I met Grant Cunningham at Le Festival Des Arts in Montreal, where he was showing in 2001. Instantly I was drawn to his art, and was even more pleased to find that I actually liked the guy. I have mentioned that I am inspired deeply by five living artists; Grant is one of those artists. Living with Grant’s art is a toxic, truthful addiction, and I live with many of his pieces.
His work is not interpretive. He spells out what we may not want to hear and see. This is good for me, as it makes me question life and our social role(s). He represents layers of social interactions in a single image. He gives just enough information to make us realize the impact, implications, and reality of the mundane day to day interactions with other humans.His art makes me stop and think.Grant’s painting The Bottom was the inspiration for this piece.The Bottom is very Grant in my opinion. I see a self-portrait. A man is riding a fictional fish into the dark underwater, navigating past pollution and waste. Whether or not the man tamed or commandeered the fish I do not know.
Grant’s life, without going into details, has seen chaos, and the painting takes place underwater and muted among pollution and disorder.Among the toxins that we live among, there is still life and movement.
His work is not interpretive. He spells out what we may not want to hear and see. This is good for me, as it makes me question life and our social role(s). He represents layers of social interactions in a single image. He gives just enough information to make us realize the impact, implications, and reality of the mundane day to day interactions with other humans.His art makes me stop and think.Grant’s painting The Bottom was the inspiration for this piece.The Bottom is very Grant in my opinion. I see a self-portrait. A man is riding a fictional fish into the dark underwater, navigating past pollution and waste. Whether or not the man tamed or commandeered the fish I do not know.
Grant’s life, without going into details, has seen chaos, and the painting takes place underwater and muted among pollution and disorder.Among the toxins that we live among, there is still life and movement.
In my piece, the metal box belonged to my family; it survived 4 generations of Prieur men, and saw all of us during our business ventures. It was built around 1910, by Rockefeller in Verdun (where both my dad and Grant are originally from), and functioned as a dowel box. It was passed down through 3 generations of furniture artisans and in time it was passed from my great-grandfather to me. It was present through every aspect of our family’s successes and failures. It was a central piece that represented our living through the arts.
My family was populated by artists that worked in wood, and when I inherited this box it held the rags I used to clean my brushes and to blend my paint with. By the time I got it, it had achieved a sacred status, no longer a simple profane box.I placed a light inside to highlight a slide of the dentist and the tooth fairy to which I attached Grant’s tooth. I liked this fusion between my work, my friend, and an endeavor of mine that would pay homage to an endeavor of his.
A green light bathes the underside of this piece. The Bottom is painted in murky blacks and greens while the light from above penetrates the water and filters through to the bottom. A wonderfully ominous glow is the result.
My family was populated by artists that worked in wood, and when I inherited this box it held the rags I used to clean my brushes and to blend my paint with. By the time I got it, it had achieved a sacred status, no longer a simple profane box.I placed a light inside to highlight a slide of the dentist and the tooth fairy to which I attached Grant’s tooth. I liked this fusion between my work, my friend, and an endeavor of mine that would pay homage to an endeavor of his.
A green light bathes the underside of this piece. The Bottom is painted in murky blacks and greens while the light from above penetrates the water and filters through to the bottom. A wonderfully ominous glow is the result.
A wooden carving comes down from that metal box. It represents my family through their art, and my friend Grant’s art (as I see it as a creature with movement, much like those underwater dwellers in The Bottom). The canvas is a piece of wood from my parents’ nightstand. If any object sees more intimacy in a family it is bedroom furniture. I think of all the conversations it overheard. Discussions around money, surviving in business, making a family work and the amazing artistic conceptualizations it must have been privy to, and I feel it is a perfect canvas for this piece.On it I have drawn twin skulls adorned with hieroglyphics that are exact copies of text that Grant uses in some of his pieces. My friend lost his twin brother when he was young. I could not pay homage to my friend without including his brother in this work.
My homage is to all of you my friend.
This piece is now available for sale at Headquarters gallery.
1649 rue Amherst
Montreal QC
514-678-2923
Written in Bone – Jerome Prieur 2008
Mixed Media - Acrylic and Ink on Wood
Donated Tooth – Grant Cunningham
Special thanks to Aline Plante, Bruce Whitehead, and Rachel Starr.
58 “x 23 “x 11 “
SOLD
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