Bhat Boy receives Lucille Broadbent Award for Artistic Achievement

By Louise Rachlis

“I suggested a doubt, that if I were to reside in London, the exquisite zest with which I relished it in occasional visits might go off, and I might grow tired of it.”
- Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

Ottawa artist Bhat Boy has just returned from four months in London, with a cluster of new paintings reflecting the “exquisite zest” of his British sojourn.
“London was an exciting and colourful experience, but I was a bit homesick,” he says. “When I bought catfood in the Glebe recently, the cashier inquired after my cats Elizabeth and Alexander by name; that would never happen in London.”
He has done 10 British paintings, some reflecting his melancholy feelings about leaving one home for another. Others are happy paintings of Hampstead where he was living. One of the paintings is ‘Mum in Flask Walk’; “the view from my flat to the antique store across the way.” “I had known that in the 1950s before my mother married my father she had a boyfriend who lived in Flask Walk, the very same street that I lived on. It was very exciting for me because I knew she used to walk up and down the street there. It gave me a personal sense of comfort and familiarity,” he says, and he included his mother in the painting, walking down Flask Walk.
Some of the paintings are more typical of his fantasy work with goldfish, with the city of the London mounted on the backs of goldfish.
Bhat Boy and his husband Carl were married upon their return back to Canada. “One of the reasons we wanted to be married in Ottawa instead of the U.K. was that it is called a ‘civil union’ there instead of an actual marriage,” he says. “I liked the idea of being married, not just ‘civil-ized.’”
And at the same time he is sharing his wonderful images of London, the citizen of the world is also being honoured by the Lucille Broadbent Award to commemorate the lifelong support to the arts given by the late Lucille Broadbent.

It’s presented to an individual or organization that has made a significant contribution to Canada’s and Ottawa’s artistic community.

“I’m very happy to be back in Ottawa and honoured by the recognition bestowed upon my by the Broadbent Award. It’s wonderful to be recognized by the community, and not be just another face in a big city.”

A longtime Glebe resident, Bhat Boy is the founder of Art in the Park, the largest outdoor fine arts festival between Montreal and Toronto now named The New Art Festival. Art in the Park is an Ontario registered not-for-profit corporation established as a platform for emerging artists to exhibit their work without the formal constraints of a gallery. The event has grown from 25 to more than 250 juried artists.
A self-employed painter since 1992, the colourful artist is represented by the Gordon Harrison Gallery in Ottawa.
As a member of the Art of Imagination Society he shows throughout Europe and the United States. His unique style is described as representational but imaginative, often conveying complex ideas and scenarios.
Places you’ll have seen Bhat work range from his Ravensburger puzzle in the Canadian Artists Collection to the large scale commissioned work for the Sunnyside Branch of the Ottawa Public Library.
Bhat Boy has painted dozens of large scale commissioned works ranging from the Limited Partners Lounge in Scotiabank Place in Ottawa to the Brown Derby in Los Angeles. Other public installations of his work in Ottawa include paintings at Bank Street and Third Avenue, traffic calming figures on Bronson Avenue, and numerous large scale commissions for businesses all over the city including pubs, funeral homes, and grocery stores.
As well, Bhat Boy regularly does smaller commissioned works for private homes and businesses.
Some of the places you can see his London work are:

Visions of London
at the Artist’s Studio
53 Strathcona Avenue, Ottawa K1S 1X3
November 11, 12 & 13, noon to 6 p.m.
.
Gordon Harrison Gallery
Autumn Landscapes
495 Sussex Drive, Ottawa K1N 6Z5
November 18, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
November 19-20, noon to 4 p.m.

Fish
at Gallery 240
240 Guigues Avenue, Ottawa K1N 5J2
November 25, 5 p.m to 7 p.m.
November 27, 2 p.m to 6 p.m.

To see his work online, view www.bhatboy.com .