Kim Moodie is not one to knock on doors to shop his artwork around.
Stray, a 2008 work by Visual Arts professor Kim Moodie, has been purchased by the National Gallery of Canada.
But when the National Gallery of Canada (NGC) came knocking, it was a door he had no problem opening.
The Visual Arts professor’s inclusion in the nation’s premier showcase of art marks a highlight of his career.
“I feel it’s one of my better works,” says Moodie. “To be recognized in this context is a career milestone, if you want to put it that way. I do have works in other galleries, but to be included in the National Gallery of Canada is pretty much top of the top.”
It was a chance viewing for Moodie that sparked the interest of one of the gallery’s curators. Seeing some of his work at a show in Halifax, the NGC asked to have a tour of his London studio.
He was asked that when he finished a piece he was then working on, to send along a representation with some other works.
Then came the wait.
“I didn’t hear anything so I thought it wasn’t going to happen,” says Moodie, who has been teaching at Western for almost 30 years. “But then later on I received a call that they were interested in my work and I was asked to send along a price list.”
Time to wait, yet again.
“I didn’t hear anything back again and I thought perhaps the money was too high, but I received another email that they like the work and I was to send it up.”
From start to finish, the process took about eight or nine months, but the approximately 36″ by 73″ work entitled ‘Stray’ – created using India ink on plasticized Japanese rice paper – is ready for hanging in the Ottawa gallery.
“I work on my work on a pretty regular basis. I try and work in my studio on a regular basis. No one makes me go, it’s my drive and desire,” he says.
“I believe artists really never have a choice, they’re artists by nature. It’s my nature and I’ve never had a choice. From the time I was five or six, art was always a part of my life.”
The NCG says Moodie’s work will eventually be present in the contemporary art galleries, but doesn’t have a fixed date as of yet. They are also thinking of it for an exhibition of drawings further down the road.