New link for the Video of the live show...

Here is the video of the live performance at the show.
A must see if you were not there.


The song and dance choreography was all created 
especially for our theme... Splinter.

The clock winds down...

It has been quite a journey for me.  Years of making my art, months of planning, 
weeks of execution and days of enjoyment.  


I thank all of you who took the time
to view my exhibit and for the wonderful things you had to say.  An artist is never more fulfilled than when his work is appreciated.  


To those who have not witnessed the exhibit as yet, I do hope you can make a little time for it today, our final day.  We are open till 7pm.

What viewers said...

OPENING HOURS FOR LAST TWO DAYS:  10:30 TO 7PM


Nella Sureshbally said:  Your show was absolutely amazing! The performance was spectacular, the pieces looked as if they all had the smile of a newborn babe somewhere within their frames... every piece was glowing with happiness, to finally be out for the world to see where they belong.  Best wishes to you.


Karen Hale wrote:   Last night was the opening of Gerard Gitten’s (yes, the hasher)  art show – all I can say is that I am speechless and in total awe – it has to have been the most amazing opening I have ever been too.  He went all out last night and his work shows his passion for what he does – A MUST SEE!!!!!  If all goes well I think Gerard will be an international star.


Juliette Superville:  Very insightful.  Left here feeling very happy and hopeful about relationships and self.  


Maria Pantin:  Your work is very different, unique.  It allowed me to see deeper into myself as I engaged each piece.  Very thought provoking.


Danielle Du Boulay:  Wonderful! Breath taking!  Wow!!! Wow!!!


Dave Pancham:  Words can't describe - a must see!


Zenobia Campbell: I don't know what to say..that is  the most original artwork i have ever seen live. the works defied cliched description: the beach scene was lovely, the man with the whip was sexy, there were tactile pleasures to be had from the sculptures and all kinds of pieces in between to get you thinking about life and the nature of the universe. i truly loved it, and i hope that you will manage to show it over in an alternative space later this year. 

 

remarkable work, and what a testament to your character, patience, moral fibre and general work ethic 

From: Ge

We will be open on Sunday

The opening was a success!  All went according to plan and everyone had wonderful things to say about the show.  The stage production was magical.  We will be posting a video of this in due course.

I will be at the exhibit today and look forward to seeing you.

Tonight is the night...

Click on invitation for full size view

Please note...

Despite our best efforts we were unable 
to secure a credit card machine.


Payments can be made in cash or by cheque. 

We appreciate your understanding.

Splinter- The Song

Here's a clip of Splinter, as interpreted by word, sound & spirit. As you may see by now, the Splinter theme is far reaching. I threw out the idea of having a theme song to my comrade Ravi Maharaj (electronic artist : a_phake)

Click the play button in the middle of the picture





the lyrics came via 2 very creative sessions. It was chiseled out by both parties over e-mail. Ravi put the music down & had specific melodic ideas for the words & how they would be phrased. So while i took the liberty of spilling many quatrains of thought onto paper, ideas would eventually get tossed back and forth or out altogether. This process allowed the message of the song to be rounded off & polised. An experience not too unlike the physical process of sculpting.

Lyrics:

there's a world that goes before your eyes
its splinters are caught in ur head
where the sharpest feelings lay disguised
like a scorpion under ur bed


there's a trap door gonna close in ur mind
let the darkness out of your heart
are u living on the lies u can find
as it trickles from the start


IM EITHER GONNA RISE
OR GO DOWN WITH YOU


The eagle's flight begins with a shattered shell
The snake he sheds his skin
he's got alotta stories to tell


Rising high as he spreads his wings
In the perfect natural order of things
He's a light - he's gonna fight
he's gonna burst into a flame


IM EITHER GONNA RISE
OR GO DOWN WITH YOU


we listen to the tracks laid down since the womb in our heads
The fabric of your life is woven from the myths you’ve been fed
we are all splintered
shattered like a stone
we rise up from the pieces of dust and steel & bone


****                          ****                        ****

The song will debut tonight on 95.1 FM @ around 10pm. Tune in & show your support.
It will also be part of a Soundtrack CD Souvenir, available on the Opening Night & for the duration of the exhibition.

The CD is priced at $60. 

(More on the CD content in another blog!)

Your Invitation

The exhibit was set up yesterday.  My day began at 3:30 am (to load the truck with the larger pieces of art) and did not end till 10pm when the the doors of the venue were finally secured for the night.  All is in place and the countdown to showtime is on... 
Click on your invitation for a full size view. 

Whip Dance

A box full of rejected plastic dribbles that i got from a molding factory confronted me. I placed them on a large square board with no idea of exactly what I was about to create.  

Placing one piece randomly, then another and another, possibilities slowly began to suggest themselves. The process was guided by an invisible hand that would let me know when two pieces belonged together.


When ever this happened a deep satisfaction would come over me and I knew I could fuse them together.  Gradually a playful yet imposing character emerged, full of energy and motion.  He seemed to demand a whip and when placed the piece was complete.

Country Road

Made with materials like card board, brown paper, tin and sand, this piece is a soothing reminder of simpler times.

