JACK ROOTMAN

• Born in Calgary
• Emeritus    Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of British   Columbia & Vancouver General Hospital
• Emeritus Professor, Department of Pathology, University of British Columbia & Vancouver General Hospital
• President, Provost’s Committee on University Art, University of British Columbia Art Gallery, 1998-2013
• Chairman, 2001-02 and 2005-06
• Member, Vancouver Hospital Foundation Art Committee, 1998- 20013
• Vice-President, Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design Foundation Board, 1996-98
• Director, Contemporary Art Gallery of Vancouver, 1989-96

ART EDUCATION

• Part-time student in the credit program at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design
• Taken seminars from:

Don Andrews, AWS,  Al Broulette, AWS

Virginia Cobb, AWS                  Katherine Liu

Maxine Masterfield, AWS           James Godwin Scott

Irving Shapiro, AWS                  Zoltan Szabo

Frank Webb, AWS                  Peter London

• Courses taken:

National Academy of Design, School of Fine Arts, New York, NY, Sep 1995-Mar 1996

Painting (Dan Gheno)

Painting – Figure and Still Life (Sam Adoquei)

The Art Students League of New York, New York, NY, Sep 1995-Jun 1996

Painterly Drawing (Jack Henderson)

Painting and Drawing (Harvey Dinnerstein)

The New York Academy of Art, New York, NY, Sept-Dec 1995

Constructing an Ecorché (David Klass)

Figure Drawing (Eve Mansdorf)

Interpretive Figure Painting (David Tomb)

Kline Academy of Fine Art LA Oct. 2014 – March 2015

EXHIBITIONS

Group Shows

Whatcom County Art Show, Washington State, 1986 & 1987

Group Show “Images West” – Vancouver General Hospital Foundation Gallery, Vancouver, Apr-May 1988

Group Show – Zack Gallery, Vancouver, May-Jun, 1989

Winter Show – Federation of Canadian Artists, Vancouver, Jan 1991

Fiftieth Anniversary Show – Federation of Canadian Artists, Vancouver, 1991

(“Oceans Edge”, “Cast Clams”, & “Sunset Sails”)

Summer Show – Federation of Canadian Artists, Vancouver, 1991

Travelling Show – Federation of Canadian Artists, Vancouver, 1992

Summer Show – Federation of Canadian Artists, Vancouver, 1992 (“Electric Water” & “Skyline Mirage”)

Winter Show – Federation of Canadian Artists, Vancouver, 1992 (“Brocton Inside Out”)

Small Picture Show – Federation of Canadian Artists, Vancouver, 1993 (“White Light” & “Music Shines”)

International Exhibition – Northwest Watercolor Society, Seattle, WA, May-Jun 1994 (“Split Beef”)

Student Show – Art Students League of New York, New York, NY, Spring 1996

Student Show – National Academy of Design, New York, NY, Spring 1996

Summer Show “Faces & Figures” – Federation of Canadian Artists, Vancouver, Apr-May 1997

(“Concern” & “Feminine Tapestry”)

Autumn Exhibition “Fall Flavours” – Federation of Canadian Artists, Vancouver, Oct 1997

(“Autumnal Flight” – currently in the collection of TS Chang, MD)

Postcard Picture Show “From BC Waters” – Federation of Canadian Artists, Vancouver, Mar 1998

(“Hidden Star”)

Western Federation of Watercolor Societies Exhibition 1998, Lubbock, Texas, Apr-May, 1998 (“Touched”)

Alumni Show – University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Summer 1998

Fall Juried Show – Federation of Canadian Artists, Vancouver, Sep 1-13, 1998 (“Graffiti”)

Black & White Theme Show, Federation of Canadian Artists, Vancouver, Oct 1998 (“Contemplation”)

Art Show – American Academy of Ophthalmology, New Orleans, LA, Nov 1998

Member Group Show “Quartet” (Peter Blewett, Robert McMurray, Frank Pochyly, Jack Rootman)

– Federation of Canadian Artists, Vancouver, Nov 3-15, 1998

Three-man Show (Jack Rootman, Arthur Lim and Chng Nai Wee)

HENG artland Gallery, Singapore, January 8-9, 2000

Group Show, Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore, Jan 11-14, 2000

(“To find where your true picture lies” owned by and on display at the Singapore National Eye Centre)

Group Show, UBC Medicine and Dentistry Art Show, April 29, 2006 (“Ancestry”, “Tree gods”, “Rachel”)

Medical Alumni Art Show, The ARTS House, Singapore, January 17-27, 2008

Two-man Show (Nai Wee Chng and Jack Rootman), Singapore National Eye Centre International Meeting Art Show, SunTek City Centre, Singapore, March 14-17, 2008

Selected for Artist Council Exhibition Palm Springs Museum February 14 – March 28, 2010

