Self Portrait, 1975/reworked 1994.

Curated by Jenelle M. Pasiechnik (UVic MA, 2015), recipient of the 2015 Margaret Russell Graduate Internship in Curatorial Studies.

Legacy Maltwood (at the Mearns Centre – McPherson Library) July 30 to October 23, 2016.

Glenn Howarth was a pillar in Victoria’s arts scene from the late 1970s until his death in 2009. He was an innovative creator and inspired teacher searching for ways to communicate the artistic process and the perceptual functions of the eye and brain that contribute to visual perception. He was also responsible for innovations in computer graphic art in the early 1980s, working on the Telidon system as an artist in residence in the Computer Science Department at the University of Victoria campus with Dr. Ernest Chang. In 1983 he represented Canada in the Sao Paulo Biennale with some of this work and also presented it locally at  the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria and UVic’s Maltwood Art Museum and Gallery.

The Averted Eye Sees draws on UVic’s significant collection of Howarth paintings from the Michael C. Williams estate, as well as Howarth’s writing, sketches, ephemera, and digital archive, part of the regional artists archive initiative of UVic Libraries Special Collections and Archives. It also includes a fascinating case study on the challenges of ‘retro-computing’ in recreating Howarth’s early experiments in digital artwork.

Learn more about Legacy Art Galleries and UVic Special Collections.