Gerry Gilbert
Encyclopedia
Gerry Gilbert was a Canadian poet famous in underground literature for his deliberate eschewing of all awards and competitions as he felt that personal ambition in art led to a lack of sincerity. He was known as Vancouver's bicycle poet.
(1954–56) before traveling to England and further study there. Gilbert then returned to Vancouver and although he died there he managed to live and travel across Canada and Europe in his younger years.
Gerry became a well known local fixture in the Vancouver art scene and began a periodical anthology of writing that he distributed himself called the British Columbia Monthly (later becoming simply B.C. Monthly) in 1972 placing him among the ranks of Canadian artists participating in the mimeograph revolution. To some he was known as 'the Jude the Obscure
of Vancouver poetry'.
Gerry hosted a radio show for many years on CFRO-FM
Radio called radiofreerainforest. Gilbert's film and photography have been exhibited by the Vancouver Art Gallery
, the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery
, the Western Front, and the Contemporary Art Gallery (Vancouver)
. He was a prolific writer whose work spanned from the early sixties into the beginnings of the 21st century. His largest and most comprehensive work is Moby Jane published by Toronto's Coach House Books
in 1987.
Life
Gilbert was a multimedia artist who worked comfortably as writer, film-maker, photographer, performance artist and more. He was born in 1936 during a trip between Toronto and Vancouver forcing his parents to stop briefly in Calgary. His art reflects this unique birth as much of its allure is a kind of tension between remaining and continuing. He attended the University of British ColumbiaUniversity of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
(1954–56) before traveling to England and further study there. Gilbert then returned to Vancouver and although he died there he managed to live and travel across Canada and Europe in his younger years.
Gerry became a well known local fixture in the Vancouver art scene and began a periodical anthology of writing that he distributed himself called the British Columbia Monthly (later becoming simply B.C. Monthly) in 1972 placing him among the ranks of Canadian artists participating in the mimeograph revolution. To some he was known as 'the Jude the Obscure
Jude the Obscure
Jude the Obscure, the last of Thomas Hardy's novels, began as a magazine serial and was first published in book form in 1895. The book was burned publicly by William Walsham How, Bishop of Wakefield, in that same year. Its hero, Jude Fawley, is a working-class young man who dreams of becoming a...
of Vancouver poetry'.
Gerry hosted a radio show for many years on CFRO-FM
CFRO-FM
CFRO-FM, licensed and owned by Vancouver Co-operative Radio, is a non-commercial community radio station in Vancouver, British Columbia, in Coast Salish territory. It is a legally registered co-operative and is branded as Co-op Radio. They broadcast on 102.7 megahertz FM...
Radio called radiofreerainforest. Gilbert's film and photography have been exhibited by the Vancouver Art Gallery
Vancouver Art Gallery
The Vancouver Art Gallery is the fifth-largest art gallery in Canada and the largest in Western Canada. It is located at 750 Hornby Street in Vancouver, British Columbia...
, the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery
Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery
The Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery is a contemporary art gallery located in Vancouver, British Columbia, on the campus of the University of British Columbia....
, the Western Front, and the Contemporary Art Gallery (Vancouver)
Contemporary Art Gallery (Vancouver)
The Contemporary Art Gallery is the only independent, non-profit public art gallery in downtown Vancouver. The CAG exhibits local, national, and international artists, primarily featuring emerging local artists producing Canadian contemporary art...
. He was a prolific writer whose work spanned from the early sixties into the beginnings of the 21st century. His largest and most comprehensive work is Moby Jane published by Toronto's Coach House Books
Coach House Books
Coach House Books is an independent Canadian publishing company located in Toronto, Ontario. Coach House publishes innovative and experimental poetry, fiction, drama and non-fiction. The press is particularly interested in writing that pushes at the boundaries of convention.-History:The company was...
in 1987.
External links
- http://www.vancouverartinthesixties.com/people/32
- http://www.abcbookworld.com/view_author.php?id=3429
- http://www.theeastvillage.com/tc/gilbert/a.htm 6 poems
- Alex Waterhouse-Hayward, Gerry Gilbert's Bicycle
- Robert Thompson, "On, The Way to Gerry Gilbert's Moby Jane Through Picture Windshield", Studies in Canadian Literature
- Jamie Reid, Gerry Gilbert 1936-2009, Schroedinger's Cat
- Gerry Gilbert tribute site