Josh Tiessen
josh_tiessen_jt1004_creation_cathedral.jpg
About your purchase...
  • Purchases outside the continental US - please call for shipping rates

  • New York state residents are charged sales tax

 

The work(s) of art is/are sold by the Seller and purchased by the buyer upon the following terms and conditions:

1. Except as otherwise provided herein or elsewhere agreed in writing, payment in full is due and payable on the date of the invoice.

2. This is an invoice only. Title to the work(s) of art purchased shall not pass until payment in full has been received.

3. All applicable sales taxes have been charged on this transaction. The payment and remittance of use tax is the Buyer’s obligation. Seller reserves the right to collect out-of-state sales taxes from the buyer after the sale if seller becomes assessed with them.

4. The Buyer’s sole remedy for breach of any implied or express warranty therein shall be an action for rescission and, in any event, the absolute limit of the Seller’s liability and responsibility hereunder shall under no circumstances exceed the total sales price and seller shall not be responsible for any special, incidental, or consequential damages or lost profits.

5. A non-exclusive right to reproduce the work(s) of art is reserved by the Seller.

6. Risk or loss of the work(s) of art purchased shall pass to the Buyer upon delivery by the Seller to the address specified by the Buyer.

7. In accordance with the UCC and the New York Arts and Cultural Affairs Law, Seller guarantees that the work(s) of art purchased is by the named artist. If such work(s) proves not to be of such authorship as described, Seller will accept the return of the work(s) and return the sales price in full.

8. Any disputes arising out of this sale shall be governed by the laws of the State of New York without regard to its choice of law provisions, and shall be submitted to the American Arbitration Association for an arbitration to be held before a single arbitrator in New York City, New York. The prevailing party in such arbitration shall be entitled to its costs and attorneys’ fees in connection with such arbitration proceeding, and the costs of enforcement and collection of any resulting arbitral award.

EXCEPT FOR THE WARRANTY OF AUTHENTICITY SET FORTH ABOVE, NO WARRANTIES OR AGREEMENTS, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, HAVE BEEN MADE BY THE SELLER.

EXHIBITED
Josh Tiessen
Creation Cathedral
Oil on panel
35 x 24 inches
Signed
Provenance
Josh Tiessen
Rehs Contemporary Galleries, Inc., New York City
Notes
For years I have been struck by Canadian impressionist painter Emily Carr’s iconic work Indian Church (1929) [i]. Regarded as her best painting, the work depicts a coniferous forest contrasted by a soaring white chapel, built by the First Nations Yuquot community. This church on Vancouver Island embodied a unique blend of Christianity and Indigenous culture.

Similar to how Carr was moved by Native spirituality, I too find much common ground with the Indigenous worldview: the Creator’s immanent presence in the natural world, the intrinsic value of animals, and the spirit of reciprocity. While most western cathedrals omitted animals as subjects, I decided to include stained-glass ‘creaturely saints’ like the Humpback Whale and Orca, called back from my previous paintings. In the central rose window a dove symbolizes the Spirit ‘hovering over the earth’, as expressed in Scripture. Scholars believe that the creation narrative in Genesis chapter 1 and 2 poetically alludes to God’s wise construction of the heavens and the earth as a cosmic temple––“a sacred realm for God’s dwelling and rule in which all creatures (human and nonhuman) are called to worship their creator” [ii]. Emily Carr likewise painted the Canadian West Coast rainforest to express “God in his woods’ tabernacle.” [iii]

In Braiding Sweetgrass, author Robin Wall Kimmerer writes, “in Native ways of knowing, human people are often referred to as “the younger brothers of Creation.” Humans have the least experience with how to live and thus the most to learn––we must look to our teachers among the other species for guidance. Their wisdom is apparent in the way they live. They’ve been on the earth far longer that we have, and have had time to figure things out.” [iv] I resonate with this in my own religious tradition. According to the order of creation in Genesis, plants and animals come before humans, and unlike man do not fall into rebellion. The wise sage Job compels us to “ask the animals, and they will teach you, the birds of the air, and they will tell you; ask the plants of the earth, and they will teach you, and the fish of the sea will declare to you.” [v]

