Monday, August 16, 2010

The Beaverbrook art gallery in Fredericton - part II...

My visit at the Beaverbrook art gallery in Fredericton went like a blur... I'm still trying to synthesize what I saw over there! Other powerhouse painters that I missed in my previous "top of mind" nomenclature: Dali, Colville, Carmichael and Pratt. However, two other contemporary artists (I had mentioned Scherman in my previous post) really caught my attention: Graham Sutherland and Lorraine Simms. I knew some of the abstract works from the former owing to a monograph that I acquired in a used book store, but was unaware of his portraits (the gallery permanently features his portrait of lord Beaverbrook). My use of green along with other colors has been relatively timid over the last 3 years... this artist's abstract body of works can definitely be an inspiration in my future figurative works. The latter, Lorraine Simms, is an artist from Montreal. A stunning contemporary portrait from her "fugitive" series was featured in the entrance hall. A short-term objective of mine is to detach myself from pure realism, and to that effect, this artist's approach is most inspirational.
Finally, upon my return to Montreal, I managed to secure a firm date for my next exhibition at the Pierrefonds cultural center: February 4-6th, 2011. This later date could give me the opportunity to include a number of paintings from my new "macha" series. I may have to rename the series though to make it fit with the Yoga theme... or even change its scope! I'm thinking "Body and soul" in reference to these 2 series! A new short-term challenge for me in the rendering of human faces would be to go beyond the skin surface and attempt to touch the soul. A bit ambitious since this could take a life time to achieve! I want to produce some real visceral works!

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