The Grenfell Campus Art Gallery is set to kick off their new year with a new exhibition featuring six Ontario-based artists who all take a look at how time can be represented by painting. The new exhibition opens on Thursday evening with a reception at the Gallery, open to everyone.
What does contemporary narrative painting have over time-based media such as film and video?Indiscretions: Narrative Painting Now explores that question by showing the work of six Ontario-based artists who all look at how time can be successfully represented in their paintings. In viewing these large-scale narrative paintings, viewers can relate to a specific story or they can create their own story based on the imagery they see. Each painting has visual cues implying that an event has unfolded or is just about to unfold. A strong sense of emotion is rendered to captivate the viewer and move them to contemplate the scene or character depicted. Exhibiting artists are: John Abrams, Gillian Iles, Phil Irish, Scott Sawtell, Paul Robert Turner and Natalie Waldburger.
Scott Sawtell makes the point that with the advent of time-based media, the notion of narrative art has changed and evolved. He says: one feature in all of these artists’ work is the central role played by the paint itself. In no way can these images be reduced to language: the physical experience of looking and making determine the meaning of the work. The abstract processes of painting carry meaning, altering how we relate to whatever representation it offered.
The opening for Indiscretions: Narrative Painting Now is at 4:30 to 6:00pm on Thursday, January 26th, 2012. An artist walkabout will take place at 5:00 pm. Refreshments will be served. All are welcome.
There will be a panel discussion on Friday, January 27th from 12:00pm to 1:30pm in room FA 224 of the Fine Arts Building featuring Grenfell art history professor Gerard Curtis, and three exhibiting artists: Gillian Iles, Phil Irish, and Paul Robert Turner. Once again, all are welcome.
Lead image: John Abrams, Little Soldier-Planes, 2007, oil on panel, 60 x 80”
