The Newsroom
Tom Thomson on Acid
When Figure 1’s Creative Director, Jess Sullivan, showed us possible front covers for the forthcoming Kim Dorland book, we were all blown away by Dorland’s visually stunning and bold artwork. It’s no wonder that the contemporary artist has been described as “Tom Thomson on acid.”
Dorland is certainly influenced by Thomson and the Group of Seven (he named his son after Thomson), and this was emphasized in a brilliantly curated show at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection last fall, where Dorland’s works were displayed alongside those of Thomson himself. The Globe and Mail named him “Artist of the Year”, but not just because of his ties to Thomson. Dorland does not intend to merely carry the torch from Thomson. He wishes, instead, to promote his own modern vision, a vision which leaps out from the one hundred full-colour reproductions in this book which will be available in stores in November. Check out the girl bouncing on a trampoline—she looks directly at us while her body pulsates with pink light. Or the stark red park bench left in the thick of a similarly red forest. There’s something equally discomforting and seductive about these paintings, something wholly original and spellbinding.
The Museum of Contemporary Art Calgary will be exhibiting Dorland’s work in October 2014. If you’re in Calgary or merely passing through make sure to check it out!