| Edward Barth was born in Montreal. He studied art at Concordia University in Montreal and at the Royal College of Art & Design, London, England. "My interest as an artist is to engage the viewer in a critical moment. Scenarios range from the improbable to the seemingly impossible, but in either case, the events leading up to the critical moment are left unexplained. Nor is a conclusion provided. The viewer leaves the meaning of the work to interpretation. The aim is to create an emotional reaction, whether it is to amuse or offend. Tension is present in both my two and three-dimensional work, and that tension is due not only to the situational juxtaposition within the work itself but the inversion the work represents in the context of the viewer’s social or physical environment. My two dimensional work consists of digital imagery, oil painting, and printmaking, and is figurative in the classical sense. Figures, humans and otherwise, are paired with other figures, or inserted into scenarios, which may seem quite improbable or even absurd but are nonetheless physically possible. For instance, the figure of the Nuba tribesman transposed into an elaborate ('civilized') architectural setting is an inversion of the British colonial standing in a neatly pressed suit (mustache trimmed) next to a mud hut. The baboon blatantly competes for territory in a room equally occupied by a priest delivering the Sacrament to a young woman. A bandaged and blinded female dog writhes on the end of a leash held by a beatific Pope. The result is a surreal whole, which brings into question not only the subjective meaning of the figures themselves, but also their relationship and the relationship of the whole to the viewer’s social environment. My three dimensional work also strives to invoke a feeling of anxiety and danger by achieving what appears to be the impossible. Heavy objects are precariously balanced, seemingly in defiance of the laws of gravity. Paradoxically, the objects, which are free standing and do not include any fastening system, are actually obeying these laws. The viewer’s perception and his or her understanding of the environment are directly called into question."
Edward Barth
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