Ron Kingswood : New Work

RON KINGSWOODRON KINGSWOODNEWWORK

Ron Kingswood_Prices 02/04/2015 09:07 Page 1

Jonathan CooperPark Walk Gallery20 Park Walk London SW10 0AQt: +44 (0)20 7351 [email protected]


RON KINGSWOODNEWWORK


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“Art is an adventure into the unknown world, which can beexplored only by those willing to take risks.”— Mark Rothko

Are we to trust an artist who is not inherently brave, a creator ofvisions not considered, at least somewhat, twisted in comparisonto others who run only in packs?

I pose the question here only half in jest.

As people who savor nature, is there not, for us, a heightenedsense of intrigue, mystery, and meaning awaiting in the works ofpainters and sculptors who venture far beyond the boundaries of safety?

Ron Kingswood is a Canadian painter of both wild places and the animals that inhabit them. I can tell you with conviction,having written about wildlife art for more than a quarter century,that he is a refreshing iconoclast.

With this showing of new works, Kingswood is returning from aself-imposed exile, punctuated by introspection. That JonathanCooper and Park Walk Gallery have prevailed upon Kingswoodto inaugurate his comeback here, and not on the other side of the Atlantic, is a coup.

“Ron Kingswood is not a conventional wildlife artist and there is a lot of eager anticipation about his new work,” says Swedish-American animal sculptor Kent Ullberg, renowned for his wildlifemonuments that can be found today at over 60 different publicspaces on three continents. “Ron is like no one else. He isn’tnormal. He is extraordinary.”

THE RE-EMERGENCE OF RON KINGSWOODBY TODD WILKINSON


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Some ten years ago, Kingswood was hailed as one of the brightcontemporary talents in North American wildlife art. Massivecanvases were acquired by, among other institutions, the NationalMuseum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, Wyoming; Kingwood wasenjoying a long run of being juried into the prestigious Birds In Art exhibition held annually at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson ArtMuseum in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, and he had a long list of enthusiastic collectors.

Among those who sang his praises were the late Americanmammal painter Bob Kuhn, the famous Canadian RobertBateman, and others.

Then, much to the shock of his colleagues and galleries, Kingswoodwalked away, not impetuously, but he knew he needed a break.Many thought he was crazy, twisted even, for leaving behindcommercial “success” and for having the audacity to give noexplanation other than he was tired of contributing to a genre that he found formulaic, unimaginative, and derivative.”

In seclusion, Kingswood embarked upon a bold stretch ofexperimentation and what he calls “unlearning.” Before he couldinterpret nature with fresh eyes, he set out to deconstruct his oldways of thinking about color, design, composition, and purpose.

To convey the spatial grandeur of landscapes, he stretchedcanvasses across studio walls and immersed himself in Rothko-esque color fields like an abstract expressionist. Details becomeunrecognizable and yet wavy fens or tree branches would exudequalities of architectural design. If he did place a subject in ascene representationally, it would be met with an asymmetricalcounterbalance of negative space. Kingswood experimented with banded color harmonies, and varied surface textures, andunconventional compositions that had animals and birds exitingor entering at the edges.

Only after he was pressed by colleagues, galleries and collectorsto explain his absence did Kingwood respond by penning apoignant and very public essay for the American onlinepublication, Wildlife Art Journal. Provocatively titled “Is AnimalPainting Dead?” it challenged wildlife artists to aspire to be morethan mere renderers of wildlife subjects, and to show that “wildlifeart” could move beyond its widely disparaged cliché of super-realistic illustration seemingly lifted off of photographs.


In his piece, Kingswood wrote, “For me, the ambition to achievesomething loftier was always masked by the seduction I had forthe physical subject I was researching. Perhaps another way of putting it is that I was blinded by the subject. To bring thissentiment to my own painting, my direction and orientation woulddemand an alternative journey from where I had come from. My origin was a complete yet literal understanding of a work ofart, and I was departing upon a quest for something intangible. It was I who needed to unearth the potency of experience, usingmy own ability, previously veiled, to communicate. This was whatgreat artists had been saying for centuries, and I had justuncovered it.”

Kingswood’s mastery of his medium has become even moredynamic and mesmerizing, setting him further apart. Art historianSusan Simpson Gallagher, former curator at the NationalMuseum of Wildlife Art and an admirer of Kingswood’s evolution,once told me this: “His compositions aren’t intended to provide a tidy, self-contained narrative. That’s the joy of being an artist –demanding that viewers use their own imaginations on the mostbasic level. The irony is that Ron is one of the most sophisticatedpainters I’ve ever come across. There is a level of intelligence inhis work that is mind-boggling.”

Kingswood transcends the labels placed on wildlife art and hecertainly defies the stereotypes that critics try to impose upon it.His meditative scenes, with subtlety and reserve of palette, pull us into soothing quiet outdoor places where we want to be. “I believe in the creator of heaven and earth,” he notes, sayingthere is a divinity in nature that commands his reverence.

Kingswood also has an innate homing instinct for northernEurope. “My dad and mum emigrated to Canada in the late1940s after the war and my affinity for European culture,especially the nature-loving aspects, remains strong,” he saysfrom the home he shares with his wife, Linda, outside of Sparta,Ontario.

Doubtless, like many UK viewers seeing the artist’s work,Kingswood is a rabid birder. He lives on five acres of landperched along the northern shore of Lake Erie. On a clear day the skyscrapers and smokestacks of Cleveland, Ohio can be seen in the distance. But between Kingswood’s studio windowand that city in another country is a vast gulf of maritime space,

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including coves, bays and marshes where millions of birds passthrough in spring and autumn. Waterfowl, pelicans, wading birds,and millions of passerines.

