The Great Reveal

Exhausted. Ecstatic. At peace. Last night, that was artist Chris J. Melnychuk in a nutshell. At eight o’clock, with tens of people crammed into the Quickdraw Animation Society’s foyer, Chris watched the long black sheet fall away from his latest—and according to him, maybe his best—work of art.

Both artist and masterpiece (a painting which spans two walls and joins in the corner,) were immediately gobbled up by a mass of camera flashes and delighted gasps. Oooh and ahhhs, and wow, that’s amazing, rang out over a healthy applause. A lack of chairs in the room earned Chris an instant standing ovation, though one look at his painting tells you that he would have gotten one anyways.

There is truly nothing grander than a Grand Unveiling. Expect perhaps The Great Reveal. Unlike the anti-climactic ribbon cut (were you really surprised by the building hiding behind that ribbon?) or the sometimes risky unveiling (you theatrically pull off the covering sheet only to realize you’ve actually yanked away half of the sculpture as well) or the classic purging of balloons and confetti from a hole in the ceiling (God? is that you?,) The Great Reveal rarely fails to wow.

We had no trouble gathering people up for yesterday’s; half a minute of shouting out “Great Reveal” and the room had people pressed up against doorframes, snack tables, and each other, in order to catch of a glimpse of that wall-shaped secret something.

With the dark veils finally lifted and the painting lit up by a series of specially positioned lights, Chris took his place in front of the friends, animation enthusiasts and Quickdraw supporters gathered before him.

He thanked the five people who helped him complete the project and “have assisted me and kept me sane in the meantime.” He spoke passionately of the “how important the creative process is for improving humanity.” He congratulated Quickdraw on its 25 Year Anniversary this year, saying he was happy to “commemorate Quickdraw and to give something back” (Chris himself has been a member of the animation society for over thirteen years.)

And then Chris J Melnychuk, an artist, but also a man who has battled with two separate bouts of cancer in his life, spoke of the importance of the painting to his own healing process, how the mural came to him “at a perfect time,” and how its completion “came naturally.” (Indeed, Chris had the entire two-wall-project finished within eleven days of starting it. The night before The Great Reveal he had worked on it for twenty-one hours straight.)

The end product is inspirational to say the least. A combination of places, characters, concepts, and painting techniques, it is simultaneously Quickdraw-focused and universal. (And so perhaps it does deserve balloons and confetti after all.)

Missed Wednesday’s Open House, but still want to see the painting? Come down to Quickdraw Animation (#201 351 11th Ave. SW) during this week’s GIRAF events to check out Chris’s masterpiece.