Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 6-25-2015 12:00 AM Abstraction And Libidinal Nationalism In The Works Of John Boyle And Diana Thorneycroft Matthew Purvis The University of Western Ontario Supervisor Dr. Cody Barteet The University of Western Ontario Joint Supervisor Dr. Christine Sprengler The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in Visual Arts A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree in Master of Arts © Matthew Purvis 2015 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the Contemporary Art Commons Recommended Citation Purvis, Matthew, "Abstraction And Libidinal Nationalism In The Works Of John Boyle And Diana Thorneycroft" (2015). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 2931. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/2931 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ABSTRACTION AND LIBIDINAL NATIONALISM IN THE WORKS OF JOHN BOYLE AND DIANA THORNEYCROFT (Monograph) by Matthew Purvis Graduate Program in Visual Arts A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies The University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, Canada © Matthew Purvis 2015 Abstract This thesis examines the work of Canadian artists John Boyle and Diana Thorneycroft. It analyzes their imagery in aesthetic, political, and strictly materialist terms using the theoretical work of Wilhelm Worringer, Wyndham Lewis and Gilles Deleuze. Both artists have appropriated elements of Canadian history (historical figures, cultural archetypes and aspects of material culture) to create art works that are alienating and abstract. With Boyle, this has involved constructing a wall of noise to operate as a territorial marker, one that both parodies and reinforces the traditions of the nation. His art has been one devoted to nonsense, nihilism and a deliberate short-circuiting of communication. This is invested in advocacy for a Canadian nationalism that is both mournful and absurd. For Thorneycroft, it has meant a shift away from the production of absurd tableau dealing with Canadian nationalism, to an attempt to encounter the crimes of the country's history with empathy. However, her formal means have consistently short-circuited her attempt to create a morally therapeutic art. Keywords John Boyle, Diana Thorneycroft, Canadian art, history in art, Wyndham Lewis, George Grant, nationalism, abstraction, Gilles Deleuze, sexuality, London Regionalism, dolls, dioramas, photography, painting, Group of Seven, Jonathan Bordo, Wilhelm Worringer, Dennis Burton. ii Acknowledgments I would like to acknowledge my supervisors, Dr. Cody Barteet and Dr. Christine Sprengler, for their assistance in reviewing my text at various stages of its creation. I would also like to thank James Patten of the McIntosh Gallery for providing me with access to archival documents and introducing me to local collectors in London. Without his assistance, this might have been a rather different work. Thanks also to the McKays, who generously allowed me to view and study Boyle's Elsinore in their home. This work became central to my thesis. Additionally, I extend my thanks to Amy Furness of the Art Gallery of Ontario archives for her help in providing me with a wealth of primary sources that were fundamental to my research. iii Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. iii Table of Contents .............................................................................................................. iiv List of Figures ................................................................................................................... .vi Introduction ..................................................................................................................... .viii 0.1 Introduction ............................................................................................. .........ix 0.2 Abstraction, satire, art ........................................................................... .........xiii 0.3 Outline................................................................................................... .........xxi Chapter 1 .................................................................................................................... ….....1 1.1 Extinction of the sign ............................................................................... .........1 1.2 The pictorial paradox .............................................................................. ........11 1.3 Husk and objectivation .......................................................................... .........13 1.4 Love in the fourth dimension ................................................................. .........17 Chapter 2 .................................................................................................................. ….....29 2.1 Beavers ................................................................................................... .........29 2.2 Satire and tradition ................................................................................. .........35 2.3 Americanadians...................................................................................... .........44 2.4 Neo-imperialism and the decline of nationalism ................................... .........47 2.5 ParaCanada ............................................................................................ .........54 2.6 Orphans .................................................................................................. .........62 Chapter 3 .................................................................................................................. ….....68 3.1 Loving Canada ....................................................................................... .........68 3.2 Naked History ........................................................................................ .........76 3.3 Decoys I – Nature-morte ........................................................................ .........83 iv 3.4 Decoys II – Trauma/arousal ................................................................... .........93 3.5 The automation of empathy and vicarious victimhood ........................ .........103 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. ….....118 Bibliography .......................................................................................................... ….....122 Curriculum Vitae ................................................................................................... ….....136 v List of Figures 1. Tom Thomson, The Jack Pine (1916-17) 2. Edwin Holgate, Nude in The Open (1930) 3. Prudence Heward, Girl Under a Tree (1931) 4. John Boyle, Yankee Go Home - The Rape of St. Catharine (1973) 5. John Boyle, Yankee Go Home – Elsinore (1974) 6. John Boyle, Yankee Go Home - Reclining Beaver (1974) 7. Dennis Burton, Niagara Rainbow Honeymoon No. 1 – The Bedroom (1967) 8. Dennis Burton, Niagara Rainbow Honeymoon No. 4 (1968) 9. Diana Thorneycroft, Group of Seven Awkward Moments (Beavers and Woo at Tanoo) (2008) 10. Thomas Davies, A View of Montreal in Canada, Taken from Isle St. Helena in 1762 (1762) 11. Diana Thorneycroft, Group of Seven Awkward Moments – Algonquin Park (2007) 12. John Boyle, Toward Paisley (1976) 13. Diana Thorneycroft, A People's History - Prostitute (2008) 14. Diana Thorneycroft, A People's History - Burning Braids (2008) 15. Goodridge Roberts, Adolescent (1924) 16. George Reid, The Story (1890) 17. John Boyle, Arthur at the Lacrosse Game (1965) 18. John Boyle, Chromatic Aberrations (1988) 19. Diana Thorneycroft, Untitled (witness) (1998) 20. John Boyle, Canadology: The Perpetual Motion Machine (1992-93) vi 21. John Boyle, Killing Time in St. Catharines (1967) 22. John Boyle, Untitled (penis#13) (1975) 23. John Boyle, The Peregrinations of A Young Artist In Canada (undated) 24. John Boyle, The Port Dalhousie Stories (1987) 25. John Boyle, The Canadology – Pink Puffin (1990) 26. The Heart of London exhibition catalogue (1968) 27. John Boyle, Ark of the Continent (1990) 28. John Boyle, Ark of the Continent - Decoy (1993) 29. John Boyle, Batoche – Gabriel. (1974-75) 30. Diana Thorneycroft, Group of Seven Awkward Moments - Northern River (2008) 31. Diana Thorneycroft, A People's History - Father Sylvestre (2009) 31. Diana Thorneycroft, Doll Mouth - (choir girl) (2004) 32. Diana Thorneycroft, A People's History - Night, Pine Island (2008) 33. Diana Thorneycroft, A People's History - View from Mount Cashel, St. John's Harbour (2008) 34. Diana Thorneycroft, A People's History - Indian Home (2011) 35. Diana Thorneycroft, A People's History - Quintland (2010) Due to copyright restrictions, these images may not appear in the bound edition of the thesis. vii Introduction 0.1. Introduction My thesis examines London born painter John Boyle and Winnipeg based photographer Diana Thorneycroft. Boyle enjoyed notoriety in the late