Joe Average
Joe Average | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Average in 2006 | |
| Born | Brock David Tebbutt October 10, 1957 Victoria, British Columbia, Canada |
| Died | December 24, 2024 (aged 67) Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Occupation | Artist |
| Website | Official website |
Joe Average CM OBC RCA (born Brock David Tebbutt; October 10, 1957 – December 24, 2024)[1] was a Canadian artist who resided in Vancouver, British Columbia. Diagnosed HIV+ at age 27, Average made the decision to commit the rest of his life to art, and to challenge himself to live by his art.[2] He was born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
Average frequently donated work to charitable causes, such as Vancouver's annual Art for Life auction.[2] His work was used for such projects as A Loving Spoonful (a charity which provides meals to people with terminal illnesses) and the Davie Village.[3] Average was also selected to judge submissions for Vancouver's AIDS memorial and anti-homophobia posters.
Average was known for his cheerful, colourful, cartoon-like work, including images of flowers, animals and insects, and people. He received many awards and honors, including civic merit awards, the Caring Canadian Award (1998) and the Queen's Golden Jubilee Silver Medal for Outstanding Community Achievement (2002). Vancouver mayor Philip Owen issued a civic proclamation to designate November 3, 2002 as "Joe Average Day" in the city.[3]
Average was honored as one of two grand marshals of Vancouver's annual gay pride parade in August 2006. In 2011, he had lipodystrophy, a side effect of antiretroviral therapy.[4]
On April 23, 2019, the Royal Canadian Mint released a coin with art by Average, said to symbolize the progress lesbian, gay, transgender, queer and two-spirited people have achieved in Canada as well as the work that still needs to be done.[5] He died at home in Vancouver, on December 24, 2024, at the age of 67.[6]
Honours
[edit]- Royal Canadian Academy of Arts[7]
- Order of British Columbia (2021)[8]
- Order of Canada (2024)
References
[edit]- ^ "Van Dop Gallery: Joe Average". Archived from the original on 29 November 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
- ^ a b Not Your Average Joe : Pop icon and artist Joe Average on his most challenging masterpiece — his health Archived 6 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine. The Positive Side, Spring/Summer 2005.
- ^ a b The AIDS Walk for Life: About the Artwork Archived 2009-08-24 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Pamela Post, "The Incredible shrinking Man" Archived 10 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine, CBC Radio, The Sunday Edition (documentary), January 16, 2011
- ^ "Commemorative loonie marking progress for LGBTQ2 people unveiled in Toronto" Archived 23 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine. CTV News, April 23, 2019.
- ^ Chan, Cheryl (27 December 2024). "Vancouver artist, humanitarian Joe Average dies on Christmas Eve: 'He was anything but average'". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
- ^ "Members since 1880". Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. Archived from the original on 26 May 2011. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
- ^ "B.C.'s highest honour recognizes 16 British Columbians" (Press release). Government of British Columbia. 2 August 2021. Archived from the original on 18 August 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
External links
[edit]- 1957 births
- 2024 deaths
- Canadian gay artists
- Gay painters
- Canadian LGBTQ painters
- Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
- Members of the Order of British Columbia
- Members of the Order of Canada
- Artists from Vancouver
- Artists from Victoria, British Columbia
- People with HIV/AIDS
- Canadian male painters
- Canadian currency designers
- 20th-century Canadian painters
- 21st-century Canadian painters
- 20th-century Canadian male artists
- 21st-century Canadian male artists
- 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people
- 20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people