Greg Curnoe (19 November 1936 – 14 November 1992) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

known for his role in the Canadian art movement labeled London Regionalism, which, beginning in the 1960s, made London, Ontario, an important centre for artistic production in Canada. While his oeuvre chronicled his daily experience in a variety of media, it was grounded in twentieth-century art movements, especially

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich), Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 192 ...

, with its emphasis on

nihilism Nihilism (; ) is a philosophy, or family of views within philosophy, that rejects generally accepted or fundamental aspects of human existence, such as objective truth, knowledge, morality, values, or meaning. The term was popularized by Ivan ...

and

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessa ...

, Canadian politics, and popular culture. He is remembered for brightly coloured works that often incorporate text to support his strong Canadian patriotism, sometimes expressed as anti-Americanism, as well as his activism in support of Canadian artists.

Early life

Gregory Richard Curnoe was born on 19 November 1936, at Victoria Hospital in London, Ontario. He grew up with his parents, Nellie Olive (née Porter) and Gordon Charles Curnoe; his brother, Glen (born 1939); and his sister, Lynda (born 1943), in a house built for the family by his grandfather. For most of his life, Curnoe lived within five kilometres of this home in Southwestern Ontario, a peninsula surrounded by water and the United States. Curnoe attended H. B. Beal Secondary School (1954–56) and the Doon School of Art (1956) before attending the

Ontario College of Art Ontario College of Art & Design University, commonly known as OCAD University or OCAD, is a public art university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus is spread throughout several buildings and facilities within do ...

(1957–60), where he failed his final year.

Career

Returning to London, Ontario, Curnoe began to work in the studio. He found meaning in popular culture and his own cultural roots that addressed the disillusion he felt with established culture after leaving art school. He founded ''Region'' magazine in 1961 and Region Gallery in 1962. He co-founded the Canadian noise band the

Nihilist Spasm Band The Nihilist Spasm Band (NSB) is a Canadian noise band formed in 1965 in London, Ontario. The band was founded by Hugh McIntyre, John Clement, John Boyle, Bill Exley, Murray Favro, Archie Leitch, Art Pratten, and Greg Curnoe. Leitch has since ...

in 1965. In 1968, Jack Chambers with the aid of

Kim Ondaatje Kim Ondaatje (born Betty Jane Kimbark; born October 2, 1928) is a Canadian Painting, painter, photographer, and documentary film, documentary Filmmaking, filmmaker. Biography Early life and training Born in Toronto, Ontario, Ondaatje studie ...

Tony Urquhart Anthony Morse Urquhart, LL.D. (April 9, 1934 – January 26, 2022) was a Canadian painter. He was recognized in the late 1950s and early 1960s as one of Canada's pioneering abstractionists, having been variously linked with the Toronto painters ...

, Curnoe and John Boyle, founded

Canadian Artists' Representation Canadian Artists' Representation/ (CARFAC) is a non-profit corporation that serves as the national voice of Canada's professional visual artists. The mandate of CARFAC is to promote the visual arts in Canada, to promote a socio-economic climate ...

to serve as a union for artists in Canada. Curnoe co-founded the Forest City Gallery, an

artist-run centre An artist-run space or artist-run centre (Canada) is a gallery or other facility operated or directed by artists, frequently circumventing the structures of public art centers, museums, or commercial galleries and allowing for a more experimental ...

, in 1973. He represented Canada at the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

in 1976 and was the subject of a

retrospective A retrospective (from Latin ''retrospectare'', "look back"), generally, is a look back at events that took place, or works that were produced, in the past. As a noun, ''retrospective'' has specific meanings in medicine, software development, popu ...

exhibition at the

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA; french: Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, MBAM) is an art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest art museum in Canada by gallery space. The museum is located on the historic Golden Square ...

in 1981, which subsequently toured across Canada. Curnoe was an avid cyclist, and his handbuilt Mariposa

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...

s were a frequent subject of his work. While on a club ride with the London Centennial Wheelers, Curnoe was killed by a distracted driver in a pickup truck that plowed into the group of 12 cyclists on Highway 2, just outside

Delaware, Ontario Delaware, Ontario is a community located about west of and outside of London, Ontario, within Middlesex County. Delaware straddles the Thames River. Delaware is accessed by the old highway ( Highway 2) linking London and Chatham and the freewa ...

. He was killed and six others were seriously injured and taken to hospital. The driver was charged with four-counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm, and one-count of dangerous driving causing death. The driver was eventually acquitted of all charges on 13 January 1994.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Curnoe, Greg 1936 births 1992 deaths 20th-century Canadian painters Canadian male painters Accidental deaths in Ontario Artists from London, Ontario Cycling road incident deaths Modern painters Road incident deaths in Canada Canadian conceptual artists Canadian contemporary artists 20th-century Canadian male artists Canadian collage artists

Early life

Career

See also

References

Further reading

External links