Graham Gillmore

Heffel Auction House Biography and Notes

Graham Gillmore was born in 1963 in North Vancouver. Following graduation from Emily Carr College of Art and Design in 1985, he and his art school colleagues found a studio on Cordova Street in Vancouver and the artistic group "Futura Bold" was born. Within a year, this creative force were included in the "Young Romantics" exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery and the careers of five of Canada’s most outstanding young artists were launched. Riding on the success of this initial exhibition, Gillmore moved to New York City. He is best known for his incised and painted compositions of words and phrases on colourful surfaces. By re-arranging, punctuating, hyphenating and splitting text, he inverts it's original intention and creates new meanings. Gillmore’s tableaus dwell on the symbolic and literal meanings of language and letters, opening them up to a multiplicity of interpretations. His work is collected by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, Audain Art Museum, British Columbia, the Ghent Museum, Belgium, Gian Enzo Sperone, Rome, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Toronto, RCA Records, New York, The Royal Bank of Canada, The Bank of Montreal, The Vancouver Art Gallery, and numerous other institutions and private collections worldwide. Good Rev/Bad Rev (good review/bad review) examines the world of art criticism through the juxtaposition of conflicting opinions about his work. Full of intrigue, duplicity and wit, Gillmore circles and re-arranges the words in an act of possession, making them visual objects in addition to their verbal syntax. A fascination in the architectonics of text as an art form shapes the composition and the tension created visually as we make sense of the image as text (reading it verbally top to bottom) and pictorially (reading it bottom to top) combine to create a compelling work. Gillmore's generosity has been profound, working with Artists for Kids to publish multiple works and being the artist in residence at the Paradise Summer School of Visual Arts in 2003 and 2006. Gilmour also participated in the 2006 Vancouver School Exhibition at the Artists for Kids Gallery. Established in 1989 by renowned BC artist-patrons Gordon Smith, Jack Shadbolt and Bill Reid, Artists for Kids was founded with the singular intent to support children, their art education and their future. Through art specialists, it provides enriching art-making experiences for thousands of students each year across Canada as well as professional development opportunities for educators. In 1990, the group published the first Artists for Kids Limited Edition Portfolio print, Xhuwaji / Haida Grizzly. This print by Reid, based on a ceremonial drum, marked the beginning of an extraordinary partnership with now more than 100 Canadian artists—from Kenojuak Ashevak to Ian Wallace—that has produced one of the most significant limited edition collections in the country. Proceeds from the sale of prints fund educational programs, artist residencies, art camps, scholarships, bursaries, and future acquisitions for Artists for Kids and the Gordon Smith Gallery Permanent Collection. Please note: this work is unframed. Please note: The full sheet size is 41 x 30 inches. To visit the Artists for Kids website please click here.