William Kurelek's The Maze (2011 Trailer)

Recently, I became aware through the writings of a favorite Catholic Christian writer of mine (Michael D. O'Brien, yet again) of an esteemed artist and writer from Canada that has been off my radar all this time, to my chagrin: William Kurelek (March 3, 1927 – November 3, 1977.) 

Here is a link to his wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Kurelek

Kuralek interests me for a multitude of reasons.

I have an appreciation for art and art history, most probably an appreciation that was ingrained in me from an early age by my father, himself an amateur artist.

Kurelek, though a Canadian, was of Eastern European heritage like myself.  And like myself, he was a Roman Catholic (he converted.)

As a student studying psychology (I am taking a course in Foundations of Psychology at Neumann University) Kurelek's struggles with mental illness intrigue me.

I do have a fascination with Canada.  I traveled there many years ago to the Toronto area as part of an exchange program of the Boy Scouts of America.  In addition, I am a fan of Canadian cinema (My Winnipeg is a favorite documentary of mine.)

I have located the trailer for the documentary William Kuralek's The Maze, which was originally released in the 1960s , but which benefited from a restoration and re-release in 2011-2012.  I am anxious to view the film, but I cannot find it anywhere, either available for viewing online, or for purchase :-(

In the meantime, here's the link to the trailer on Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15Qy3o7eoNc

Looks awesome, doesn't it?

I am unsure the best way to characterize Kurelek's artwork with my limited vocabulary pertaining to art history but to me it looks very surreal, with a touch of the grotesque, and a bit of the pastoral thrown in for good measure.

I love that in the documentary, Kurelek himself is interviewed.  He died when he was only fifty, but apparently he was quite prolific as a painter and illustrator.

I am particularly interested in the story of Kurelek's religious conversion, and I am hoping this angle is explored in the film.  Apparently, he was born into the Ukrainian Orthodox faith, then identified as an atheist for a time, before converting to Roman Catholicism.

This documentary, as I mentioned, first premiered in 1969, directed by Robert M. Young and David Grubin.  Apparently, one of the film's co-directors (Young) worked on the restoration with his sons Nick Young and Zack Young.  They started a Kickstarter campaign to "re-imagine" the film in time to be shown in a retrospective of Kurelek's work showcase in museums in Canada back in 2011-2012.