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June 26, 2009
Painting B.C. beauty
Artist's canvases are like a symphony of color.
OLGA LIVSHIN
Derek Gillingham's paintings are inspired by the untamed landscapes of British Columbia. For a month, clouds and trees, creeks and mountains dominate the walls of the Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver, where Gillingham's solo exhibit opened on June 18.
As long as he can remember, Gillingham has wanted to be an artist. He studied art at the Ontario College of Art and Design and painted a lot afterwards, taking odd jobs to pay the bills. He confessed that his images of the 1980s were full of anger. Like many of his generation, the young man yearned for freedom of expression, striving to alter the world by his art. When it didn't happen, frustration took hold. "I don't think anyone liked me then. I didn't like myself," he recalled.
Nobody would recognize that portrait in the man Gillingham is today. His ready smile illuminated the gallery during the opening night, and his paintings throbbed with colors and shapes, transmitting life-affirming optimism to all his guests.
The transformation of the artist was due to two unconnected factors. The first was the birth of his son. The second was his work in the movies. "When I realized I couldn't effect a political change, I stopped painting," he admitted. "Art felt irrelevant, useless. I didn't paint for several years. It all changed after my son was born."
The political aggression of his youth was gone when fatherhood set roots in the artist's soul, gradually infusing him with peace and gladness of new life. He felt reborn. "I came to understand that art doesn't have to be utilitarian. It doesn't have to affect crowds. If even one person would look at my paintings and see beauty, that would be enough. If my painting can improve someone's mood, lift someone's spirit, then I've done my job," he said.
Gillingham's job as a movie artist also lifted many spirits. His first brush with the industry happened when his friend offered him a job as a computer artist in a small company manufacturing commercials. Gillingham liked the work. "It was like another portal into art," he mused. Later, someone suggested he try his hand at Hollywood, and he did. Since then, he has participated in a dozen major productions. His credits include such public darlings as Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Wars, The Mummy, Harry Potter, Magnolia and a few others. "I made frogs for Magnolia," he said with a smile. The "frog rain" scene was one of the most memorable in that movie.
Between his movie engagements, he paints, and every new film injects new ideas into his art. Unlike cinematography, which is entertainment for the masses, visual art for Gillingham is a private matter, a one-on-one conversation between the artist and his viewers. Many such private, silent conversations took place during the opening night, as the guests of the gallery mulled around, absorbing the beauty of the paintings. The artist's subjects are mundane: a creek in Port Moody, an old tree in Tofino, melting snow on Mount Seymour, but his vision is magical. And he shares his magic – and smile – with everyone.
Nothing is stationary in Gillingham's paintings. Everything seems in motion. Wind tosses clouds around in "The End of the Walk." In "Spring Creekbed," water rushes among the pebbles, gurgling happily on its way to an unknown destination. Sunlight reflecting off the tiny eddies makes the little spring look like a depository of sparkling gems.
The title painting of the show, "Summer Evening in Tofino," inevitably attracts the eye. Old trees stretch up towards the sun, their branches interlacing like fantastic filigree, speaking to each other, linking the sky and the earth. Leaves shimmer, colors flow, all adding to the sophisticated bouquet of energies. Gillingham painted it in one day. "I forgot myself, couldn't stop. It took me 16 hours. After I finished, I felt numb – no feelings."
One of the artist's favorite paintings is "Brandywine Meadow." He recalled hiking in the mountains. "When I saw that valley, opening up off the ridge, it took my breath away. It was stunning, so much bigger than me, untouched, wild." Fascinated with the elaborate curlicues and arabesques of nature, he created a landscape thrumming with so many different notes it feels like a symphony.
Beside it, "Sunlight through Trees" looks like a sunny mosaic, where dappled light filtered through leaves transforms the ordinary canvas into a glowing explosion of gold and green. Reminiscent of stained windows, it seems lit from the inside.
Through the polychromatic prism of the artist's imagination, Gillingham's landscapes transport us all into his universe of mystic and cheerful beauty, located right here in British Columbia.
Olga Livshin is a Vancouver freelance writer.
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