Artist
| Topics: Arts & Entertainment |
| Interview Date: February-26-2013 |
| Extraordinary Insights: "There are two forms of success -- internal and external. When they meet that’s perfection and how do you get there? Just go out one step at a time.” |
Audio-only version:
Vivian Reiss is a Toronto-based visual artist. She studied fine art studies at The School of the Museum of Fine Art in Boston and The Art Institute in Boston. Reiss has traveled widely, having lived in yurts with nomadic herders in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan, painted elephants in Africa, and studied dance in Bali. Reiss' background in numerous art forms, from dance to sculpture to the culinary arts. Her collection of ethno-cultural artifacts, ranging from miniature kitchens to Central Asian silk caftans, are reflected in her work and showcased in her larger-than-life home. Her long career as an artist includes more than 50 shows, both in Canada and around the world, over 30 of which were one-woman shows. She is in numerous collections, including in the collections of heads of state; the Canadian Embassies in Washington and Paris; and in private and corporate collections in more than 15 countries. Reiss was invited to create work for the Echigo-Tsumari Triennial, the Echigo-Tsumari Triennial, the largest international art exhibition in Japan, considered the Japanese equivalent of the Venice Biennale. (see Satoyama Storehouse in Info+Products section). In addition, Reiss had a concurrent show at The Canadian Embassy in Tokyo of Reiss' portraits of prominent Canadians in the arts. A catalogue of Reiss' portraits has been published. [www.vreiss.com]