Name: Ekphrasis Eleven: Kye Marshall by Art Gallery of Ontario in October 2025
Duration: 7 min 33 s
Description: Kye Marshall on Emily Carr's The Trees in the Sky

October 2025

Untitled
1985
Acrylic and oil on canvas 
Courtesy of The Parker Foundation 
All images © Keith Haring Foundation

Haring grew up and came out as a gay man during a time that encouraged increased freedom of sexual expression, largely fuelled by the counterculture, women’s rights, and gay liberation movements of the 1960s and 1970s. By the early 1980s, a new countermovement emerged that was led by conservative politicians and the religious right. Simultaneously, the AIDS epidemic was growing. 

Painted in 1985, this untitled work responds to these realities, showing a fiery hellscape of sexual aggression and torture. The theme of hell—often depicted with scenes of uninhibited sexuality—has been addressed throughout art history, from Auguste Rodin’s The Gates of Hell (1880–1917) to Hieronymus Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights (1500s). Haring’s version remains true to his signature line, while also depicting a cast of human and animal figures as well as Christian symbols such as frogs, serpents, and angels.

Untitled

The Great White Way 
1988 
acrylic on canvas
The Keith Haring Foundation 
All images © Keith Haring Foundation

Stretched in the shape of a penis, this massive painting is a critical visualization of what author bell hooks described as “imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy.” The pink phallus is decorated with black lines that make up an intricate scene of weapons, violence, torture, and other abuses of power—a visual representation of the problems of Euro-American society. Haring’s title implies the white supremacist ideology underpinning these activities. The painting shows a phallocentric world in which profit and power in the name of “good” and God are used as tools of oppression. The Great White Way is a prime example of what is perhaps Haring’s greatest skill: the ability to make something look like shallow fun—in this case, a massive, cartoonish, pink, candy-striped penis—while simultaneously speaking truth to some of society’s foremost tyrannies.

The Great White Way

Untitled
1988
acrylic on canvas
Private collection
All images © Keith Haring Foundation

This untitled work shows a human figure struggling to walk up a staircase while carrying a massive egg tied to its back. The egg is cracked and a sperm with devil horns bursts from its shell. The painting speaks profoundly to the AIDS epidemic that took the lives of so many within Haring’s community, including his own. Using monumental scale, a palette drained of colour, and graphic imagery, Haring represented the impossible weight of the AIDS crisis.

Concerto for Double Bass and Orchestra by 
Sarah Bassingthwaighte 

London Symphony Orchestra 
Jonathan Pasternack, conductor 
Steve Schermer, double bass soloist

Bassingthwaighte London Symphony Orchestra  Concerto For Double Bass And Orchestra II. Scherzo

Concerto for Double Bass and Orchestra III. Pesante feroce

London Symphony Orchestra 
Jonathan Pasternack, conductor
Steve Schermer, double bass soloist 

