"I see my art as being similar, in my own small way, akin to quantum physics and Einstein’s Theory of Relativity and our struggle to find meaning in the unknown".
ABOUT RICK
Born in Montreal, Quebec, in September, 1941, Rick McCarthy lives in Toronto. A graduate of the Ontario College of Art in 1963, Mr. McCarthy also pursued post-graduate studies in printmaking. In addition to his extensive resume as a fine artist, Mr. McCarthy is also a Hanshi (8th dan black belt) in Shotokan Karate.
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MEET THE ARTIST
Rick McCarthy
Rick McCarthy is one of Canada's maverick artists. For the decade or so that I have known him, his work has shown ideas and a method of expression which have little relation with the mainstream of Canadian art. Idiosyncratic, tortuous within his own original limits, his work has evolved steadily over the years. He speaks with his own voice, boldly and distinctly, and expresses an aspect of the Canadian psyche seldom noticed by others. Without being like Emily Carr, he has the same provocative individuality in his manner of painting that she displayed.
Although he separates himself in his formal approach from his contemporaries McCarthy works in Sympathy with an ancient tradition of painting which runs through El Greco, Goya and Van Gogh to Francis Bacon. His images are disturbing, turbulent and, violent, and the various devices he has used from time to time in breaking away from the contained picture surface are one aspect of his ability to add to tradition
in his own way. His works are entirely contemporary, and indeed his attention to the aesthetic properties of the process of painting are, in my view, well worth close and concentrated attention.
McCarthy's works are not easy, pleasant muzak. They are powerful reminders of deeply felt emotions that sometimes hurt, and always disturb. They have a genuine profundity which merits our involvement now and for years to come.
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David P. Silcox
1978