The Canadian artist Joe Common has died at age 67. The artist died in his sleep on 24 December at his residence in Vancouver, in line with social media posts by his family and friends.
Recognized with Aids in 1987, Common devoted his life in equal measure to inspirational artwork that celebrated the human spirit and activism and philanthropy for these residing with Aids and the bigger LGBTQ+ neighborhood. Impressed by the West Coast post-punk outsider artwork scene, the artist—who was born Brock David Tebbutt in Victoria in 1957—took on the identify “Joe Common”. He informed the Vancouver Solar his selection of pseudonym was influenced by a Sixties journal character dubbed “the common Joe”, including: “I’m 5ft 8in, I’m common lookin’, acquired a C common in class. I believed, ‘That is good!’”
Common turned a family identify following his HIV prognosis at age 27. Assuming that he had mere months to stay, he challenged himself to stay off his artwork and started mounting exhibits in his residence in Vancouver’s West Finish.
Since then, his signature Pop artwork imagery—which has led many to liken him to a Canadian Keith Haring—has appeared in work, prints, murals, postage stamps and municipal banners. Common was feted by the likes of the late Aids activists Princess Diana and Elizabeth Taylor.
He received quite a few awards and honours for his efforts as each an artist and an activist, together with a Governor Normal award for his volunteer work and the Queen’s Golden Jubilee medal for his neighborhood contributions. A couple of weeks earlier than his loss of life, he was invited by the Governor Normal to obtain the Order of Canada, the nation’s highest honour.
In 2002, then Vancouver mayor Philip Owen issued a civic proclamation to designate 3 November as “Joe Common Day”, acknowledging his efforts to battle homophobia and help Aids charities corresponding to A Loving Spoonful.
The identical week as his 2021 mural marking the fortieth anniversary of the primary reported instances of Aids within the US was unveiled, Common was awarded the Order of BC, the province of British Columbia’s highest type of recognition.That mural, One World, One Hope—40 Years Later now adorns the North wall of Helmcken Home, a residence in downtown Vancouver that gives inexpensive housing for folks residing with HIV and Aids.
The design’s stained-glass impact and optimistic, brightly colored, cartoon-like figures stay compelling three many years after Common first conceived it. The picture was initially Common’s profitable entry for a poster contest to mark Canada’s first nationwide Aids consciousness week. The design then turned the premise for a picture Common painted in 1994, entitled One World, One Hope, commissioned for the eleventh worldwide convention on Aids, held in Vancouver in 1996. The picture was additionally used for Canada’s first postage stamp recognising the epidemic.
“The stained-glass impact represents the fragility of all mankind within the face of Aids,” the artist informed The Artwork Newspaper on the time. “The guts on the centre represents love, which I’ve at all times believed is the one factor that may transfer us ahead and actually finish this epidemic.” When the Aids convention opened in 1996 at BC Place Stadium, an enormous quilt model of his picture was unveiled. “That was after I realised it was one thing highly effective, that touched folks, and it gave me chills.”
He added: “I hope this reminds everybody of the work that’s nonetheless wanted in training, stigma removing and funding as we proceed to seek for essential remedies and vaccines.”
Whereas Common’s dedication to the trigger was severe, his manner was irreverent. He was recognized for his sense of humour and shortly turned the unofficial mayor of the West Finish, the historic Vancouver neighbourhood that was residence to the town’s first “homosexual village”. Common was the marshal of the annual Delight Parade for a number of years working, and his murals have change into integral elements of Vancouver’s civic identification.
His good friend and former gallerist Michael Harding accompanied Common on his journey to Ottawa in early December to obtain the Order of Canada. He says: “On the airport on the way in which to Ottawa, he gave the royal wave from his wheelchair and imitated the late Queen’s voice saying he was off to fulfill the Governor Normal. He had everybody in stitches.”
The award, Harding says, was “a becoming accolade for a lifetime of passionate service, creativity and of having the ability to survive HIV/Aids for 40 years. His legacy of affection and keenness and creativity lives on.”
