Bill Reid Gallery hosts Formline Calligraphy: A Tea Party Celebration, January 11
Event features launch of publication accompanying the exhibition Formline: Calligraphy, The Creative Synergy of Bill Reid and Bob Reid
Bill Reid, Salmon Pool.
Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art presents Formline Calligraphy: A Tea Party Celebration on January 11 from 1 pm to 2:30 pm
THE BILL REID Gallery of Northwest Coast Art is hosting a tea party in honour of its renowned namesake Haida artist’s birthday on January 11.
The afternoon gathering will feature a conversation with guest curator Martine Reid and Chester Gryski, who will discuss Bill Reid’s creative collaboration with printer and book designer Bob Reid (no relation). The team will also launch the publication accompanying the exhibition Formline: Calligraphy, The Creative Synergy of Bill Reid and Bob Reid. Following the talk, the gallery will host an exclusive curatorial tour of the show.
The exhibition features two- and three-dimensional works by both artists, focusing on their collaborative pieces. It also includes Bill Reid’s writing and other archival materials. Formline: Calligraphy is about their shared passion for the “well-made object”, be it a printed book, a silver engraving intended for printing, or a piece of jewellery.
Bill often compared Northwest Coast formline art to handwritten calligraphy. “Similar to two-dimensional handwritten calligraphy, the shape and tensions in Bill’s Haida formline art and the fonts and elegant designs of Bob’s printing add meaning to their messages; their forms convey their meanings as much as the contents,” writes Martine Reid in the publication.
The two first met in Vancouver around 1954, introduced by Bill’s brother (also named Robert Reid), when Bill was in his early 30s and Bob was in his mid 20s.
Bill Reid, salmon woodblock on handmade paper.
In 1956, Bill was helping with programs and tours for The People of the Potlatch exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery. He and Bob collaborated in creating several small prints that were sold in conjunction with the exhibition.
In 1958, Bill worked on the 100 Years of BC Art exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery and helped design the catalogue’s cover. Bob and Bill worked on several other printing projects together, including BC: A Centennial Anthology.
In 1974, Bob designed The Salmon: Canada’s Plea for a Threatened Species for the Government of Canada, an elaborate portfolio that included Bill’s artwork.
“Bob and Bill’s encounter and connection were inevitable, consequential, and symbiotic, in that each stimulated the creativity of the other for the span of their respective careers,” writes Martine Reid. “Through that encounter, Bill, a Haida artist and a jeweler by trade, became a printmaker with Bob’s collaboration, before silk-screen printmaking (or serigraphy) became fashionable for Indigenous art. In return, Bob, an esteemed Canadian book designer, typographer, letterpress printer, and a teacher of graphic design, gained from Bill a deep appreciation for Northwest Coast Indigenous art and design.”
Formline: Calligraphy, The Creative Synergy of Bill Reid and Bob Reid runs until February 2. 
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