Kate Craig

Biography

Catherine Shand Craig was born on September 15, 1947, in Victoria, British Columbia. She was the third child of Sidney Osborne Craig (née Scott) and Charles Edward Craig. Her parents divorced in 1956. In 1960, her mother married Douglas Shadbolt, an architect and brother of the painter Jack Shadbolt. The family moved to Montreal and then to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where Craig attended Dalhousie University (1961).

Craig met artist Eric Metcalfe in Victoria and they married in 1969. They moved to Vancouver, where, along with friends and fellow artists Michael Morris, Vincent Trasov and Glenn Lewis, they bought the space that became the Western Front in the Mount Pleasant area of Vancouver.)

Craig and Metcalfe separated in 1973 but continued to work together on collaborative projects. That year, Craig met artist Hank Bull. As a couple they worked on projects with Metcalfe, Glenn Lewis, Patrick Ready, Margaret Dragu and many others. Craig established and curated the Western Front's Artist-in Residence video program from 1977 to 1993.

In 1980/81 Craig and Bull traveled through Indonesia, India, Africa and Europe performing Around The World in Over 365 Days. Craig married Hank Bull in 1990.

After retiring from her position as curator of Media Arts at Western Front in 1993, she spent the late 1990s preparing for a major retrospective of her work at the Vancouver Art Gallery, entitled "Skin". Craig's "idea of performance was always informed by community and based on thinking life is an art project" even at end of her life. She died of cancer in 2002.

Lady Brute

Eric Metcalfe was a fine arts student at the University of Victoria and Craig was drawn to his circle of artists and performers. In 1969, he created a mail art persona called "Dr. Brute". Craig became "Lady Brute". This collaborative project created the fictional world of "Brutopia." Their collection of leopard material filled this world and the characters examined the foibles of western society. In 1972, Lady Brute appeared as the "Picture of the Week" in an issue of FILE magazine and marched in the Victoria Day parade in Victoria, B.C. Her performances were usually informal, happening in the real world rather than on stage. She would attend an opening or a dinner in her leopard regalia and that was the performance. In 1974 she performed "Flying Leopard" in Vancouver at Cates Park and again on Hornby Island. In 1975 she produced her first video, "Skins: Lady Brute presents her Leopardskin Wardrobe". In that same year she and Metcalfe curated the exhibition "Spots Before your Eyes" at the Western Front and A Space. Lady Brute continued to make appearances and participate in exhibitions through the 1970s.

Performance groups

In 1974, Craig was a founding member of the "ettes", a women's "post feminist" performance group. They performed as the "Peanettes" during Mr. Peanut's campaign for mayor of Vancouver. They also performed as the Coconettes and the Vignettes in 1975. She was also a founder of the Lux Radio Players in 1974, that group performed through 1977. The Canadian Shadow Players, founded in 1976, performed nationally and internationally until 1986.

Lux Radio Players

Peanettes

Vignettes

Coconettes

Canadian Shadow Players

Performances

The Western Front

In 1973 Kate Craig and seven other artists (Martin Bartlett, Mo van Nostrand, Henry Greenhow, Glenn Lewis, Eric Metcalfe, Michael Morris, and Vincent Trasov) purchased the former Knights of Pythias lodge hall and founded the Western Front Society. An artist-run centre, The Western Front became a centre for artistic exploration in many disciplines.

Craig established and curated an Artist-in-Residence video program in 1977. In addition to creating her own work, she fostered and produced video works with an impressive array of Canadian and international artists, including Stan Douglas, Mona Hatoum, Tony Oursler and Robert Filliou. In 1993 she retired from her position as curator of media arts.

The Western Front continues to support exhibitions, concerts, workshops, performances and maintains an extensive media archive.

Video works