Friends and family of a gifted young artist who was gunned down in Vancouver in early December are calling on artists from across the country to band together against violence.



Lee Matasi

Lee Matasi was shot to death by a stranger on a downtown Vancouver street back on Dec. 3. Dennis White, 38, of Vancouver has been charged with second-degree murder in Matasi's death.

Matasi graduated from the Ottawa School of Art earlier last year, and was considered one of its most promising students – winning a Royal Canadian Academy of Arts award.

To remember him, his mother, Susan Jessop, who resides in Ottawa, and his friends decided to unite artists in a campaign called "Artists Against Violence."

The campaign was launched at the opening of a solo exhibit at Matasi's alma mater. And friends says it's a reflection of the values Matasi stood for.

"He was just a sweet guy," said Alex Cameron, an artist who mentored Matasi for a summer in Toronto. "This is him, this Artists Against Violence, but it's about everybody who's against this kind of crap with guns and whatnot."

The program calls for a complete ban on handguns and mandatory minimum sentences.



The Lee Matasi Memorial Exhibit at
the Ottawa School of Art.
Jessop wants her son remembered for his vibrant paintings, not for his violent death.

She is still saddened by his senseless death, but she says she decided not to let the grief consume her, and is instead investing her energy into preventing such deaths.

"I could have let myself shrivel up and fade away, but that's just not me," said Jessop.

The memorial exhibit features more than 20 works, stretching from his first painting at the age of eight to his very last.

His last painting was an abstract of three tulips in a vase, against a bright red-orange background.

His mother still remembers Matasi's comment after completing it: he chided himself for painting flowers, a subject normally reserved for painters in their prime.

She says Matasi never dreamed of becoming an artist.

"He used to introduce himself as Lee Tasi, ski jumper, racer," said his mom. "That's what he used to say to people from the age of six. He was an avid skier until he went into the arts scene."

The memorial exhibit at the Ottawa School of Arts runs until Apr. 2. The school has also renamed the student gallery the Lee Matasi Gallery in his honour.