Roy Arden
Thursday, 29 October 2009
Recently, two new murals by Roy Arden were unveiled at the Vancouver Convention Centre Expansion Project in Coal Harbour, Vancouver. Using historic photo images from the Vancouver Public Library, Arden’s giant collage Big House (2008) depicts events in pre-WWII British Columbia. The focus of Big House is the social and economic struggles, conflicts and realities of B.C.’s early years. The epic scope of the work takes in the culture of the native peoples, the conflicts between the various ethnic and social groups, the resource-based economy and the building of cities and societies. The second mural, People of British Columbia (2009), is a triptych that focuses on the experience of the natural sublime and the communion of peoples through leisure. Arden has collaged and manipulated early photos of bathers at local beaches into a poem reminding us that the object of our work and struggles is freedom and joy.
Text sourced from Monte Clark Gallery. To view more of Roy Arden’s work, please visit his website.