Philip Aziz

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Philip J.A.F. Aziz (born April 15, 1923) is an internationally acclaimed Canadian master artist (painter, sculptor, designer of buildings, jewelled metal works, chapels, altarpieces, chalices and crosses) who has been featured in the world's and Canada's book of Who's Who. Aziz lives in London, Ontario, Canada and is of Lebanese, Greek Orthodox descent.

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[edit] Egg tempera-en-gesso panel

He first became internationally recognized for his work in the exacting, painstaking technique of egg tempera-en-gesso panel, a method used by the great masters of the Renaissance.

Aziz's selected works hang in institutions, public galleries, universities and churches such as the University of Toronto Art Gallery; the University of Western Ontario's McIntosh Gallery, London, Ontario; the Vanier Institute, Ottawa; the National Gallery, Ottawa; the Vatican's Collection of Papacy and Art in Rome (for which Aziz received a gold medal); the Metropolitan Opera, New York; Lincoln Center, New York; the Detroit Institute of Arts; the Ford Auditorium, Detroit; Michigan Consolidated Gas Company Building, Detroit; the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts; and galleries in Washington, Miami, Paris, and Sydney.

Private collectors such as the Bronfmans, Duponts, Fords, Vanderbilts, Eatons, Thomsons, Iveys and Blackburns have also purchased his art. Aziz has painted commissioned portraits of Ontario's Progressive Conservative Premier, the Honourable John Robarts, Governor-General George and Madame Vanier, noted Canadian photographer Yousuf Karsh and mezzo-soprano opera star Rise Stevens.

In the late 1950s, Aziz was commissioned by John Christopher Cody, London, Ontario's seventh Catholic bishop, to transform the former Sacred Heart Chapel in London's St. Peter's Basilica into Christ the King Chapel and design the interior of the Lady Chapel.

[edit] Early years

Aziz was born in St. Thomas, Ontario, before moving to London, Ontario, at an early age.

He grew up in old South London at 239 Tecumseh Avenue East and attended H.B. Beal Secondary School, enrolling in its esteemed arts program. Aziz graduated from Yale University with a Bachelor and Master of Fine Arts (1947 and 1949, respectively) after which he travelled the world, living alternately in New York City and London, Ontario, where he resides today in his designated heritage home, studio and art gallery at 150 Philip Aziz Avenue (the street was named in honour of Aziz during London's 150th anniversary as an incorporated city in 2005).

[edit] Art instructor

From 1947 to 1949, Aziz was an art instructor at Yale University and a lecturer at various colleges and museums throughout Canada and the United States; in 1972 and 1976, Aziz was the artist in residence and lecturer at the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies in Aspen, Colorado; from 1950 to 1955, Aziz lectured at the University of Western Ontario, teaching art and art history, helping to expand the collection at UWO's McIntosh Gallery. He was also UWO's first official "artist-in-residence" in 1953.

[edit] Honorary Admiral in Texas Navy

In 1968, due to his interest in politics and human affairs, Aziz was invited to both Republican and Democratic national conventions with a side trip to Texas where then-Governor John Smith made him an honorary Admiral in the Texas Navy.

[edit] Heritage preservationist

In the early 1970s, Aziz successfully fought for the retention and refurbishment of the historic old Court House and Gaol at the Forks of the Thames River in London, Ontario, and also developed a plan for the redevelopment of the river forks, which attracted support and attention from such luminaries as Ontario's Premier John Robarts, then-London South MPP John White, author Pierre Berton and TV and radio station owner/ newspaper publisher Walter J. Blackburn.

[edit] Forks-of-the-Thames Project

While Aziz's Forks redevelopment plan lost by one vote at London City Council in the 1970s, many of Aziz's ideas are finally being implemented in 2005-2006 with the completion of the multi-staged, multi-million-dollar Forks-of-the-Thames Project.

Aziz's efforts in the 1970s advocating for the preservation of London's built and cultural heritage energized the local heritage community and in part prompted the Ontario government of the day under Progressive Conservative Premier, the Honourable Bill Davis, to enact the Ontario Heritage Act in the mid-1970s.

[edit] Philip Aziz Foundation of Art

Aziz is currently establishing the Philip Aziz Foundation of Art, a non-profit charity in London, to expand his gallery built in 1967 as his Canadian Centennial project, in order to exhibit the work of other artists as well as his own.

On October 20, 2005, the London Free Press published two special sections called 150 People Who Define London. Mr. Aziz was included in this lineup of notable Londoners at No. 30.