One week to show time

All is proceeding smoothly.  The many threads of this complex presentation are coming together.
With that metaphor in mind, here is one of my pieces crafted with cloth.
Also, I was featured in an on-line publication.  Here is the link: SEXYPINK! Online. 
Lots of other interesting features as well.

Limited Edition Splinter T's

As many of you may already know, my exhibition being held this month has a theme.  To commemorate the occasion, I have designed and printed a limited number of T shirts.

I am offering them for sale at $120 each.  They are available in medium, large and extra large.

To order please contact me at: art1gerard@gmail.com

Click on the image for a larger view.

I am a Tree

Preparations for the show are on the home stretch.. Last Wednesday everyone came together to try out their parts & get some basic footing on how all will be integrated into the production. 

After sorting out some technical aspects, we switched off the fluorescent lights of the community centre & everything quickly fell into place. The concrete structure was transformed into an ancient ritual ground as professional lighting, dance & music came together to erase the world for an instant.

With many kinks to be ironed out & still lots to co-ordinate, i can only describe the process i'm going through as a kind of euphoric stress. The kind that happens during the natural process of bearing fruit. I am a tree.

Here are some photos from Wednesday's rehearsal: 

Magic Circle

This work is actually hand painted on my living room floor.  It contains several icons all custom designed.

The four elements- earth, wind, water and fire are represented in the yellow panels.  Each is associated with one of the cardinal points and the whole circle is aligned accordingly.  The other symbols I will leave to your individual interpretation. Click on the images to see them larger,  Leave your observations in the comments box,

Plastic galaxy

These sculptures are made from molten plastic. Their translucent nature seemed to me so graceful that I began experimenting with lighting & placement. Suddenly i found the pieces transforming - no - blossoming before my eyes.. 
Here they are, photographed for you in some detail but their true mystery is revealed when allowed to play freely with the light, the darkness & vibe of the surroundings. 


A fun, collector's item!

Surrender's Knees

Hey everyone, today's piece is called 'Surrender's Knees'.

It is a large collage piece- 61" x 31"- made with

strips of colored paper taken from magazines.

The wonderful thing about art is how it helps

you to process the events in your life..

This image illustrates the point we arrive at when

we finally surrender to the One.

This often occurs when we have exhausted ourselves

(represented by the desert) and finally turn things

over to our higher power, leaning not on our

own limited understanding.

The hot colors in the abdomen and chest area indicate

the power unleashed when we surrender.

Skeletons in the closet

This is a close up of an extraordinary piece that was made from an old clock case. The limbs are made with plastic spoons and forks wrapped in twine. The old clock was laying on the side of the road having come to the end of its useful life.

I gutted it and re- used the clock works (cogs again) to detail various aspects of the figure. The character represents those things in our psyche that we are not yet ready to acknowledge or to come to terms with.

When we choose to integrate the alienated parts of ourselves, we often find that the very thing we were inclined to discard (an impossible proposition) invariably holds the key we need to unlock the barriers in our lives.

My upcoming exhibition is entitled Splinter. The splinter theme is all about integrating the fractured, discarded and shunned parts of ourselves in order to be whole again. It is the way of the spiritual warrior.

Time Line

Why the cogs?

My fascination with cogs stem from many observations about life.

It seems to me that we are like intricate time pieces with many cogs (aspects of ourselves) connecting with each other in order to function as a whole.

Problem is we are often disconnected from ourselves and out of touch with our inner workings. For those who introspect this is not the case however. Meditation and reflection serve as tools to re-calibrate our cogs in the pursuit of wholeness and cohesiveness.

In the previous blog you may have noticed that no two cogs were aligned and this was symbolic of my scattered frame of mind at the time. In today's piece all cogs are aligned and connected. There is a sense of movement and action. This is what we seek, to be one with ourselves, others and the universe.

The symbol of the cogs is also observed in the cosmos. The manner in which the planets circle each other while rotating on their axes & their moons doing the same is not unlike clockwork. This system creates day and night, the seasons and hence life itself. How incredible!

We simply need to tune into these mechanisms and discover for ourselves some of the amazing aspects of the grand design.

THE CRUCIBLE

This water color piece is entitled... CRUCIBLE...

It was the child of frustration.

I was working on several projects that seemed to be going nowhere in a hurry.

Try as I may results were slow to non existent.

Eventually I "surrendered". I stepped away from pursuing these goals and began to sketch.

My frustration poured out of me onto the page (first draft was in pencil and will also be included in the up-coming show) and evolved into what you see.

Several interesting things happened along the way.

All of the little characters in the piece were originally the same but as I drafted and re-drafted the piece, each one took on a distinct persona.

It turns out that each one had a message for me as it pertained to my dilemma. This seemed to happen as if by magic. And as the piece evolved, solutions began to appear and my way forward was made clear.

Let me give you an example. One character wanted to be a forest dweller (the green one, don't you know) and he reminded me that I had not visited the woods for some time. I took his advice and on so doing, much of my angst dissolved as I was baited by all the greenery around me.

The water man reminded me to visit the river & just go with the flow. Each character had a prescription and collectively I was rejuvenated.

splinter - explaining all about this

Splinter is the blog leading up to my exhibition in July. It will feature several of my pieces and give you a little insight on each one. Much of my work is symbolic and I hope you will take a little time to reflect on this visual language. A language that has the power to affect!