When it comes to describing stylistic influences, Kingswood sayshe relates more to a very talented group of contemporary animalsculptors and carvers. The group includes Ullberg, Steve Kestrel,Tony Angell, Walter Matia, and England’s own Simon Gudgeon.“They are making art that speaks to people in this century. It isn’tpassé. It’s innovative and exciting,” Kingswood says.

“Of all the living wildlife painters, he has one of the greatestsenses of abstract design and contemporary treatment yet whenhe does make a representational portrayal of wildlife, it is withtotal understanding of his subjects,” Ullberg says. “Somecontemporary artists, especially city dwellers who have had littlegenuine contact with nature, throw animal imagery into theirscenes and it just doesn’t have impact. He’s not trying to give the viewer a cheap thrill. Unlike those who paint bison stormingacross the prairie or elephants on the veldt, Ron paints what helives and that gives it truth.”

Jonathan Cooper can feel the gravitational pull emanating fromKingswood’s aesthetic. “Ron has an individual contemporaryvision. I see what he does as the natural progression of the greatsthat have come before him,” he explains. “The artists that stir thesoul and make you want to know more. There is a great honestyand artistic ability in Ron Kingswood’s unique interpretation.Nature has never been more important and we all know how it isunder threat. His work makes you stop in your tracks to admirethe beauty and then it makes you think.”

Todd Wilkinson, 2014

Todd Wilkinson is an authority on wildlife art in North America. He is also an environmental journalist and author of the recent, critically-acclaimed book, “Last Stand: Ted Turner’s Quest to Save a TroubledPlanet.”


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R O N K I N G S W O O DBorn 1959, lives in Sparta, Ontario, Canada

EDUCATIONH.B. Beal Art, London, OntarioUniversity of Western Ontario, Bird Ecology and Ornithology

SOLO EXHIBIT IONS2012 Odon Wagner Contemporary, Toronto2010 St.Thomas-Elgin Public Art Centre, St. Thomas, Ontario2006 Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico2005 Lyndsay McCandless Contemporary, Jackson Hole, Wyoming2002 Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico2001 Marin-Harris Gallery, Jackson Hole, Wyoming

GROUP EXHIBIT IONS2014 Bada Antiques & Fine Art Fair, London2012 Bealart100, St. Thomas-Elgin Public Art Centre, Ontario

Particles + Waves, 12 Contemporary Artists, ILIAD Contemporary, NYBeautiful Calamity, Hollis Heichemer, Ron Kingswood, Ellen Wagener, J. Cacciola Gallery, NY

2009 Drawing/Not Drawing, J. Cacciola Gallery, NYJonathan Cooper, Park Walk Gallery, London

2008 20th Anniversary Exhibition, Jonathan Cooper, Park Walk Gallery, LondonLyndsay McCandless Contemporary, Jackson Hole, WyomingThe Bank Job, London, OntarioSandra Ainsley Gallery, Toronto

2007 Loveland Museum, Loveland, ColoradoLyndsay McCandless Contemporary, Jackson Hole, Wyoming

2006 Jonathan Cooper, Park Walk Gallery, London Foothills Art Centre, Golden, Colorado Gallery 1261, Denver, Colorado

2005 Scott White Contemporary Art, Telluride, ColoradoVanderleelie Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta

2004 Off the Path, Jackson Street Gallery, Jackson Hole, Wyoming2003 Canada House Gallery, Banff, Alberta2002 Spring Exhibit, Douglas Udell Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta & Vancouver, British Columbia1999 Crossing Paths, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico

American Miniatures, Settler’s West Gallery, Tucson, Arizona1998 Spanierman Gallery, NY

RON KINGSWOOD


MUSEUM EXHIBIT IONS2014-15 Environmental Impact Exhibition (Touring) organised by David Wagner at;

– Canton Museum of Art, OH;– Roger Tory Peterson Institute, Jamestown, NY– Erie Art Museum, Erie, PA – Peninsula Fine Arts Center, Newport News, VA– Brookgreen Gardens, Murrells Inlet, SC– The Art Museum, SUNY Potsdam, Potsdam, NY

2000-04 Western Visions Miniature Show, National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson Hole, Wyoming2000 The Single Tree, Museum London, London, Ontario1998-01 Wilderness Reunion, Algonquin Museum, Algonquin Park, Ontario1998 80 Years of Experiment 1912-1992, Beal Art, Museum London, London, Ontario1996 Wildlife, The Artists View, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, Wisconsin1992-93 Southwestern Art Exhibit, Museum London, London, Ontario1989 Southwestern Art Exhibit, Museum London, London, Ontario

MUSEUM COLLECTIONSElla Sharp Museum of Art, Jackson, MichiganFoothills Art Center, Golden, ColoradoLeigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WisconsinMuseum London, London, OntarioThe Museum of Newfoundland & Labrador, St. John’s, NewfoundlandNational Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson Hole, WyomingSt. Thomas Elgin Public Art Centre, St. Thomas, OntarioThe Virginia Museum of Fine Art, Charlottesville, Virginia

SELECTED COLLECTIONSHusky Injection Molding Systems, Bolton, OntarioMorgan Stanley, Tokyo, JapanSeroyal, Toronto, OntarioWeston Foundation, TorontoWorld Wildlife Fund, Gland, SwitzerlandYork Finch General Hospital, Toronto

COMMISSIONSLegislative Assembly of Ontario, Official Portrait of the Honourable Steve Peter, Speaker of the Legislative Assemble of the Province of Ontario.


RON KINGSWOOD

Jonathan CooperPark Walk Gallery


Documents

Ron Kingswood : New Work