Does painting still matter as a means of visual expression? Good, old-fashioned brush stroke-to-surface art?
Consider: Instagram launched just eight years ago, and now the image-based platform has around one billion users. Yet painting can be traced back to prehistoric cave art and, says artist Amanda Boulos, it’s still compelling as a no-tech craft in a high-tech world.
“Painting is not passive, as most people think of it — it really can make you act and learn and feel,” she says. “It’s still a unique method of knowledge exchange from artist to audience. I really think we need to continue to create new imagery so that we’re not seeing the same imagery in advertisements over and over again.”
Boulos is the most recent winner of the RBC Canadian Painting Competition, a 20-year-old national initiative that aims to support new artists. Her 2017 work In the Morning stood out among more than 500 submissions, earning her $25,000 and a residency with Banff Centre for the Arts.
But that imagery.
Rendered in grey, gold and burgundy oils on a 42×40-inch panel, In the Morning is the final work in a series of 13 called In Memory of Mabid. The series took Boulos eight months to complete and follows a fictional character’s life and death during the Lebanese civil war, which spanned from 1975 to 1990.
Bull’s horns, body parts and flowers entwine in the centre image, creating a bold and unsettling effect reminiscent of Goya. “Brave, nuanced and powerful,” as a statement from the jury read.
“It originates from a family passed-down narrative of an uncle dying because of a bunch of rebels,” says Boulos, who was born in Canada but whose Palestinian family members were refugees in Lebanon.
“It’s very personal, but it’s also true to the Lebanese civil war and also to refugees in Lebanon … It’s showing his resting state, his final deathbed. It’s also very positive because he’s finally resting and we’re finally properly mourning his loss and death.”
“It’s very personal, but it’s also true to the Lebanese civil war and also to refugees in Lebanon.”
It was that personal perspective that won over judges and set Boulos apart from her fellow artists, including Emmanuel Osahor and geetha thurairajah, who received honourable mentions and $15,000 each.
“What the jury eventually had to decide is which of the pieces had the strongest message and how did the artist convey that in a way that was unique and personal,” says RBC curator Robin Anthony.
“Amanda has taken a point of view that has a reference to historical painting and historical content. There’s a surrealist element to her work. And in the past, not all the artists have approached their voice and vision and content in that way.”
Boulos says her approach is representative of a larger trend.
“I’m noticing more and more that not only is the artwork becoming more personal, but the community has too, so you get to see the mother and father come to the art shows, the uncles and aunts and all the cousins,” she says.
“It’s not this really snooty environment, but actually a place where people can come together and talk about different things and maybe support a cause.”
Based in Toronto and a graduate of University of Guelph’s master of fine arts program, Boulos dabbled in painting during high school but became serious about it during her first year of university. As well as her colleagues, she names Palestinian and Lebanese artists as inspirations — particularly Sliman Mansour, who created images for the Palestinian resistance.
As the winner of the RBC Canadian Painting Competition, Boulos will also receive mentorship, education and other career opportunities. She’s already focusing on the future.
“I have a new body of work coming up and I’m thinking about the next. It’s just constant,” Boulos says. “Nothing has really dramatically changed except my student debt is a little less now.”