Joe Coffey -Gods and Monsters
November 2 – 22, 2008
At Winchester Galleries on Oak Bay Avenue
Preview: Saturday, November 1, 2008
10:00 am – 5:30 pm
(work subject to prior sale)
Opening Reception
Sunday, November 2, 2008 1 - 5:00 pm
Artist in attendance
Elizabeth Ely, harpist; Karel Roessingh, piano
"He implores people to look at their own bodies, not to be separate from the animal within, and, concurrent with that idea, not to stand apart from the natural world."
author Neeli Cherkovski on American poet Michael McClure
“We tolerate shapes in human beings that would horrify us if we saw them in a horse."
William Ralph Inge
Joe Coffey was born in Caledon East, Ontario; his early years were spent on the family farm. Joe presently resides in Victoria, B.C. where he devotes his time to his art.
Joe is a self taught artist; he has been called prodigious for his drafting technique.
His domestic animal's and figurative works evoke strong emotional responses through their atmospheric qualities and visual strength. The subjects of the works are silent witnesses to the world and of our own consciousness.
"Divine Goddess, maternal figure, star of one's nightmare... but then again, it's just a cow..."
Joe Coffey