Reviews

“His paintings may not have the “sparkle” that one tends to expect from the watercolour medium, but the present, in its stead, a warm saturation of color, laid against a casual drawing in dusty charcoal…There’s no other painter like him. He’s one of my favorites.”

— Terry Fenton, Canadian artist, author, critic, and curator

“Epp is such a skillful painter that what would be arbitrary and careless in someone else’s hands, becomes in his evidence of a finely controlled painterliness…Epp understands the shaping features of representation and abstraction, and can occupy both terrains at the same time.”

— Robert Enright, June 2001 - Critique of 49th Parallel exhibition in Winnipeg

Publications

Of Northern Extraction

Of Northern Extraction addresses a new body of work by Prince Rupert painter Edward Epp. The publication explores how the shipping boats and floatplanes that Epp has started to focus on reflect the lives of the people who live and work in his town. On another level, however, the work becomes a metaphor for life in small remote communities and the sense of isolation often experienced there. Available on Amazon.

Edward Epp: making sense of the 'green chaos' in Liberia

Kevin Griffin, Vancouver Sun

Publishing date: Nov 19, 2014 • November 19, 2014

When artist Edward Epp first stepped foot in Liberia in 1981, all he saw was “the green chaos” of the jungle around him.

He arrived in the wet season when monsoon-like rains during the day were accompanied by average temperatures of 27 degrees. Later, in winter, he experienced the dry, dusty harmattan wind that came down from the Sahara Desert to the north.

Several months after arriving, he landed a job teaching art at Cuttington University, an Episcopal college in the country’s interior. Both he and his wife Leanne Boschman continued working as teachers in the West African country for several years before returning to Canada in the late 1980s.

Spirit of B.C.’s north coast comes to Cowichan Theatre

—John McKinley, June 27, 2012

Spiritual Geography. It’s the name of an art show wrapping up this weekend in the Cowichan Theatre lobby.

And it’s the theme running through the work of Shawnigan Lake artist Edward Epp.

Epp, a 40 -year painter, is a recent transplant to the valley from Prince Rupert. The vast grandeur of B.C.’s northwest coast is the subject of landscape paintings being featured at the Cowichan Theatre Lobby Gallery.

…Click on the image to see the full article.

Get artists’ Visions this weekend

—Lexi Bainas, June 27, 2012

A newcomer to the tour this year is Edward Epp.

He has painted for more than 30 years, spending the last dec­ade capturing the spirit of B.C.'s Northwest in lyrical landscapes and scenes that show the diversity of thls very special region.

Epp has taught in universities and colleges in western Canada and in Africa for 20 years. Claim­ing inspiration from his environs and the unifying vision of his Baha'i faith, the artist continues to paint and show hls work.

…Click on the image to see the full article.

Of Northern Extraction 1s a two-part exhibition that
explores recent work by Edward Epp.

One component, consisting entirely of watercolour paintings on paper. was designed as a travelling exhibition that would tour British Columbia co McBride. Mackenzie and Valemount as part of the Two Rivers Gallery Regional Outreach Program. The other component, incorporating larger acrylic

paintings on canvas. was designed for exh1b1tion at the

Two Rivers Gallery.

Epp is a prolific painter. He often produces a number of paintings in a sitting, switching between mediums. Consequently. not only are there visual cross references between watercolour and acrylic paintings made on the same day. but also very similar compositions. This has made it feasible to curate two thrusts for this exhibition that. although painted 1n different media, reveal a very similar story.

The curatorial essay within this catalogue focuses on representative examples of Epp's work without consciously showing bias for one medium over the other. The fourteen watercolour paintings and sixteen acrylic paintings mirror each other in many ways. They speak of the passion of an important artist from British Columbia's Northwest and his commitment to his practice. As a document, this work reflects the imprint of Prince Rupert, life in a remote community. and the most recent experience in a lifelong artistic journey.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to Edward Epp, Ken Turner, Aidan Norton. Anne and Sophie Harris, my friends and colleagues at the Two Rivers Gallery, Elizabeth Gibbs, George Sipos and the sponsors of this exhibition for their assistance and support.

— George Harris, Curator. Two Rivers Gallery
Two Rivers Gallery Exhibition Catalogue

ABOUT THE COVER: Responding to Ebola through Visual Poetry

In 1981, when Canadian artist Edward Epp and his wife Leanne Boschman moved to Liberia to work as teachers, they initially lived in an apartment on Randal Street in downtown Monrovia. From there, Epp noted, “the sights and sounds from the community were unlike anything that I had experienced before in North American or European cities: the architecture, the flora, the street noises and outdoor activities, such as football games in a field visible beyond the cement block businesses and private apartments, were all new to us.”1

Epp is best known for his light-filled landscapes, and his works have been shown in exhibitions across Canada and in the United States and Botswana. Before traveling to Liberia, he experimented with watercolors to paint scenes from the dense forests of British Columbia, “making abstract patterns and rhythms, very much like jazz-improvisation, suspending judgment, and being open to new environments.” 1 An advocate of painting en plein air, which stresses attention to color, light, and movement, Epp states in the introduction to his Marion Scott Gallery exhibit that “In Liberia, I was experiencing a new world of light and colour, and the only way for me to make these experiences meaningful was to begin painting what I was seeing and perceiving.” See the full article…

— Article about the cover for February 2016 EID CDC Journal

more PUBLICATIONS. (a selection)

  • “Edward Epp,painter – Liberia’s beauty and power feed Epp’s paintings”, Globe and Mail, Friday, Nov 22, 2014

  • *Avoid the Scholock-ther’s great art in Gastown”” Lloyd Dykk, Vancouver Sun, January 12, 2008.

  • Catalogue: “15th Annual Exhibition, Edmonton Contemporary Artists’ Society”, Edmonton, Alberta, Sept. 2007.

  • “B.C. artist’s watercolours capture a vanishing China”, Lloyd Dykk, Vancouver Sun, May 04, 2007.

  • *Haida Glee – Transitions in Northwest Coast Art” Robin Lawrence, Border Crossings, Issue No. 100, 2006.

  • “Dual Vision –Haida Gwaii from within and without”, Lloyd Dykk, Vancouver Sun, July 8, 2006.

  • Cover: Rhubarb literary publication, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Sept. 2005

  • “Kincolith”, poem, published in “Creekstones”, Anthology, Smithers, B.C. Sept 2000.

  • *Border Crossings, Summer 1996 (art journal): “A Canuck in the Chinese Wilderness of People,” Text and watercolours by Edward Epp

  • *Points North, literary journal, University of Northern B.C. — “Treescapes” (artist’s statement).1994

  • *The Second Generation — Fourteen Saskatchewan Painters, Norman Zepp/Michael Parke-Taylor, Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery, Regina, Sask. 1985

  • *Vie Desarts, Fall 1984 — “Edward Epp — Watercolours”, Liz Wylie

  • *Update, Edmonton Art Gallery — “Edward Epp — Watercolours”, Russell Bingham 1983