Joseph Kyle: The Soul of an Artist

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"Joseph Kyle: The Soul of an Artist"

Courtesy of the Gallery.

Artist Joseph Kyle, at the height of his career between the late 1970s to his passing in 2005, painted hundreds of large geometric abstract paintings. Kyle’s rich comprehension and passionate involvement in music, his deep love and devotion to the teachings of Sri Aurobindo and the Integral Yoga, all became driving forces of his art making. Joseph Kyle’s paintings are graced with the complexities of subtlety and fragility, fully resolved with a particular accuracy, confidence, precision, and discipline. “Synoptics” is Joseph Kyle’s contribution to abstract art, like the word “symphony”, a coming together of sound and form, Synoptics is a harmony of visual elements, such as colour and composition, which transcends the immediate visual confusion and excitement of Op-Art. The power of Kyle’s use of colour and composition within his paintings allows for a sense of completeness and entirety to the painting’s presence. The viewing experience is one that commands a commitment. 

Joseph Kyle was born in Belfast, Ireland in 1923. In 1930, he moved to Saskatchewan before joining the navy and relocated to Vancouver a decade later. In the late 1960s, Kyle pioneered the Intermedia Society in collaboration with Jack Shadbolt and Victor Doray, and later founded the Victoria College of Art when he moved to Victoria in 1973, where he served as principal for 25 years while maintaining his art practice. Although public exhibitions of his artworks are rare, his paintings are included in various important private, corporate, and public collections. The Canadian Cultural Review Board established Joseph Kyle’s work as having “outstanding significance and national importance.” Exhibition The Soul of an Artist at Paul Kyle Gallery is Joseph Kyle’s first major exhibition in 20 years, and the opening coincides with what would have been his 100th birthday.