Audrey Capel Doray facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Audrey Capel Doray
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Audrey Capel Doray
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| Born | 1931 (age 93–94) |
| Died | April 11, 2025 Salmon Arm British Columbia, Canada
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| Known for | Electronic sculptor, filmmaker, painter, graphic artist, installation artist |
| Spouse(s) | Victor Doray |
Audrey Capel Doray (born 1931) was a Canadian artist. She created art using many different methods. These included painting, printmaking, electronic art, murals, and films. Her art was shown in many places. This included the 6th Biennial Exhibition of Canadian Painting in 1965. This show was held at the National Gallery of Canada.
One of her prints, called Diamond, is kept in the Tate Gallery in London. It is also at the National Gallery of Canada. People described her work as combining "strong social messages" with her own ideas about people. Her art often explored themes like "constant movement" and "endless change." She also looked at how sound and light work together.
Contents
Audrey Capel Doray's Life and Art
Early Life and Education
Audrey Capel was born in Montreal. She started studying art at age 15. She took classes at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Her teacher there was Arthur Lismer.
She then went to McGill University to study fine arts. She continued to learn from Lismer. She also studied with John Goodwin Lyman and Gordon Webber. After graduating in 1952, she taught art in Montreal schools. She also worked more with Jacques de Tonnancour.
In 1956, she spent a year in Europe. She studied etching in Paris at Atelier 17. Her teacher there was Stanley Hayter. His book, New Ways Of Gravure, taught Doray a lot about printmaking. She also studied lithography in London. This was at the Central School of Arts & Crafts.
Moving to Vancouver and First Shows
In 1956, Audrey married Victor Doray. He was also an artist and a medical illustrator. After returning from Europe, they moved to Vancouver. Audrey taught at the Vancouver School of Art for two years.
She had her first solo art show in 1961. This was at the Vancouver Art Gallery. In 1964, she also showed her work at the New Design Gallery. This was the first gallery in Vancouver to show modern art. It was next to a space that hosted plays, films, concerts, and poetry readings.
Exploring New Art Forms
Audrey Capel Doray was one of the first local artists to create art inspired by new ideas. She made paintings about how people were changing. This was from a "Typographic Man" to an "Electronic Man." She then created art that used light, sound, and movement. Later, in the 1970s, she returned to painting.
Audrey and Victor Doray helped start the Intermedia Society in 1967. This group was inspired by the ideas of Marshall McLuhan. It was a place for artists from different fields to meet and work together. The Canada Council helped fund it. Intermedia was very important in Vancouver's art scene for ten years. It led to projects like Video Inn. This was a place to store and share video art. It also led to the Western Front Society.
In 2008, an exhibition called Idyll featured Doray's multimedia art. This show was at the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery. The exhibition catalog described her as a "pioneer." This means she was one of the first to create interactive and multimedia art. Her art even used computers.
Exhibitions and Kinetic Art
After her shows at the Vancouver Art Gallery and New Design Gallery, she had more exhibitions. She showed her art at Simon Fraser University in 1966. She also showed at the Bau-Xi Gallery in Vancouver. And at the Jerrold Morris Gallery in Toronto. Her art was also part of the 6th Biennial Exhibition of Canadian Painting. This was at the National Gallery of Canada in 1965.
By the late 1960s, Doray became known for her sculptures. These were made of clear plastic. They moved, made sounds, and used light. She showed these "kinetic-audio-light" sculptures in Canada and the United States. She connected these multi-sensory works to ideas about learning through touch.
Her work Hexagon was featured in Art in America magazine. This was a six-panel art piece. It used polarized light, movement, and sound. The magazine saw it as a perfect example of electronic art. In 1978, she had an interview in Vanguard magazine. This was during her solo exhibition at the Bau-Xi Gallery. She talked about her murals, animated films, and electronic art. She also discussed the themes of movement and constant change in her paintings.
Focus on Nature and Later Works
The Dorays created a summer retreat on Savary Island. Audrey became more interested in painting landscapes. She also became very involved in environmental issues. By the 1980s, she and her husband worked to protect Canada's old growth forests. These were on the West Coast. They took part in art projects for the Stein, Carmanah, and Tsitika valleys.
In 2014, her art was shown at the West Vancouver Museum. This was in an exhibition called The And of the Land: Perspectives on Landscape by Artists from British Columbia.
Doray's art is part of the permanent collections of several galleries. These include the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. Also the Vancouver Art Gallery and the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery in Vancouver. And the Confederation Centre Art Gallery in Prince Edward Island. Her print Diamond is at the Tate Gallery in London. It is also at the National Gallery of Canada.
Her art is also in private and company collections. This includes an electronic mural made for Mazda Motors in 1973. And paintings for the Waterfront Centre Hotel in Vancouver in 1991. She continued her interest in interactive art and movement. Her most recent work was a multi-media installation. It was called Here and Beyond. It was shown at the Macaulay & Co. gallery in 2014. It had music by David Hykes.