[edit] Latest masterpiece titled, Follow Me

On June 2, 2006, at Museum London, Aziz unveiled his latest egg termpera-en-gesso painting -- a tribute to the late Pope John Paul II -- titled, Follow Me. The unveiling occurred during an Alumni Western event, a gala attended by several hundred UWO alumni, including members of the local media.

[edit] Big Sisters camp out at Aziz's home

Aziz, his assistant Barry Callow and London artist Wendi Waters hosted the Big Sisters organization for an overnight camp-out/ art workshop in the backyard of Aziz's heritage home on July 21 and 22, 2006. It is expected to be an annual event to foster and promote the arts among young women.

[edit] Aziz presents Paul Haggis with Celestial City

On the afternoon of September 11, 2006 (Paul Haggis Day in London, Ontario), before a packed public gallery in council chambers at city hall, Aziz presented (on behalf of the City of London) Academy Award-winning screenwriter/ filmmaker Paul Haggis with one of his original paintings completed in 1974, called, Celestial City.

Pre-eminent Jungian scholar, London psychotherapist and author, Dr. Robert Aziz -- a cousin of artist Philip Aziz -- says this about Haggis's movie Crash and Aziz's Celestial City: "Although operating in very different mediums, what the artistic visions of Paul Haggis and Philip Aziz have in common is a deep concern with the interrelatedness of life, the relationship of the part to the whole. ..." For full text, see here.

The City also announced that a future park in southwest London would be named in Haggis's honour.

[edit] From the soil of Lebanon into the soul of humanity

On October 21, 2006, during the Islamic Centre of Southwestern Ontario's annual feast following the holy month of Ramadan, Philip Aziz unveiled his most recent egg tempera-on-gesso-panel and 24-karat gold leaf masterpiece, titled the Tree of Lebanon, completed as a humanitarian fundraiser for the relief efforts in war-torn Lebanon.

The wooden panel surrounding the nearly five-foot-by-three-foot painting is made of rare Lebanese cedar and the frame is made of Canadian ash.

Five hundred full-size, colour prints of the $100,000-plus painting will be signed by Aziz and sold for $1,000. Additionally, plans are in the works to display the original painting at the UN headquarters in New York City, after which it will hang in the presidential palace in Lebanon.

Introducing Philip Aziz at the Islamic Centre was cousin Dr. Robert Aziz, who read the following, prior to the unveiling of the painting. (It is Dr. Aziz who coined the words, "From the Soil of Lebanon into the Soul of Humanity" which artist Philip Aziz has agreed to put on the bottom of the painting.)

From the Soil of Lebanon into the Soul of Humanity
When it comes to the challenge of bringing yet unrealized potentials into life, the consciousness and belief we put in service of this task will be of no small significance to the outcome.
Change is nurtured by the consciousness and belief we bring to bear on it. Our children, for instance, need us to believe in them. In fact they need the support of our deepest belief in them as they search for their places in life. Mentorship, in the same way, has to do with belief. Mentorship is about consciously holding open developmental space – developmental space to which an individual would otherwise not have access. Mentorship, in other words, is about the contemplation of the yet untapped potential of another human being. People like to say: "I will believe it when I see it." A no less valid assertion, however, is: " will see it when I believe it."
As a world-renowned artist, Philip Aziz, now in his eighth decade, has certainly come to know what it is to open the hearts and minds of individuals to understandings and experiences of life and its potentials that they would not otherwise have had. He has certainly come to know what it is to open the hearts and minds of others to unforeseen experiences of hope and belief. For Philip Aziz, accordingly, there exists no doubt that an artist has a most important cultural role, even responsibility, when it comes to holding open the transformative space out of which new life will emerge.
As an artist Philip Aziz asked himself about Lebanon. He asked himself about the suffering of that country. The Tree of Lebanon was his answer.
Philip Aziz’s work The Tree of Lebanon is like a very deep prayer -– a very deep prayer to bring hope and renewal to a wonderful country with a tremendous history that has in recent decades endured so very much hardship and suffering. The Tree of Lebanon is about Philip Aziz’s desire as an artist to open space and unequivocally say that Lebanon needs our contemplation and belief now as it never has before.
May that which has come from the soil of Lebanon be held and nurtured within the soul of humanity and flourish.

[edit] Aziz's art unveiled at London airport

On November 29, 2006, the London International Airport unveiled the 12-foot by seven-foot, egg tempera painting, Epilogue, completed in 1976 by Philip Aziz.

Aziz has agreed to loan the painting to the airport for a period of three years.

The unveiling is part of the airport's desire to showcase London artists in the years ahead, partly due to the recommendations contained in the Creative Citiy Task Force Report published by the City of London in 2005.

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