- ATD Fourth World

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

About 2000 years ago, Mary and Joseph were searching desperately for a place to give birth to their child. In Bethlehem, they were strangers, not known by anyone.

I believe that if Joseph and Mary were giving birth today in Toronto they would be welcomed in one of the neighbourhoods I have been painting during the past 5 years.

The courage of today’s ‘shepherds’ has inspired me on my road from place to place. Through listening to media, to the people and by trusting my intuition in spite of doubts, I have gathered observations which have led to the paintings shown here.

For me, a feeling of calm and freedom comes out of the experience of painting the people I meet and their surroundings. My desire to understand what is going on pushes me to paint more and more. I want to capture the essence of these neighbourhoods… the daily joys, the hopes of the parents for their children, the courage of the people in spite of their pain and struggles. My style of painting is also influenced by the elements: I have had to invent and build tools that allow me to paint at night, in rain or snow, in very high or very low temperatures.

It seemed apropos then to hold my first shows in the neighbourhoods where I had painted: I took my paintings and returned to the 20 neighbourhoods and hung the work on fences… it was a way to say thank you for having welcomed me into their neighbourhoods, in this country where I was newcomer, and for helping me discover that I needed to paint and what it could mean.

BIO

I want to be influenced by the courage, desperation and forgiveness of the most vulnerable human beings. I go wherever it’s needed to capture the potential of change in myself and the world. - that’s the way I paint.

I grew up in a village in Switzerland, apprenticed as an electrician and later, while continuing to work, studied to become an engineer. For 25 years I worked in the construction industry and later used these skills for the ATD Fourth World Movement in France and Switzerland. I was able to use my construction background to help artists in the movement realize their work. It was then that I began my own artistic journey and started to take painting and drawing classes. Moving to Canada with my wife and three daughters provided me with the opportunity to work by exploring and understanding neighbourhoods through the medium of painting. This spring I will finish a three year adult art program at Central Technical School in Toronto.

Urs Josef Kehl 416-778-9376 / Email contact