Exploring the art of Dennis Burton

trevor.kenney — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 17:45:50 +0000

Dennis Burton was born in Lethbridge, Alta. in 1933, and first explored painterly abstraction during his studies at the Ontario College of Art during the 1950s.

After practicing painting at both the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Southern California and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine, Burton returned to Canada to work at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as a senior graphic designer from 1957 to 1960.

Dennis Burton, Banshees, 1992. From the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Art Collection; Gift of I. Zucker, 1994

Throughout his career, Burton taught at art institutions in Toronto, Banff, Vancouver, and at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge. Though initially recognized for his abstract canvases, Burton rose to artistic fame in the mid-1960s with a controversial series of paintings of the female nude and undergarments. He continued to produce both figurative and abstract works into the 1990s.

Burton's work has been exhibited extensively across Canada and is housed in numerous public and private collections. The artist currently lives in Vancouver.

For a look at more of Burton's work, or any of the other 13,000-plus works in the U of L's collection, follow this link.

This story first appeared in the June 2012 issue of the Legend. For a look at the entire issue in flipbook format, follow this link.

Graduate's life changed by Bali tragedy

trevor.kenney — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:59:49 +0000

Deanna (Thompson) Jokisch (BMgt '09) traveled to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge campus for the first time to attend Convocation in October.

The road to her degree, which she completed at the U of L's Calgary campus while working full time, took more than seven years and came after the former Trochu, Alta., resident traveled and worked internationally – Eastern and Western Europe, Australia, Singapore, and Bali, Indonesia were among her many destinations.

In all the good Jokisch discovered on her many trips, she also encountered the bad – in particular the large-scale devastation brought about by a terrorist bomb at a Bali nightclub in 2002. In an essay Jokisch wrote for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation website, she recounted her story:

"All of a sudden, there was a very loud bang. It sounded like a crash or something very large hitting the wall outside our room. Before I could get the words "what the hell was that?" out of my mouth, the entire room shook with the second explosion, the windows blew in on us and we landed on the floor in the dark. It had to be the most terrifying moment of my entire life.

Unsure of what to do or what just happened, we stayed on the floor listening for a sign of what might be going on outside. That's when we heard a fellow guest yell, "There's been a bomb!" A bomb? Are there going to be more? Has war broken out? How do we get out? These were all the questions that were going through my head. What were we going to do?"

What she did was to stay amidst the ruined hotel and help her friends and the injured. She returned home a changed person, and embarked on a new path – this one involving university studies.

"She spent hours helping the injured, seeing things on such a huge scale, things most rescue workers here (in Canada) would never see (and hopefully never do)," said her mother, Anna Thompson. "She received awards for her efforts that night, one being a bronze medal of bravery. I think that her greatest reward was to fulfill the commitment to go on and live life as it should be, because so many young people lost their lives that night."

Jokisch currently works for Husky Energy in Calgary in their risk management department. Among other activities, she also volunteers for the Alberta Animal Rescue Crew, a charity that rescues abandoned and neglected dogs and helps adopt them out.

A complete account of Jokisch's experiences after the Bali bombing can be found on the CBC website http://www.cbc.ca/news/viewpoint/essays/thompson_deanna030205.html

UNews - Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

Exploring the art of Dennis Burton

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Graduate's life changed by Bali tragedy

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