Canadian 1940-

Eric Metcalfe and Kate Craig in Victoria 1969 Image courtesy of the University of Victoria Special Collections

Victoria-born Eric Metcalfe was a student at the University of Victoria in the mid-1960s. His emerging artistic practice explored comic book-style drawing and Fluxus conceptual art. Metcalfe developed an alter ego, “Dr. Brute” and engaged in collaborative performances, installations, and correspondence art with partner Kate Craig (a.k.a. Lady Brute), Michael Morris and others. Metcalfe’s work typically portrayed hypersexualized views of women and often incorporated leopard spot print and other symbols to explore sexuality. Although Metcalfe is best known as a celebrated Vancouver performance artist and co-founder of the Western Front, his early work is a product of the creative environment he was exposed to while growing up in Victoria. His earliest mentors were William “Bill” West, Jan Zach and Maxwell Bates who all encouraged him to exhibit locally at Pandora’s Box Gallery, The Print Gallery and Art Gallery of Greater Victoria.

Ice Cream Lady 1969
Serigraph on paper
51.75 x 43
Gift of C.A. Bates and Pat Martin Bates