"The art of Tim Whiten, ancestor-oriented, betrays more than a trace of African-influenced American tradition...Back-home ritual, combined with the aesthetics of Japan, plus mark-making, and the control of technology, identify an artist who is both universalizing and loyal to his culture. Visual ancestry triumphs over all." - Robert Farris Thompson

Meridian Gallery and the Society for Art Publications of the Americas (SAPA) are pleased to announce the publication (forthcoming in Sept. 2010) of the fine art monograph Darker, Ever Darker; Deeper, Always Deeper: The Journey of Tim Whiten. The monograph will accompany a career-retrospective exhibition of the artist's work at Meridian Gallery from 23 September to 26 November 2010.

Tim Whiten-an eminent Canadian-American artist whose work has been little known in the United States up to this point-has produced a prolific body of sculpture, drawing, and installation over the past 40 years. This groundbreaking publication will present a comprehensive view of the artist's practice and life, and will feature the work of such eminent scholars and historians of art as: Robert Farris Thompson, Dale McConathy, Claire Daigle, Mia Kirsi Stageberg, Jarrett Earnest, and Anne Trueblood Brodzky (founder and director of Meridian Gallery and SAPA).

Robert Farris Thompson, acclaimed scholar of African art, has written a comprehensive essay titled "The Art of Tim Whiten," that considers the relationship of Whiten's work to African and African-American spiritual practices. Dale McConathy's essay "Tim Whiten: Darker, Ever Darker; Deeper, Always Deeper" (originally published in artscanada), discusses Whiten's extensive body of drawings and the relationship of his drawing process to the practice of alchemy. Art historian Claire Daigle considers Whiten's mark-making and the formal relationship of his drawings to systems of language in her essay "Notation, Incantation, Incandescence: Tim Whiten's Works on Paper." Jarrett Earnest deconstructs Whiten's performance piece Metamorphosis, and discusses the performative nature of Whiten's sculpture and drawing. And Mia Kirsi Stageberg presents a comprehensive portrait of the artist's life and work through her preparation of an Illustrated Chronology.

The monograph is a lushly illustrated publication that chronicles the work of Tim Whiten over the span of his prolific career. In addition to publishing a trade copy of the monograph Darker, Ever Darker; Deeper, Always Deeper: The Journey of Tim Whiten, Meridian Gallery and SAPA will also publish a limited-edition, fine binding signed by the artist.

Please contact the gallery for more information, or to preorder.

Call (415) 398-7229 or email info (at) meridiangallery (dot) org