac Fairview. It serves as the global headquarters for its anchor tenant, the Toronto-Dominion Bank, and provides office and retail space for many other businesses. The complex consists of six towers and a pavilion covered in bronze-tinted glass and black-painted steel. Approximately 21,000 people work in the complex, making it the largest commercial office complex in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Art Gallery of Ontario</span> Art museum in Toronto, Ontario

The Art Gallery of Ontario is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located in the Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, on Dundas Street West. The building complex takes up 45,000 square metres (480,000 sq ft) of physical space, making it one of the largest art museums in North America and the second-largest art museum in Toronto, after the Royal Ontario Museum. In addition to exhibition spaces, the museum also houses an artist-in-residence office and studio, dining facilities, event spaces, gift shop, library and archives, theatre and lecture hall, research centre, and a workshop.

The Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning, commonly known as Humber College, is a public College of Applied Arts and Technology in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1967, Humber has three main campuses: the Humber North campus, Carrier Drive campus, and the Lakeshore campus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conrad Shawcross</span> British artist

Conrad Hartley Pelham Shawcross is a British artist specializing in mechanical sculptures based on philosophical and scientific ideas. When he was elected, Conrad Shawcross was the youngest living member of the Royal Academy of Arts.

Roy Kenzie Kiyooka was a Canadian painter, poet, photographer, arts teacher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Canadian Academy of Arts</span> Canadian arts-related organization

The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) is a Canadian arts-related organization that was founded in 1880.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert Campbell Square</span>

Albert Campbell Square is a public square in Scarborough City Centre in Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is named after Albert Campbell, the first mayor of the Borough of Scarborough and former Chairman of the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto. Albert Campbell Square is located at 150 Borough Drive, adjacent to the Scarborough Civic Centre south of Scarborough Centre station and Scarborough Town Centre shopping mall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emanuel Hahn</span> German-Canadian sculptor (1881–1957)

Emanuel Otto Hahn was a German-born Canadian sculptor and coin designer. He taught and later married Elizabeth Wyn Wood. He co-founded and was the first president of the Sculptors' Society of Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Pachter</span> Canadian artist (born 1942)

Charles Pachter is a Canadian contemporary artist. He is a painter, printmaker, sculptor, designer, historian, and lecturer. He studied French literature at the Sorbonne, art history at the University of Toronto, and painting and graphics at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. He holds honorary doctorates from Brock University, the Ontario College of Art & Design and the University of Toronto (2010). He was named a Member of the Order of Canada in 1999, and promoted to Officer in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">L Tower</span> Residential skyscraper in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The L Tower is a residential skyscraper in Toronto, Ontario, Canada designed by architect Daniel Libeskind. The project, which broke ground in mid-October 2009, saw many delays. One cause for delay was a stop-work order caused by safety concerns about the crane at the top of the building. The crane was also considered an eyesore for many residents. Despite the cranes, the building still won the eighth place Emporis Skyscraper Award in 2017.

Italian Canadian internment was the removal and internment of Italian Canadians during World War II following Italy's June 10, 1940, declaration of war against the United Kingdom. Through the War Measures Act, the government of Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King gave itself the power to suspend habeas corpus, revoke rights, seize property and arrest those who were deemed a threat to the safety of Canada—labelling 31,000 Italian Canadians as "enemy aliens". Between 1940 and 1943, between 600 and 700 Italian Canadian men were arrested and sent to internment camps as potentially dangerous "enemy aliens" with alleged fascist connections. In the decades that followed, political apologies were made for the internment of Italian Canadians.

KC Adams is a Cree, Ojibway, and British artist and educator based in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Robert Wiens is a Canadian visual artist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women's Art Association of Canada</span> Organization founded in 1887

The Women's Art Association of Canada (WAAC) is an organization founded in 1887 to promote and support women artists and craftswomen in Canada, including artists in the visual media, performance artists and writers. At one time, it had almost 1,000 members. Although smaller today, it still plays an active role in fundraising and providing scholarships for young artists.

Deanna Bowen is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice includes films, video installations, performances, drawing, sculpture and photography. Her work addresses issues of trauma and memory through an investigation of personal and official histories related to slavery, migration, civil rights, and white supremacy in Canada and the United States. Bowen is a dual citizen of the US and Canada. She lives and works in Montreal.

