At its surface, this is a story about a cool thing I did. On our last full day in Thunder Bay, I went to Cascades Conservation Area with a few new friends, and a local artist Matthew O’Reilly painted my portrait.
To some degree, going and swimming in a river and then having your portrait painted is inherently self-indulgent. It’s hard to say otherwise. So as I walked back from Cascades, I had the fleeting thought that maybe all art is self-indulgent. Which was immediately met the firm rebuttal: maybe it isn’t.
I talked about this with another host and they said to look up JFK, whom they thought had been in engaged in supporting the arts since they visited the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. So I did. Of course, sharing a quote from an American president during the Cold War isn’t completely relevant, and this quote is a little over-the-top for an unassuming piece about a Thunder Bay painter. I still love it.
“Aeschylus and Plato are remembered today long after the triumphs of imperial Athens are gone. Dante outlived the ambitions of thirteenth-century Florence. Goethe stands serenely above the politics of Germany, and I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over cities, we too will be remembered not for victories or defeats in battle or in politics, but for our contribution to the human spirit.” John F. Kennedy
What I remember about Matt is the way he looked at me while he was painting. It was like he wasn’t seeing me as much as he was seeing the individual parts of my face. I can tell you that Matt, as an artist, looks at things differently, because I saw it firsthand.
I think it’s important that we support people who look at the world differently. Neil Young. Banksy. Barbara Kruger. Adbusters. Even mainstream art like the work of the Group of Seven or Emily Carr has had an immeasurable impact on Canada. Filmmakers like Alanis Obomsawin and Jeff Skoll. Writers like Lawrence Hill and Joy Kogawa. Artists are part of how we define our culture, and how we have defined our culture for millenia.
I’m not trying to say that Matt is a cultural icon. I’m just trying to say perhaps there’s more to a portrait than self-indulgence, and perhaps the artists in our communities matter more than we give them credit for.
“Politicians don’t bring people together. Artists do.” Richard Daly
