On the night of Nov. 28, a battle occurred in the historic Arts Court building downtown. This battle was unique, as the participants attacked canvasses propped on easels with brushes and acrylic paint.
The event is fittingly called an art battle. It is an artistic competition that takes place monthly, across select cities in Canada, with break months occasionally. Art battle enthusiasts can even request an event in new cities through the website. Competitors enter in an online application that is accessible for new artists in its basic level of prerequisites.
Each round lasts 20 minutes, during which the audience circles the artists in action, known as the “slow tornado.” When the time is up, ballot boxes are placed at the easels and audience members vote for their favourite piece. The first two rounds consist of five competitors, and the two artists with the leading votes from the first and second round, are chosen to compete in the final third round.
Corina Amarioarei, a first-time competitor, said she found out about the event through Facebook.
When choosing participants, organizer Peter Purdy takes pride in the accessibility of art battles and the variation of experience and style this open method of evaluation brings in.
“We choose beautiful variants of technique and subject matter,” Purdy said.
The battles are open to the public with a ticket purchase, with discounted tickets available for students. On the ticket provided, there are three tear-off paper ballots, for voting once in each of the three rounds in the overall competition.
In the first round of the night, Stephen Shugar and Travis Doubt secured their places in the final round with strikingly different pieces. Shugar produced an intricate mountain landscape, while Doubt’s piece was a more abstract swarm of birds. The most obviously abstract artist in the first round was a newcomer,
Gabriel Seguin, who set off a ripple of whispers in the crowd when she flipped her canvas upside down in one of the final minutes.
“It’s very much about space and colour, and shapes and depth,” Seguin said on her artistic style.
At the end of each round, after the votes had been counted and the winners determined, the paintings were moved to a side table where a silent auction ensued.
“We pay the artists 50 per cent, and the remaining 50 per cent goes towards national finals, supplies, and flying artists out [for the finals],” Purdy said on the auction proceeds.
In the second round, Andrew Dobson and Anchalie Miles made the cut. Dobson’s piece was an abstract made with painter’s tape and primary colours. Miles’ painting had the audience in awe: A haunting dark, round face with a waterfall-like background of dripping colours.
Miles’ talent was confirmed in the third and final round, with a piece that beat out her competitors by being both similar to her awe-inducing first piece, while also unique in itself. She was deemed the winner and will move on to the regional level of competition.