Despite the First Nations’ valuable ecological wisdom, early settlers to North America colonized the Indigenous people and stripped them of their land. While painting, I reflected on the outcry for justice in response to recently discovered unmarked graves of First Nations children forced to attend residential schools funded by our government and managed by the Church. This rocked our nation. [vi] While many Canadians expressed righteous indignation at this atrocity, dozens of churches were burned or vandalized by vigilantes. Although divisions between our First Nations and the Church still exist, a Canadian census found that more than 60% of Indigenous people in Canada call Christianity their religion, many of whom hold church leadership positions like Terry LeBlanc (Mi’kmaq-Acadian) disentangling their faith from the “white man’s religion.”

As Qohelet and his companion, Brother Wolf, stop to ponder the scene, the chapel doors swing open. A blue light beckons the sojourners to enter the Divine mystery. Perhaps inside they will find resources for healing a country in need of genuine “truth and reconciliation.”

Josh Tiessen
Artist

[i] In 2018 the painting was renamed to Church in Yuquot Village
[ii] Richard J. Middleton, A New Heaven and a New Earth, 48.
[iii] Emily Carr, Hundreds and Thousands: The Journals of Emily Carr.
[iv] In 2021 archaeologists discovered 215 unmarked graves at Kamloops Indian Residential School, sparking a mass uncovering of graves across Canada.
[v] Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 23.
[vi] Job 12:7-8
BIOGRAPHY

Born in 1995 in Moscow, Russia, Josh Tiessen is an international award-winning artist based near Toronto, Canada. Tiessen is best known for his hyper-surreal shaped oil paintings, which take up to 1700 hours to complete, and reflect the interaction between the natural world and human-made structures, drawing upon his studies in philosophy and theology.

As a young artist Tiessen was designated one of the world's top ten prodigy artists by Huffington Post, and the only known male art prodigy in North America by Dr. J. Ruthsatz, global prodigy expert. As a teenager he was juried in as the youngest member of International Guild of Realism among foremost realist artists from around the world, Artists for Conservation and Society of Animal Artists, elite groups of the top nature and wildlife artists worldwide. Art Renewal Center designated him Associate Living Master, and New York based gallery Jonathan LeVine Projects awarded him First Place from 2000 artists in their international competition Search for the Next Great Artist. LeVine presented the emerging artist’s debut international solo exhibition “Streams in the Wasteland” in May of 2019.

Mentored by masters like acclaimed Canadian artist Robert Bateman, Tiessen has exhibited his work since 2006 in over 100 exhibitions including the National Gallery of Canada and prominent galleries in the United States. He has sold over 150 original works and hundreds of limited edition giclée prints to private and corporate Canadian and international collectors.

Featured over 200 times in the press & media (Forbes, American Art Collector, International Artist), speaking and teaching at 60 venues, and making 90 invited art donations to charitable organizations, Tiessen established the Arts for a Change Foundation. This prolific artist has garnered over 60 awards and honours including International Guild of Realism Creative Achievement, Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, and Canada's Top 20 Under 20, for his artistic accomplishment and philanthropic work. 

AVAILABLE WORKS
Browse by Artist
Josh Tiessen
All Creatures Lament
Oil on panel
26 x 26 x 2 inches
Signed
Josh Tiessen
Auguries of Innocence III
Oil on birch
8 x 8 inches
Signed
Josh Tiessen
Greening the White Cube
Oil on panel
23 x 40 inches
Signed
Josh Tiessen
Nirvana 5G
Oil on panel
36 x 24 x 2 inches
Signed
Josh Tiessen
Peace Like a River
Oil on panel
33 x 34 x 2 inches
Signed
Josh Tiessen
Refracting Infinity
Oil on panel
36 x 24 x 2 inches
Signed
Josh Tiessen
Sophia
Oil on panel
24 inch diameter
Signed
Josh Tiessen
Swallowed by Knowledge
Oil on panel
30 x 40 x 2 inches
Signed