Chris Simonite is a Winnipeg-based artist and educator whose distinctive “Cubo-Weirdism” style merges Cubism with themes from pop culture and conspiracy theories. With BA, BFA, and MFA, he has exhibited internationally and is a member of the Frost Shield Kerfuffle Collective. Recently, Simonite’s work has focused on eerie, animal-centered landscapes inspired by psychological cubism, capturing the haunting impact of environmental destruction on wildlife.

In the Heart of Here

Imagine if a realist oil painter met Picasso, had a run-in with George Condo, and their minds melded. In my work, I combine traditional portraiture with geometric or distorted shapes in abstract or undefined settings, often reminiscent of Cubism and mid-period Picasso. Some areas are fully rendered, while others are left flat and monochromatic. The subject matter ranges from characters or personalities from popular culture to animals in abstract or unsettling landscapes, bizarre, imagined faces, and political figures. Most recently, I have explored unsettling lands devoid of humans or animals.While my paintings are influenced by the aesthetics of the above-mentioned artists (among others), conceptually, they are informed by artificial realism and psychological cubism, both inventions of Condo. I’m specifically inspired by a quote from a book on Condo’s work that defines artificial realism as the “capacity to treat imaginary objects as if they were real and real objects as if they were imagined.” In my estimation, it is common for people to see film and television as almost more real than their own lives, while at the same time viewing politicians and even endangered species as abstractions outside their own reality.With my animal landscape works, I aim to depict the ongoing environmental damage humans have caused from the perspective of the wildlife often affected by our negligence and selfishness. I was inspired by wildlife cameras that capture animals in their habitats, sometimes looking directly at the camera. Anthropomorphizing the animals, it almost feels as though they are asking, “What are you doing to my home?” Through these works, I hope to provoke reflection on our relationship with the natural world and the consequences of our actions.

Chris Simonite

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