Spaghetti western is a broad film subgenre that emerged in the wake of American Old West movies that were made cheaply in Europe, typically by an Italian producer and director.
Many of these movies became international box office successes due to an inclusion of a fading Hollywood star or a rising one, like the young Clint Eastwood. These movies were originally released in Italian, featuring multilingual casts with less-than-perfect post-synched sound.
The filmmaking style also included juxtaposing extreme close-up shots with lengthy long shots.
So what does artist Elizabeth Harris have in common with a spaghetti western? Harris has created 18 oil paintings of scenes from the Roy Rogers movie, Bells of Coronado, a standard spaghetti western full of gunfights, betrayal, love and horse chases. Harris used still photos, taken while the movie was playing, as the basis for her impressionistic depictions that evoke the romance of cowboy movies of the 1950s 鈥� movies that embraced the philosophies and ethics of the community.
Harris鈥檚 unconfined artistic style is just like a wild horse: diverse, loose and free.聽Her upbringing on a cattle ranch north of Fort St. John spurred her interest in the exploration of environmentalism and existentialism.
Harris鈥檚 creative work comprises paintings, ceramics (both functional and sculptural) and multi-media installations.
鈥淥verall, my process in all disciplines involves dialogue. My work is a commentary on the environment. I use flamboyant colours, and my inspiration comes from being a Canadian cowgirl,鈥� Harris says.
Her education includes the Emily Carr University of Art and Design as well as work as an independent arts instructor, mentor and facilitator of studios and societies.
She has exhibited extensively at public and private galleries as an invitational and represented artist.
After renting a studio in downtown Squamish for a year 鈥� and having been a Sea to Sky artist for many years 鈥� Harris decided to make the move from Vancouver to Paradise Valley.
This recent return to the country has resurfaced her fondness for the western ideology.
The exhibition 鈥淎 Spaghetti Western鈥� reflects a classic sense of entertainment with humour and technicolour.
Harris will also be featuring, in the Foyer Gallery display cases, a series of ceramic jars imprinted with one of the 10 Roy Rogers Riders Club Rules (such as 鈥淏e brave, but never take chances鈥�), platters decorated with cowboy, ranch images and inscriptions, and other items. For more information contact her at [email protected].
Editor鈥檚 note: Toby Jaxon is the curator of the Foyer Gallery.
