To celebrate the 10th year of their artist collective, Oliver’s Ripoff Artists have stolen the concept of The Scream by Edvard Munch. At their Quail’s Nest headquarters, Ripoff Artists pictured in the back row are JoAnn Turner, Marion Trimble, Enid Baker and Kurt Hutterli. Seated is Russell Work and Terry Irvine. (Dan Walton photo)
To mark a decade of tastefully sabotaging creative masterpieces, the multi-talented Ripoff Artists spent this year’s gathering figuring out how they wanted to echo The Scream by Edvard Munch.
The artist collective assembles once every year in Oliver where they all study a dead artist, analyze one particular piece of his or her work, and then imitate it through their own unique medium. After nurturing their project for 10 years, the group decided to go beyond showcasing this year’s work and share an overview of the entire process.
Ripoff painter JoAnn Turner, who uses atypical surfaces like skulls and furniture for canvases, said she relates on a deep level to the great artists she studies with the collective.
“Here’s his art. He has survived. Here he is influencing us even though he died in 1944,” Turner said. “It’s almost like we know him. I almost wish I could go to his house and say, ‘Edvard, come on honey, just find a nice girl and settle down, you’re a great guy.’”
Even though The Scream can seem like a simple cartoon drawing at first glance, Munch’s portrayal of a man whose mind is nearly collapsing into his hands while standing under a bloody overcast – all while nearby pedestrians go about their day – makes it easy for viewers to endure the overwhelming pressures of life that can cause a man to break down.
“We’ve all been there, we’ve all had that moment of – having to deal with overdue bills, elderly parents or a breakup – we’ve all had that moment of complete and total anguish,” Turner said.
In the week they spent wrapping their heads around the thought processes that created art so mesmerizing, each Ripoff artist follows their own curiosity to discover a unique analysis of the idol artist.
“I’m going to pick up on something different than the other artists are since we come at it with our different artistic backgrounds,” Turner said. “I studied the historical background, where other members care more about something like the technique. We leave it up to the individual to see in it what they think is important.”
In exploring the components she found most intriguing, Turner decided The Scream’s colour scheme was worthy of extra scrutiny.
“It wasn’t just that he had a psychotic episode and painted this picture, he had theories about what he was doing and theories about colour, how to express emotion in colour. You can systematize that – look at your own emotions and figure out, what am I trying to express? What colours would be best for that? Do these colours go together in terms of tastefulness? Munch was looking at these colours in a totally different way.”
Turner’s weaving counterpart, Ripoff Artist Terry Irvine, said the project serves as an invaluable learning experience.
“It’s challenging for us as individuals and as a group, but we feed off one another and each of the different processes.”
Irvine was the first Ripoff Artist to envision the idea while brainstorming in 2007 after seeing the concept of a painting turned into a mosaic by another local artist, Marion Trimble.
“When it first started, when Terry came to me, she was fascinated that I would take a painting and do it in paper,” Trimble said.
“And then she thought about herself doing it in fibre. ‘Oh, so here’s a famous painting, I can do that in my medium, you can do it in your medium,’ and that’s where the idea grew from.”
From there, five other local artists, each with a different medium, were asked to join the team. There has only been a small level of turnover, and each year a guest artist is invited to be part of the collective for one project.
And the Ripoff Artists are hoping that one day, the concept of their collective will itself be ripped off.
“We would like to see other artist communities try this,” Trimble said.
“There are a thousand other mediums to be done. It would be fascinating to see it bigger if we had more space.”
But while the future will likely allow for more room to grow, the Ripoffs put together their largest exhibit to date for 2016.
The Oliver Community Arts Council lent out the entire Quail’s Nest Arts Centre earlier in July, giving the collective enough space to showcase pieces from each of the 10 years they’ve been active.
To keep up with their efforts, and find out where their work can be seen next, check out their website by visiting www.ripoffartists.ca.
DAN WALTON
Oliver Chronicle