Young & Giroux is a collaboration between the Canadian artists Daniel Young and Christian Giroux. Young is based between Toronto, Ontario and Berlin, Germany and Giroux lives in Guelph, Ontario, where he teaches in the School of Fine Art and Music of Guelph University. Daniel Young has a degree in Interdisciplinary Geography from the University of Toronto; Christian Giroux is a graduate of the University of Victoria and the Nova Scotia School of Art and Design. In Victoria, Giroux studied with the artists, Mowry Baden and Robert Youds. Young and Giroux were the winners of Canada's Sobey Art Award in 2011. Daniel Young was the Canada Council Artist in Residence at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin for 2011-12.

Jen Mann is a Canadian artist known for large scale hyperrealistic portraiture. Mann graduated from OCAD University in 2009 with a BFA in printmaking and won the 2015 Kingston Prize for portraiture.

Sandra Brewster is a Canadian visual artist based in Toronto. Her work is multidisciplinary in nature, and deals with notions of identity, representation and memory; centering Black presence in Canada.

Walter Redinger was a Canadian sculptor, best known for large-cast fiberglass works that resemble fleshy shapes. He was one of the earliest sculptors in Canada to use fiberglass.

References

  1. ↑ Mufson, Beckett (2014-08-21). "The Future Of Formalist Sculpture May Be 3D Printed". The Creator's Project. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  2. ↑ Cabezas, Marcelo. "The Best Art Events of 2013".
  3. 1 2 3 4 Valentine, Harley. "Columbus Centre unveils its latest project, Riflessi: Italian Canadian Internment Memorial, by artist Harley Valentine" (PDF). Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  4. ↑ Valentine, Harley. "Harley Valentine Website". The Artist. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  5. ↑ "Sculpture Garden at Scarborough Tower". Tower Renewal. E.R.A Architects: Tower Renewal. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  6. ↑ "Model for Monument Sculptures". stories.makerbot.com. Makerbot. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  7. 1 2 "Harley Valentine: Portal, November 6 – December 21, 2013 / Alison Milne Gallery". Gallery.alisonmilne.com. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  8. 1 2 "Shinan's Worthy 30: Toronto's most eligible men | National Post". Arts.nationalpost.com. 2011-02-11. Archived from the original on 2014-04-04. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  9. ↑ saba (2014-05-05). "Harley Valentine". Love Art Fair. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  10. ↑ Giraffic Themes. "Posts Tagged 'mirror' | harley valentine". Harleyvalentinestudio.tumblr.com. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  11. ↑ "Harley Valentine – Paris – Neubacher Shor Contemporary – Neubacher Shor Contemporary". Neubachershor.com. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 Brown, Cameron (2013-02-15). "Artist Harley Valentine Casts Natural Wonder | culture". Torontoist. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  13. ↑ "Dream Ballet | harley valentine". Harleyvalentinestudio.tumblr.com. 2014-06-03. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  14. ↑ Giraffic Themes (2014-06-03). "Harley Valentine | harley valentine". Harleyvalentinestudio.tumblr.com. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  15. ↑ Giraffic Themes (2014-06-03). "Riflessi | harley valentine". Harleyvalentinestudio.tumblr.com. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  16. 1 2 "PG2.pdf" (PDF). Dropbox. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  17. ↑ This is Lakeshore Campus. "This is Lakeshore Campus | About". Humber.ca. Archived from the original on 2013-09-09. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  18. ↑ "Pin by Humber College on Your Home at Humber". Pinterest. 2013-05-17. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  19. 1 2 "The Best Art Events of 2013 | Marcello Cabezas". Huffingtonpost.ca. 2013-12-30. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  20. ↑ "Akimbo – Exhibitions – Harley Valentine: Barbarians at the Gate". Akimbo.ca. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  21. ↑ "PG1.pdf" (PDF). Dropbox. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  22. ↑ ERA Architects. "Sculpture Garden at Scarborough Tower". Towerrenewal.com. ERA Architects. Retrieved 3 September 2014.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Harley Valentine at Wikimedia Commons

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.