Michael Kiré | L'automatisme with a Cultural Identity
to
Calgary Central Library 800 3 Street SE, Calgary, Alberta T2G 2E7
Michael Kiré, “The Crusader,” 2019-2024
(courtesy of the Alberta Society of Artists)
The tradition of writing-in-painting is millennia old. This exhibition shows an obvious development into the possibilities of combining the drawn and the written in a never-before exploration.
Automatic Writing, akin to Automatic Drawing, carries the same directive in `leading to a recognition’. Asemic writing points toward a literary space while drawing lines lead towards imagery.
Kire adapts the use of the script taken from Chinese calligraphy to infuse an Asiatic notion rather than Latin in general practice.
It is our first instinct to `read’ whenever we are presented with a piece of Calligraphy on sight before we appreciate the Art. By removing the linguistic aspect from its context, the appreciation of the shape of characters precedes readability.
Art is about sensing the suggestions, which are subtle, and there is an assured communication beyond words, realizing the unsaid.