Recorded at St. Luke's London, September 2023

The Concerto for Double Bass and Orchestra was the result of several sources of inspiration. Conductor Jonathan Pasternack dreamed up the idea of the creation of a new piece for the Port Angeles Symphony Orchestra to celebrate their 90th Anniversary. The idea for the concerto for double bass and orchestra was a combination of the desire to add to the repertoire for the double bass and having an incredible double bass player, Stephen Schermer, to premiere it.
In deciding the general stylistic approach to the piece, I wanted to create something that would be virtuosic and fun for the bass soloist, engaging and interesting for the orchestra, and expressive and exciting for the audience. It was inspirational to be in contact with both the conductor and the bassist throughout the composing of this piece. Steve’s hope was for something lyrical, expressive, with a lot of tension and release, and that also used the full range of the double bass (a lot of bass concertos favor the highest range). This sounded perfect to me.
The Concerto is in three movements: Lachrymae, Scherzo, and Pesante feroce. The Lachrymae is the most serious and dramatic movement. (Many composers have written movements called lachrymae or lacrimosa, referring to tears.) This past year involved some very painful losses for both the bassist and for me, and this movement expresses some of that grief. The main motive that runs through the piece is 4 notes, with a major 2nd descending and a minor 3rd ascending, then a Major 3rd descending, with a dotted rhythm that reappears often. This is heard first in the double bass opening statement, low and solitary. It is then heard throughout the movement, including in a duet between piccolo and bass (playing flute-like harmonic effects), and then is extended to form the melody for the climax. At the loudest point, the bass blends into the fabric of the orchestra, with everyone at a fortissimo – the woodwinds and upper strings in a flurry of runs, the brass doing glissandi slides, and the low strings and low winds pounding out the 4- notemotive. Afterthis,theendingisquietandlonely.
The Scherzo lightens the mood, with bouncy, syncopated rhythms. The winds get to take a break, leaving just strings and percussion. All of the strings play entirely pizzicato – they don’t use their bows at all. The percussion gets to pull out some of their fun auxiliary instruments – temple bells (or crotales), vibraslap, castanets, and bongos among them. In the middle of the movement, the bass plays a 7-note pattern over the percussion’s 3-beat pattern, intentionally feeling loose and ungrounded. In the bass part, you’ll hear glissandos and slapping the strings.
The Pesante feroce is the high-energy climax of the piece. Short, driving, accented motives are tossed between the bass and the orchestra. The music is often somewhat dissonant, but always directional. A challenge in composing for bass is balance between the bass and the orchestra. Rather than thinning the orchestra, in this movement, I chose to have them alternate quickly, so the orchestra could play with fullness and energy without covering the bass. The middle of this movement slows to a dark, mysterious scene, with a persistent 4-note ostinato that is traded through the winds, brass, percussion, strings, and harp. Fairly quickly, the music returns to the virtuosic, driving bass themes, pushing toward the dramatic final repetition of the opening statement.

Bassingthwaighte London Symphony Orchestra Concerto For Double Bass III. Pesante feroce

Rowing

Four contemporary piano pieces evoking the four elements
Performance by Joseph Ferretti [from live concert April 2008]

Water, Fire, Air and Earth (piano) by Jana Skarecky

Rosalba Carriera

Maria Clara Eimmart

Susanna Perwich

Luisa Roldan

Audio recorded verbal descriptions provide an accessible and detailed narrative to extend your experience of the AGO. Explore the AGO facade and the artworks outside the building, Henry Moore's Two Forms and Brian Jungen's Couch Monster: Sadzěʔ yaaghęhch’ill. These descriptions, rich in detail and sensory language, provide a vivid exploration of form, texture, and artistic intention, ensuring that all visitors can engage deeply with these celebrated pieces of architecture and public art.

Frank Gehry, AGO Transformation Facade

Live at Recital Hour, The Rosza Centre, University of Calgary

Feb 8th

Flute: Jessica McMann
Piano: Julie Jacques
Composer:  Michael Daugherty

Trail Of Tears Concerto for Flute  1. where the wind blew free

Kye Marshall on Emily Carr's The Trees in the Sky

Ekphrasis Eleven: Kye Marshall

Title: “Letter from Pasadena”
Performers: Paul Nash, baritone; Mark McGregor and Samantha Fu, flutes; Jennifer Butler, alto flute; Sammy Pseng, piccolo.
March 14,  2004, Vancouver, BC

Program note: In late 1999, the world watched and listened as the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, California struggled in vain to communicate with its Mars Polar Lander, sent off to search for water on the "Red Planet". I wrote the words to this elegy for the machine which, by the time it was finally given up for lost, had engaged our concern as if it were a missing child.

https://collections.cmccanada.org/final/Portal/Composer-Showcase.aspx?lang=en-CA

Leila Lustig - Letter from Pasadena

The Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto is one of North America's leading art collections. Come visit and experience more than 4,000 artworks across 110 galleries. Visit https://ago.ca

Association of Canadian Women Composers

The ACWC is a professional organization for Canadian women composers, their supporters, and the performers of their music.

Ekphrasis Eleven: Kye Marshall

Art Gallery of Ontario

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