20/20
"Objects Are Closer Than They Appear"
April 10 - 22, 2008
opening night reception
Thursday, April 10, 6pm - 10pm
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The twenty works that comprise this show come from a
period of time that spans over 20 years. The large black
and white abstractions ( Untitled 1, 2 and 3 ) reflect an
interest in activating the painting surface in a gestural
manner and allow the action of “attacking” the canvas with
a loaded stick to move the painting forward. As I worked
on these paintings a kind of overall effect or script
became apparent. The figure / ground relationship
continues to change as the painting is observed. Black
areas move from negative to positive space and spatial
relationships are redefined. Human form, both whole and
fragmented is present in the work, although it was never
my intent to produce figurative canvases. The act of
painting each day in this way with stick in hand ( on both
paper and canvas) and only black and white paint allowed
me to focus on painting in its purest state. I was living
in
Montreal
when these paintings were made and had a strong interest
in the work of the “Automatistes”. These paintings are a
bridge to the more recent work that is exhibited. The
application of paint in a direct and automatic manner,
without a plan or preconceived message may be likened to
‘painting blind’ but ultimately the process yielded a very
pure, highly personal and expressive result. When these
painting were resurrected and viewed they became a bridge
and inspired the current shadow drawings in both process
and content.
The shadow drawings ( # 11 through 15 ) were begun in
2008. This series was in no way preconceived. My intent
was to play with materials and to see what emerged. Over
the last few years I have become interested in shadow
images and written descriptions of the process of
appearance / disappearance of both human and manufactured
environments. Ground graphite was dropped onto paper in a
random fashion and then pushed and pulled across the
surface finding form through movement. Once again the
figure/ ground relationship seems to dominate and where
graphite was dropped a dynamic hole remains.
The painting “Objects are Closer than they Appear” is
composed of five panels and was completed over a 6- year
period. The central panel was begun on the afternoon of 9
/ 11. I had walked home
through deserted streets in early afternoon having viewed
televised images of the events earlier in the day. The
panel was in direct response to that event. The other
four panels were begun a few years later and contain found
objects that were collected on daily walks past a
construction site. The mirror is a ‘loaded’ image and the
myriad of references and meanings that are attached to it
make it central in reading the work. The shattered /
fractured reflection works in counterpoint to other
seemingly whole images that appear or disappear into the
panels. The atmospheric backgrounds are an intentional
reference to appearance and disappearance.
I have recently begun to integrate spray- painted line
into my work. It is employed for the atmospheric quality
that a fat nozzle will produce and for, what I call, the
immediacy of intent.
“Red / Black 1” is the first in a series of large wood
panels that have developed from the shadow drawings. I
have chosen to paint directly onto wood to exploit the
textural qualities ( knots provide random ‘holes’). The
large scale of the panels ( 4 by 8 feet ) provides a large
surface to explore the physicality of the act of painting
and the increasingly dynamic/ dramatic exploration of the
shadow themes.
INFO: 416.929.6361
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