Art Rapture artist ready to get absurd in Vancouver with "The Throwback" this month
Vancouver-born and raised painter Andy Dixon discovered the joy of creating when he was young, though it took him a little while longer to figure out what to do with it.
“I was drawing for as far back as I can remember,” Dixon told Daily Hive. “I have vague recollections of being obsessed with Garfield and trying to draw my own comics to show my parents.
“In my 20s, I was more focused on music and design, viewing fine art as something I did just for fun. For some reason, I saw ‘work’ being defined as something one did with a computer and the internet.”
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It took an “existential crisis” as Dixon approached his 30s to show him that art could play a larger role in his life.
“I realized that my fun little art shows seemed to garner more success than the other things I was doing. I thought, ‘Imagine if I took all the energy I’m putting into these other things and directed it solely towards art.’ That was kind of the beginning for me.”
Dixon’s creative journey around the world is bringing him back home to Vancouver for Art Rapture’s The Throwback on Saturday, September 23.
Andy Dixon/Submitted
“I’m excited to reconnect with Vancouver more than anything,” said Dixon. “I was born and raised there, my closest friends and family are there, and I have been given such an immense amount of support from that neck of the woods through my journey from New York to Los Angeles, where I am currently. I’m so grateful and excited to see everyone.”
Dixon is a multi-faceted artist who learned important lessons by spending the majority of his teens and 20s in Vancouver’s underground music scene.
Andy Dixon/Submitted
“Creativity is creativity, and a lot of the skills I learned in music can be applied to fine art for sure,” he said. “The details are obviously completely different, but the fundamentals of self-expression are exactly the same.
“I’m an artist who focuses on art about art and creation about creation. The art world is so strange and paradoxical, and I want to highlight the absurdity, beauty, and comedy of it.”
The Throwback‘s participating artists will be inspired by the masterpieces that have impacted their own creative journey. The curated lineup also includes:
- Andy Dixon
- Ola Volo
- Mad Dog Jones
- William D. Higginson
- Michelle Hoogveld
- Jay Senetchko
- Bracken Hanuse Corlett
- Olga Rybalko
- Jason Dussault
- Rory Doyle
- Sean Jantzi
- Pablo Zamudio
- Benjamin Lumb
- Manon Biernacki
- Adrian O’Brien
- Anyuta Gusakova
Art Rapture/Submitted
“Conceptually, I like the trickster artists and the ones that use culture as their medium, like Andy Warhol and Richard Prince,” explained Dixon. “Aesthetically, all of the post-fauvist stuff resonates with me, like Matisse, Hockney, Jonas Wood, and of course, the old masters. Rubens especially kills me.”
Dixon’s work has been showcased all over the world, including Bangkok, Paris, London, New York and Milan. And he wakes up every day grateful for the chance to create more art.
Andy Dixon/Submitted
“The thing I get the most joy from in the world is making things. So the fact I can do so as a living is insane to me – a dream.
“Painting is important to me because it’s a means to make something every day, which, for reasons I don’t fully understand myself, is what gets me out of bed in the morning. Making stuff just makes me happy.”
The Throwback
When: September 23, 2023
Time: 10 am to 5 pm (Exhibition), 6 pm to late (Art Party)
Where: Ironworks building, located at 235 Alexander Street
Tickets: Various prices, purchase online
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