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On Saturday, July 3, 2004, the visual arts and academic community of Alberta lost a remarkable artist, academic, and an animator of cultural and artistic life of this Province.
Ray Arnatt had gained his national and international reputation for making an impact on a new generation of sculptors by demonstrating a strong commitment to the "craft" of sculpture/relief and the exploration of the creative and theoretical boundaries of these respective disciplines.
Ray Arnatt will be remembered as one of the most prolific visual artists of this country, a brilliant Renaissance mind well versed in quantum physics, theoretical mathematics, philosophy and literature, and as the major voice in contemporary Canadian visual culture.
Ray Arnatt will also be remembered as a great academic and a brilliant pedagogue with an unorthodox approach to his teaching methodology, always asking his students to explore unexplored and uncharted stratas of visual articulations, and as a mentor for young and emerging artists. |
CON
MEMORIAM On Saturday, July 3, 2004, the visual arts and academic community of Alberta lost a remarkable artist, academic, and an animator of cultural and artistic life of this Province. Ray Arnatt died of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known a Lou Gehrig's Disease. He was 69. But to the end, he never lost his zest for life or his zeal for positive thinking. In fact, he redefined ALS to stand for "Awareness through Love and Simplicity". He is survived by his wife JoAnne Schachtel, their daughter Mary, his two sons Thomas and Lucas, and grandson Jack. He is also survived by his sister Joyce and family, and his brother David, both in England. Ray Arnatt left a great artistic legacy for us, and he remains alive through his exceptional art and personal memories. Arnatt shaped local art scene through the aesthetic and qualities of his art, gone beyond traditional boundaries of his artistic discipline, and carved his unique niche in the history of contemporary art of Alberta and Canada. He played the major role as a teacher and a mentor for upcoming artists, and served as role model for fellow artists. Arnatt was one of the earliest founding members of the Triangle Gallery of Visual Arts and a key supporter of this organization. RAYMOND ARNATT - TIME PASSING
Ray Arnatt was born in a small village in England in 1934. His art studies began early (he was 13 at that time) at a special arts and technology school. He received formal training in sculpture at the Oxford School of Art (Oxford, U.K.), and later at the Royal College of Art in London, U.K., where he was awarded with a Silver Medal for Sculpture and a First Class Honours Degree. Along the way he became a Royal Scholar. Between 1965 and 2004, he taught sculpture at numerous art institutions in England and Canada. In 1981 he became a member of the faculty at the Department of Art at the University of Calgary, where he was a Professor of Art (Sculpture). He was elected to the prestigious Royal Canadian Academy of Art, was a founding member of the Triangle Gallery of Visual Arts in Calgary, and had mentored a number of graduates through their undergraduate and graduate studies.
For several years, Ray Arnatt shared his artistic and family life in Cochrane with his wife, JoAnne Schachtel, who is also a sculptor, and their daughter Mary. Arnatt and Schachtel worked together on several sculptural projects and multimedia installations.
Arnatt's most recent work was selected by Dr. Caterina Pizanias for the group exhibition, Migrations in the Third Dimensions organized by the Triangle Gallery of Visual Arts in partnership with the Cultural Foundation of Tinos in Greece. This exhibition will be presented on the Island of Tinos in October 2004 in conjunction with 2004 Cultural Olympiad in Greece and, in November 2004, at the Triangle Gallery of Visual Arts in Calgary. Ray was one of five leading sculptors from Alberta along with Katie Ohe, Isla Burns, Reinhard Skoracki and Honsun Chu, to be featured in this unique exhibition/cultural exchange project curated by Dr. Pizanias, and was truly looking forward to participating in this exhibition on Tinos. The Triangle Gallery of Visual Arts has decided to dedicate the presentation of this exhibition on Tinos and in Calgary in memory of Ray Arnatt. Jacek
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Ray
Arnatt had gained his national and international reputation for
making an impact on a new generation of sculptors by demonstrating
a strong commitment to the "craft" of sculpture/relief and the exploration
of the creative and theoretical boundaries of these respective disciplines.
Arnatt
was also a member of art collectives, and worked in interdisciplinary
projects with other colleagues across an array of faculties because,
as he once said "… he liked to be exposed to different perspectives,
genders, approaches and sensibilities ..". Ray Arnatt had an extremely
productive exhibiting record over the years; his work was exhibited
nationally and internationally. These include: the Winnipeg Art
Gallery, Muttart Public Art Gallery (presently known as the Art
Gallery of Calgary), Virginia Christopher Gallery, Deacon Ulrich
Gallery, Lattice Gallery, Glenbow Museum, and the Triangle Gallery
of Visual Arts. His work can be found in private and public collections
across the continents. 
Ray
Arnatt will be remembered as one of the most prolific visual artists
of this country, a brilliant Renaissance mind well versed in quantum
physics, theoretical mathematics, philosophy and literature, and
as the major voice in contemporary Canadian visual culture. He strongly
refused to be "classified"/"compartmentalized" as an artist: either
a sculptor or painter, a scientist or a poet, or a philosopher.
Arnatt used his expansive and interdisciplinary knowledge to create
art that goes beyond traditional boundaries and explores fresh conceptual
and formalistic parameters, particularly in relations to his visual
and conceptual debate on 'binarism'. His major retrospective exhibition,
Ray
Arnatt will also be remembered as a great academic and a brilliant
pedagogue with an unorthodox approach to his teaching methodology,
always asking his students to explore unexplored and uncharted stratas
of visual articulations, and as a mentor for young and emerging
artists.