Additional Images

Provenance:

Private collection, Toronto, ON

Literature:

Isaacs Seen: 50 years on the art front, a gallery scrapbook compiled by Donnalu Wigmore, ed. Donnalu Wigmore. (Toronto: Hart House, Justina M. Barnicke Gallery), 2005: 67 repro. in installation photo of Curnoe, Kamikaze (1967), at Isaacs Gallery, 5-24 February 1969.

Exhibited:

Greg Curnoe, Isaacs Gallery, Toronto, ON, 5-24 February 1969.

Note:

Cityscape by Greg Curnoe is an important and rare early work by the artist, one which represents the artist's unique visual language within the context of Canadian art of the 20th century. Although simple in composition, Cityscape is complex in its ideologies, situated at the intersection of politics, life and art. Produced in 1967, the Cityscape series was an autobiographical expression of Curnoe’s feelings towards his cultural environment. This canvas reads: THE CORNER OF THE DIRTY BRICK WALL IS ABOUT THIRTY FEET AWAY THE LEFT SIDE IS S

In Curnoe’s wordscapes, the letters simultaneously blend into the white canvas and stand out, forcing the viewer to read the text, while also considering the image as a whole. The artist’s interest in text stems from a childhood gift: a rubber stamp set. Curnoe also played with discarded date stamps sourced from his father’s office, explaining: “It was so natural for me to associate type and text with a picture. And I quickly learned there are things you can do with a text that you can’t do with a picture.” Accordingly, text plays a role in the majority of Curnoe’s works.

References:
Greg Curnoe, edited transcript of an interview with Artviews [Fred Gaysek] about I Tell Stories exhibition, December 3, 1987, Greg Curnoe Fonds, Writings File 1987, E.P. Taylor Research Library and Archives, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto.

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