Beauty is all there is: Unity Bainbridge - A Retrospective

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Unity Bainbridge, "Beauty is all there is," 2017

invitation

Opening Reception: Tuesday, October 24, 6-8 p.m.

Reflections by author and historian Trevor Carolan

Meet the Artist: Saturday, October 28, 2-3 p.m.

"Artist, poet, activist" - a historical perspective presented by Unity's daughter, Deb Ryan

"In this world of perpetual struggle and turmoil, I find that beauty is all there is. In bringing this beauty to others – in giving what one loves, one gains immortality." Unity Bainbridge

Bainbridge, born in 1916, in Victoria B.C. is an exemplary, talented artist who has devoted her life to painting the people, and places of British Columbia. She was inspired by her Vancouver Art School (Emily Carr University) mentors Charles Scott and Grace Melvin. Unity also credits her times with Fred Varley, along with two other Group of Seven artists who affirmed her resolve to be true to her individualistic philosophy of creating and promoting her work. Unity has, from her early years, shared Emily Carr’s love of nature and the First Nations people, and wishes their paths had crossed. She saw the mystical magic of the world and always sought to reflect that mysticism in her work.

“We were taught at Art School to always draw from life and strive to do as well as Leonardo. Art is life and life is Art. We would have been expelled if we were found copying. I, along with my class mates, Ed Hughes and others, were taught that you don’t paint to sell: you paint because you are passionate about something and to embrace that passion so others can also experience it.”

Unity’s art has been exhibited in galleries, large and small, from the early thirties to the present day. She had her first large one woman show at Park Royal in the early fifties.

 “I chose to keep much of my work because it is very personal. It represents experiences that can never be duplicated. Picasso understood that view when he spent his later years trying to reacquire his own work. It is the hype that often destroys an artist, even though some artists thrive on it. That’s the thing with us: we artists tend to rub against each other like sand paper”.

Her work is in the permanent collection of Buckingham Palace, Canada House, Imperial War Museum, the Diefenbaker Museum, Vancouver Art Gallery and numerous smaller galleries and homes around the world.