Ron Giii, Mitochondria in the Brain (10) (2024)
Ron Giii
Mitochondria in the Brain (10)
2024
acrylic on canvas board
12 x 9 inches
Ron Gillespie was born in 1944 at New Westminster, BC. His earliest training in art took place in 1962-64 at H.S.C. Prince of Wales College, Nairobi, East Africa. He graduated from the Ontario College of Art in 1975. Giii established a signifant performance art practice during the 1970's which led to the co-founding of the Centre for Experimental Art and Communication (CEAC). By the early 1980s he had moved into drawing while retaining a strongly performative element in the compositions. Philosophy, geometry and the anti- modern figure prominently in the work with influences including Artaud, Darwin, Hegel and Spinoza.
In 2008, Giii's work was the subject of a touring survey exhibition, Hegel's Salt Man. This long overdue survey brought together a selection of work that ranges over 35 years. A key figure in the city's vibrant performance scene in the 1970s, Giii went on to develop a practice notable for the depth of its engagement with artmaking and its associated philosophical issues. The show featured some of the artist's early work, performance documentation and other ephemera, a selection from his voluminous writings and more recent drawings and oil stick paintings, and was accompanied by a 48-page catalogue, with essays by Rosemary Heather and Eli Langer. The exhibition was curated by Rosemary Heather and organized by the Doris McCarthy Gallery, University of Toronto, Scarborough. The catalogue is available at Paul Petro Contemporary Art.
Permanent collections include the National Gallery of Canada, Art Gallery of Ontario, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Windsor, Edmonton Art Gallery, and Carleton University Art Gallery.
