Beug, Lorne

• Lorne Arthur Beug

Lorne Arthur Beug was born in Regina in 1948. He studied Social Science at the University of Saskatchewan, Regina Campus, earning his Bachelor's degree in Anthropology and Psychology with Great Distinction in 1967. It was only after working for a time at the Weyburn Psychiatric Hospital as a clinical psychology intern that he committed himself to art. In 1972-73 Lorne studied ceramics at the University of Saskatchewan, Regina Campus with Joe Fafard and Marilyn Levine, and in 1977 he received a Canada Council Art grant which enabled him to study “Outsider” art in Europe. He then moved to Vancouver and taught ceramics at the Burnaby Art Centre and at the Emily Carr College of Art and Design through their Outreach Program.

In 1982-83, Beug became a student again, this time studying computer programming at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. He then attended the Explorations Symposium at the Banff School of Fine Arts in 1983 before returning to Regina to work as a multi-media artist, fully utilizing his experience and educational background in his work with ceramic tiles, assemblage sculptures and his photo-collages, often large-scale and with an architectural theme. His walk-in collage, (an installation), was titled, Museum and A Tent for the Exploration of a Dark Continent, and toured nationally. Beug has also produced digitally printed artists’ books, one of which is included in the new Library of Alexandria in Egypt. He has also co-authored Regina’s Secret Spaces: Love and Lore of Local Geography, with Anne Campbell and Jeannie Mah.

Beug’s work is widely collected across Canada, and he has had over 20 solo exhibitions and participated in over 40 group exhibitions with his contemporaries. Beug has been commissioned for numerous installations for public spaces: among them, the City of Regina Field House, where “Patterned Ground” was installed in 1987; the ceramic floor tiling in the University of Regina’s Riddell Center, installed in 1996; and the terrazzo floor designs for the University’s residences, Paskwāw and Wakpá Towers were installed in 2003. In 2006 the Cathedral Village Freehouse also commissioned Beug for a unique addition for their restaurant, he designed and installed the Freehouse bar that was used by patrons for a decade before new ownership chose to extensively renovate the space in 2016 and replaced Beug’s commission.

Beug continues to create new work and explore new ideas as influenced by his own collecting habits and through his work in collage. His assemblages include incorporating objects into cupboards and cabinets, he has recently engaged in the creation of a series of model ecosystems presented under glass domes. These contain simple abstracted components of gardens with flowers and insects that are automated and interact with each other in sometimes complex and unpredictable ways.

Regina

RAD

January, 2024 (Creation)

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