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Name (English only)

John Dobereiner

Brief_Bio

b. 1920 - d. 1985

Artist Detail - v3

John Dobereiner was originally hired as an assistant professor in 1964 in the Department of Art Education at the University of Victoria. He became acting chair of the Department of Studio Visual Arts in the Faculty of Fine Arts, which he helped establish along with Donald Harvey in 1966 and of which he remained a core member for the
next two decades.

Dobereiner studied drawing and painting at the Vancouver School of Art and the University of British Columbia before completing a Master of Arts degree at the University of Washington in 1966. He is best known for this sculptural paintings and shaped canvases. In the 1960s, he began distorting the canvas so that its three dimensional form contradicted the painted surface. His paintings are rhythmic or hard-edged geometric shapes and planes of colour, which sometimes trick the viewer’s depth perception into alternating between projection and recession of the same plane. The illusion creates a sense of false tangibility because of the tension between
the geometric painting and form of the support. He often used aircraft fabric to form parabolic curves rather than flat canvas planes.

In a 1978 artist statement for a solo exhibition at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Dobereiner discussed how “when an artist places constraints on himself and invents within a limited format, attending to what he knows that he starts to find things out and strikes the richest lodes.” Curator Greg Snider responded that constraints are central to Dobereiner’s work because his work operates “discretely, sensibly, and casually, which downplays the complexity.”

Doberiener’s work can be found in the collections of the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, University of Victoria, Memorial University of St John’s, Newfoundland, and the Canada Council Art Bank. A scholarship in his name was established at the University of Victoria after his untimely death in 1985.

Artworks

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ImageTitleDate MadePlace MadeCollectionsMaterialsMeasurementsEditionCredit Line
3 Up 3 Down3 Up 3 Downn.d.CanadaWorks on ClothAcrylicoverall: 41.50 cm x 83.00 cm x 31.00 cm-On Loan from the Estate of John Dobereiner
Untitled (Geometric Clippings)Untitled (Geometric Clippings)1970British Columbia, CanadaWorks on PaperNewspaperoverall: 41.00 cm x 51.00 cm x 0.00 cmFrom op art seriesGift of the Estate of John Dobereiner
#8#81976CanadaWorks on ClothAcrylicoverall: 122.50 cm x 205.00 cm x 25.00 cm-On Loan from the Estate of John Dobereiner
TurnaboutTurnabout1966-Works on PaperCollographoverall: 46.00 cm x 41.50 cm-Gift of Eric Metcalfe
Space Warp 7Space Warp 71971British Columbia, CanadaWorks on PaperInkoverall: 43.00 cm x 58.50 cm x 2.75 cmFrom a series of silver screen printsOn Loan from the Estate of John Dobereiner
No. 12No. 121976CanadaWorks on ClothAcrylicoverall: 205.00 cm x 122.50 cm x 25.00 cm-On Loan from the Estate of John Dobereiner
Dark OccurrenceDark Occurrencen.d.CanadaWorks on ClothLuciteoverall: 142.90 cm x 128.30 cm x 4.00 cm-On Loan from the Estate of John Dobereiner
Space Warp 4Space Warp 41971British Columbia, CanadaWorks on PaperInkoverall: 43.50 cm x 58.00 cm x 2.50 cmDesign is one of four from a silver screen print series entitled "Space Warp." Print is 1/5.On Loan from the Estate of John Dobereiner
Untitled (geometric newspaper clippings)Untitled (geometric newspaper clippings)1970British Columbia, CanadaWorks on PaperNewsprint collageoverall: 41.00 cm x 51.00 cm x 0.00 cm-Gift of the Estate of John Dobereiner
Untitled (figure)Untitled (figure)1960SBritish Columbia, CanadaUnassignedOiloverall: 1.58 cm x 1.40 cm x 0.00 cm-Gift of the Estate of John Dobereiner
Badlands Across The 49th ParallelBadlands Across The 49th Parallel1966CanadaWorks on PaperCollographoverall: 37.60 cm x 41.40 cm x 0.00 cm1/5Purchased with assistance of the University of Victoria Art Acquisition Fund
#4#4n.d.CanadaWorks on ClothAcrylicoverall: 158.50 cm x 139.00 cm x 4.00 cm#4/?On Loan from the Estate of John Dobereiner
Flip TopFlip Top1967British Columbia, CanadaWorks on ClothAcrylicoverall: 150.00 cm x 150.00 cm x 14.00 cm-Purchased with assistance of the University of Victoria Art Acquisition Fund
ParaboxParaboxn.d.CanadaWorks on ClothAcrylicoverall: 41.50 cm x 83.00 cm x 31.00 cm-On Loan from the Estate of John Dobereiner
Model for #17Model for #171970sBritish Columbia, CanadaWoodworkWood; acrylicoverall: 55.50 cm x 36.00 cm x 2.80 cm-Gift of the Estate of John Dobereiner
Space Warp 6Space Warp 61971British Columbia, CanadaWorks on PaperInkoverall: 44.00 cm x 58.00 cm x 3.00 cmFrom a series of silver screen printsGift of the Estate of John Dobereiner
#3#3-CanadaWorks on ClothAcrylicoverall: 155.00 cm x 130.00 cm x 4.00 cm-On Loan from the Estate of John Dobereiner
Chevron BoxChevron Box1970SBritish Columbia, CanadaWorks on BoardAcrylicoverall: 126.00 cm x 143.00 cm x 0.00 cm-On Loan from the Estate of John Dobereiner
Inland Water, S/proofInland Water, S/proof1966-Works on PaperCollographoverall: 34.00 cm x 44.00 cmS/PGift of Ritha Mason
Untitled (Space Warp series?)Untitled (Space Warp series?)1971British Columbia, CanadaWorks on BoardInkoverall: 43.00 cm x 58.00 cm x 0.00 cmFrom a series of silver screen printsGift of the Estate of John Dobereiner
#1#1n.d.CanadaWorks on ClothAcrylicoverall: 157.50 cm x 139.00 cm x 3.50 cm#1/?On Loan from the Estate of John Dobereiner
Fresh SlantFresh Slantn.d.CanadaWorks on ClothAcrylicoverall: 24.50 cm x 92.00 cm x 71.00 cm-On Loan from the Estate of John Dobereiner
#12?#12?1966British Columbia, CanadaWorks on BoardAcrylicoverall: 129.00 cm x 92.00 cm-On Loan from the Estate of John Dobereiner
#11#111970SBritish Columbia, CanadaWorks on ClothAcrylicoverall: 115.00 cm x 115.00 cm x 0.00 cm-On Loan from the Estate of John Dobereiner
Space Warp 5Space Warp 51971British Columbia, CanadaWorks on PaperSilver Screen Printoverall: 44.00 cm x 60.00 cm x 0.00 cmFrom a series of silver screen printsGift of the Estate of John Dobereiner
Badlands Across the 49th ParallelBadlands Across the 49th Parallel1966-Works on PaperCollographoverall: 44.00 cm x 50.00 cm-Gift of the Estate of Robin and Sylvia Skelton
Red on ThreeRed on Three1973British Columbia, CanadaWorks on PaperSerigraphoverall: 59.00 cm x 74.50 cm x 0.00 cmStudio proof; From a series of silkscreen printsOn Loan from the Estate of John Dobereiner
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