Viewing Heaven’s Viewer –Jaipur

Exhibition at Elliot Louis Gallery 2013

Selected for Artist Council Exhibition Palm Springs Museum 2015  “Lonely Planet” Sold NYC

Selected for the Artist council Exhibition Palm springs Museum 2015 “Love of” Sold Washington

Selected for the Artist council Exhibition Palm springs Museum 2018 “Laneway”

Selected for Group show—Art and Poetry Zack Gallery April 2019

One Man Shows

“Island Images” – House of Taylor, Mayne Island, Jul 1989

“Textures” Mixed Media – Faculty Club, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, May-June 1990

“West Coast Textures” – CJ Herman Galleries, Vancouver, Mar-Apr 1991

“Landscape – Loved/Imagined” – CJ Herman Galleries, Vancouver, Feb-Mar 1992

“Vancouver: Time & Place” – CJ Herman Galleries, Vancouver, Sep 1993

“Paintings and Drawings by Jack Rootman” – Greenhill Galleries, Adelaide, Australia, Feb-Mar 1997

“Sacred Places:  Culture, Colour and Craft” – Utterly Art Gallery, Singapore, August 24-September 3, 2006

“Dreamscapes Paintings By Jack Rootman Zack Gallery- Sept 16-Oct 13 2010

“Maps” Singapore 2011

Contemplating Sunset- English Bay January Zack Gallery 19-Feb. 19 2017

Currently showing at Trenz Gallery in Cathedral City California

Showing at The Studio Palm Springs California

AWARDS & MERITS

• Piece selected for cover of CMAJ, February 1987, Vol 136, No 3
• Marquis’ Who’s Who in America – directory listing, 1992-
• Marquis’ Who’s Who in Science – directory listing, 1995-
• Marquis’ International Who’s Who – directory listing, 1995-
• First Place (tied), “Oceans Edge”, Fiftieth Anniversary Show, Federation of Canadian Artists
• Featured in: Doruyter R. “Business and the arts”. Bravo Vancouver. (Joint project of the Vancouver Cultural Alliance and the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association). Vancouver, 1996, p. 36.
• Featured in: Bowen R. “Portrait of the doctor as an artist”. The Medical Post 1997; 33(3):36-37.
• Featured in: Jones M. “An ophthalmologist with a different view.” IATROS, Fall 1998, 13(1): 6.
• Piece selected for inclusion in “Splash! 98″ (charity art auction). Oct 17, 1998.
• Lester Jones Anatomy Award – for significant contribution to the understanding of orbital anatomy – Textbook-Orbital Surgery: A Conceptual Approach (Orbital Anatomy from an artist and surgeon’s viewpoint), American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, 1998
• Canadian Who’s Who, directory listing – 1998-
• Exceptional Water Media Painting, “Touched”, Western Federation of Watercolor Societies 23rd Annual Exhibition, Lubbock, TX, May 3-Aug 2, 1998
• Golfo Tsakumas Award – Verantius Fortunatus, “For royal is their purple”, Christmas Small Picture and Miniature Show, Dec 1998
• Piece selected for inclusion in the Gala Art Auction (20/20 Foundation, Canadian National Institute for the Blind). Apr 28, May 6, May 13, 1999 – “For truly love was before words were”
• Featured in: Leung W. “Dr. Jack Rootman:  seeing the world through the artistic eyes of an ophthalmologist.” IATROS, Spring 2000, p. 20-22.
• Featured in: Hilton C. “Humanity through art.” Medical Post 2009 (Sep 9), 29.

OTHER

• Juried Selection for the cover of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, February 1987
• Corporate Collection, South Island Development, Bamberton, BC
• In collections – BC, Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Europe
• Show described in:  Lianhe Zaobao Singapore (Chinese-print newspaper), 9 January 2000, p. 14

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

My artistic journey has been driven by the natural curiosity of an observer and by an interest in spiritual values.  As I became committed to artistic expression, I was attracted to landscape and natural still life, particularly of British Columbia but also from my travels.  My media choices started with watercolour then grew to include ink, gouache, gesso, acrylic, oil, and collage.  I am interested in the interplay of light and colour in nature, and stylistically attracted to the romantic realist mode.  Experimentation with texture produced by manipulating and mixing media is also an interest.  Art brings a joyful focus into life, creating sensitivity to our environment, the color, and textures of the natural world.  I have a particular fascination with interpreting design, contrast, and texture.  I have also become interested in scale, painting from miniature to mural sizes.

My deliberate intent has also been to meld art with my life interest in caregiving thus the figure has become a dominant subject.  Simply stated, if I am to paint from the heart, mankind must be at the core of the narrative.  My principal goal is to represent some of the universals in human behaviour and interaction, with special emphasis on those moments that touch the nature and spirit of humanity.

My artistic journey has also been driven by the natural curiosity of an observer and by an interest in spiritual values.