Arty Farty Friday ~ Vale Rob Gonsalves

When I wrote about Rob Gonsalves, one Arty Farty Friday in December 2010, I could find no information on his date of birth. Mr Gonsalves died in June last year. I was shocked and saddened to recently come across news of his death, more so when I gleaned that he had committed suicide. An obituary stated that

"Rob left this Earth on his own terms when he took his own life, calmly and deliberately on a beautiful day in June." A Facebook note: "Rob Gonsalves battled the dark but succumbed June 14th. Rob's window into the magic of the universe was closed by his death."

Rest in Peace.

Date of birth of Rob Gonsalves is now available at Wikipedia. He was born on 10 July 1959.
I'm re-posting my earlier blog with his natal chart following, noting how close, or otherwise, my speculations about his astrology had been.

FROM 2010

Rob Gonsalves is a Canadian painter, born in Toronto, Ontario in 1959. I can find no more birth data than that. If a passing reader knows his date of birth I'd be very happy to hear from them via comment. [See below]

It's tricky to categorise Rob Gonsalves' art precisely. It's surrealistic, yet it isn't truly surrealism, because it arises, reportedly, through a process of conscious thought rather than from dreams or from the subconscious.

Magic Realism is another art label we might attach, but that doesn't quite fit either. His subject matter is mainly everyday scenes and situations turned ...well...surreal. Personally (maybe not accurately) I see Magical Realism as dealing more with mythological figures and situations, as depicted in the art of Michael Parkes (here).

As architecture is seen in many of Rob Gonsalves' paintings I'd expect Saturn to feature prominently in his natal chart, as well as Venus (art) and Uranus (the unexpected and eccentric). I notice how the Moon features often in his work - as it did in Paul Delvaux' paintings, shown in last Friday's post - I'm pretty sure that the Moon or its sign Cancer will be to the fore in his natal chart too.

Anyway, a few more facts about Rob Gonsalves from either Wikipedia or a Facebook page available via Google:

During his childhood, Gonsalves developed an interest in drawing from imagination using various media. By age twelve, his awareness of architecture grew as he leaned perspective techniques and began to do his first paintings and renderings of imagined buildings.

After an introduction to artists Dalí and Tanguy, Gonsalves began his first surrealist paintings. The "Magic Realism" approach of Magritte along with the precise perspective illusions of Escher came to be influences in his future work.

In his post college years, Gonsalves worked full time as an architect, also painting trompe-l'œil murals and theatre sets. After an enthusiastic response in 1990 at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, Gonsalves devoted himself to painting full time.

Numerous individuals around the world, corporations, embassies, and a United States Senator collect Gonsalves' original work, and limited edition prints. Rob Gonsalves has exhibited at Art Expo New York and Los Angeles, Decor Atlanta and Las Vegas, Fine Art Forum, as well as one-man shows at Discovery Galleries, Ltd., Hudson River Art Gallery, and Kaleidoscope Gallery.

He won the 2005 Governor General's Award in the Children's Literature - Illustration category for Imagine a Day.
He is also an accomplished guitarist.

A few examples of his painting follow. These especially appealed to me. Note the presence of the Moon - surrealist-types do seem to like their Moons, don't they!?

I wrote, in 2010, without benefit of knowing his date of birth:

As architecture is seen in many of Rob Gonsalves' paintings I'd expect Saturn to feature prominently in his natal chart, as well as Venus (art) and Uranus (the unexpected and eccentric). I notice how the Moon features often in his work - as it did in Paul Delvaux' paintings, shown in last Friday's post - I'm pretty sure that the Moon or its sign Cancer will be to the fore in his natal chart too.

I guessed correctly about the
Moon - he had Sun in Cancer, sign ruled by the Moon.
Saturn was in its home sign of Earthy Capricorn and in harmonious trine to Venus and Pluto in Virgo - another Earthy sign...and Saturn sextiles Neptune (imagination, dreams) too
Uranus was conjunct his natal Mercury in Leo.

I'm giving myself a gentle pat on the back for that.

Dang, though - it is just so, so sad to have lost such an artist so soon!