Connotations of Identities in William Kurelek’s Paintings: Typology and Critical Art Analysis

Abstract

Despite the high popularity of William Kurelek in Canadian society, relatively few interpretations of his works can be found at the scientific, art criticism level. Based on the analysis of William Kurelek’s artistic legacy a typological study was conducted identifying the Canadian artist’s thinking and personal position declared openly in his art. A study of the thematic content of his paintings led to the identification of the following categories: personal, religious and awareness of community membership. The article outlines the difference between the notion of national and ethnic identity, which the artist saw in the difference between national and ethnic identity an instrument to self-awareness through membership in a particular community as a result of common spiritual, religious and social convictions with shared modes of behavior, mores and traditions. As a result of the study, we derived a certain formula of identity in the works of William Kurelek, which the author understood as a set of ethnic, national, gender-based, and religious characteristics inherent in a person, demonstrating its identity as the appropriate group affiliation. We also conducted a typology of identities in his art: personal, religious, awareness of community membership, national and ethnic. We analyzed the issues of commonality and differences between national and ethnic identity, designating them as “ethnic calmness” and “ethnic stress”.