More on Joyce Wieland

Toronto artist Joyce Wieland (1930-1998) was a young adult after World War II during the 1950s. During the war, many women worked in factories or in other jobs to help the war efforts. When the war was over, they were expected to go back to keeping a spotless house and making a home for a husband and dad. (The ads during the fities included images of smiling women in tidy skirts behind a vacuum cleaner or serving Ovaltine to their husband in front of a fireplace with kids sitting quietly on a couch.)

Wieland was caught between the idea of a "happily-ever-after" marriage and her passion for her art. Her thoughts about how she wanted to live her life are written in her journals from the early to mid fifties. Here is a brief excerpt from November 1955."Why for God's sake cannot we girls be brought up to be humans instead of dependent wretches. We cannot find happiness this way. Its [sic] not like in the movies, we don't always grow up and get married and live happily. And this is the truth which kills me a little more each day and disables me - little by little."

The volume "Joyce Wieland: Writings and Drawings 1952-1971" includes many more selections from her journals, along with her sketches. This book will be published in March by Porcupine's Quill in Erin, Ontario.

Joyce Wieland: Writings and Drawings 1952-1971

Joyce Wieland (1930-1998), the Toronto artist who was a pioneer in breaking through barriers women faced in the art world in the sixties and seventies, is known for her work in a variety of media. She made an endless number of drawings and sketches with pencil, pen and ink, and also kept a journal when she was in her early twenties as she was developing her ideas about her life and her art. Her drawings and writings are housed in the Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections at York University in Toronto. This is where I found them when I was researching Wieland’s life for what became “Joyce Wieland: Artist on Fire” (James Lorimer & Co., 2001).

I have made a selection of Wieland’s writings and drawings, which will be published in one volume by Porcupine’s Quill in Erin, Ontario. Next week I will be checking the final proofs of “Joyce Wieland: Writings and Drawings 1952-1971,” which means the book will soon be available in bookstores. This collection tells us much about Wieland’s early aspirations and struggles, and the subjects important to her in her work. She loved to poke fun at politicians, the art establishment, and even artists themselves. Her sense of humour and great wit would cut through the most stodgy situations on any day of the week.

On 25 March 2010, the Ben McNally Bookstore in Toronto at 366 Bay Street (west side of Bay, south of Richmond) will host the launch of “Joyce Wieland: Writings and Drawings 1952-1971” from 5 to 7 p.m. My hope is that this book will help to keep Wieland in our consciousness, and remind the art world of what she has given to Canada and the world.

ON FINISHING A BOOK
Since 2001 I have carried Paraskeva Clark in my thoughts and in my heart and mind. Almost everything I read was through the lens of thinking about her. The art exhibitions I saw were through the prism of thoughts about this artist.

Then in the last few months I was focused on the production process of "Perfect Red: The Life of Paraskeva Clark" - working with my editor; checking the copy edit; proof reading the whole book; checking the index; checking the end notes; checking the photos and reproductions of paintings; checking the final proofs of the entire book. Soon came the realization that the book had gone to the printer. Nor more changes. That’s it. Whatever I had written, that’s what would go out into the world. Too late to do any more work on this book, the love of my life for eight years.

When I saw a copy of "Perfect Red" for the first time, I was thrilled. It is beautiful. I rubbed my hands over it, I smelled it, I took off the jacket to look at the cover and the spine. I loved the red lettering on the black spine. I leafed through it, read the introduction (thought it was good), looked up names in the index, examined the photos, looked at the paintings, flipped through the book to read snatches. All those words I had tapped out on my computer were now a book. What a miracle! No, not a miracle; it was fun and it was work, a work of love.

Now what? The constant pile of notes to remind me to do this or that are gone. My desk is clear. The shelf of frequently used reference materials now holds books that I couldn’t fit on my shelves. I feel as though something big is missing, some pleasure I had all those years. I feel a sense of loss, but at the same time I feel a sense of pride and joy as I hold memories of people I met, people who have enriched my life; memories of days spent poring over documents about Paraskeva Clark’s life, her baptismal records, her hand-written lectures, her correspondence - and on and on - reading articles on Canadian art of her era, books on Russia, on the Spanish Civil War, and looking at her paintings.

What remains of those eight years is my reservoir of memories and, most important, the book. (People I meet, as well as friends, tell me they are reading my book and enjoying it. How rewarding!) Now suddenly Christmas has come. Next will be a New Year in which to discover what lies ahead.

On the 26th of November, my Perfect Red: The Life of Paraskeva Clark was launched at Libby’s of Toronto. I was completely astounded by the number of people who came and their excitement and interest in the book. What a gratifying experience! Perhaps the best way of conveying what the evening was like is through the photos taken by my husband, Loren Lind and my son, Gareth Lind.

Gavin Miller, who was at my launch and was Paraskeva's neighbour when he was a boy taped John Libby's introduction and my short speech.
You can listen to this part of the event at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTJhQNTFFFA