The Redpath Sugar Refinery

The Redpath Sugar Refinery first inspired me to paint.   I saw it first on a school field trip when I was about eight. I believe we took a tour.  I went back to school and painted it from memory, on fire,  engulfed in vermilion flames, imagining the smell of the burning sugar. I put in  a lady sticking her head out of the the long, grey  chute, screaming for help. Her eyes were  green and her hair was long and blond.  Even at the time, I wondered how the lady got into the chute, but never mind-artistic license.  From the top of the silo a worker in  blue overalls plunged to his death!  My second grade teacher, Mrs. Harper, was so impressed she sent the masterpiece off to an exhibition. I never saw the painting again but I have dreamt of this building since and whenever I see it I think of my painting; the bright red flames, the steely grey chute, the  massive silos and the  screaming lady.

Colour Me Badd. Julia Dault at the PowerPlant.

Powerplant  Gallery Staff

I went  to the PowerPlant on Tuesday to look  at the exhibition, Colour Me Badd  by Julia Dault. I was prepared to dislike her work but despite my prejudice, I  admired  her paintings. She uses unconventional, frequently downmarket, materials to create abstract works that  simultaneously look   mechanical and hand made. For example, Starburst , where she uses a  comb rather than a brush .  A pattern of  pale blue vertical lines , about eight inches high and just over an inch wide high  wide descend rhythmically across the surface. Each one has a dark blue drop shadow creating a three-dimensional illusion that makes them appear to float. over  another layer of regular diagonal marks which sweep from edge to edge of the canvas. Chevrons emerge at four intervals on the sides.  A wavy line curves in and through these layered grids, gently contrasting with the strict linearity of the overall design. Blue predominates; cobalt, ultramarine, cerulean, shot with yellow-orange, violet, and fuchsia.

Power Plant Gallery Staff.
 Justin

The method looks impersonal  but homemade, as though a child laboured very carefully to  complete it  and there is a playful quality to her work, despite the self-imposed demands of geometry and pattern.
 In other works Dault employs  fabrics; Heat Wave consists of a top layer of black pleather meticulously cut out in a grid of  miniature diamonds, very smooth. Through these cut-outs, a delicately stained layer of linen glows with  peaches, lavender and pink and brown.  Dault has removed three triangles from the linen  to expose a third layer of bright yellow and red washes over photocopy grey and white. Mounted with several  other pieces on a mirrored wall, it's a tactile and mysterious work. In this and other works there seems to be a subtle, ironic reference to things traditionally 
female e.g., sewing, hair-combing.
 In Dangerous Liasons, 2013-2014, vinyl , folded mesh, and painted etched glass results in a shiny hard -edged work. 

Dangerous Liasons 2013-2014

Taking a photo in the mirror intallation.

 In addition to the mirror installation, a visual catalogue of  artist's marks  covers the long sidewall of the gallery,  systematizing her " established, strong and personal vocabulary"as Jason, one of the staff described it.
   
Enthusiastic, unpretentious,and helpful, the three Powerplant staff are  generous with  insight and expertise. It was very helpful to discuss  the exhibition with Jason who came into the gallery. We agreed that Julia Dault's  paintings are beautiful.

  Dault has also included three sculptures "made on sight to a predetermined palette".

THE GARDEN OF IDEAS

One and Other. 2013

           Printmaker, Atif Khan, is one of six contemporary artists
from Pakistan whose work is on view in the exhibition "Garden

 of Ideas"  until January 18, 2014, at the Aga  Khan Museum.  According to  the excellent notes on this show, in Islamic mythology the rose  formed from a drop of sweat that fell from Mohammed's forehead as

 he strove to attain Paradise.
            Atif  Khan, like the other artists in this show presents us with a paradox: the insects, part of  the lovely garden,  imply  crowding, mortality, destruction. The sensation of ants crawling brings the stylized rose garden intensely to life. Other prints use geometric patterns to organize the insect hordes into mandalas and arabesques. A sculpture in brass and wood is an immense stamp.

      I was able to take these photographs of digital prints of his work because Khan  made a stacked square pile of four images and invited the gallery-goer to take one each. As you can see, I helped myself to more. 

       Aisha Khalid uses traditional Islamic patterns and motifs  to explore female identity and issues facing women in a suite of fifty paintings. Burkas merge with patterned walls, furniture, curtains. Curtains become a recurring and potent motif.

      Imran Qureshi's superb miniatures are not to be missed.I reveled in the exquisite beauty of his landscapes, even as I was confronted with the reality of ecological devastation; the paradox of beauty and destruction again!
        All six artists  work with the traditions of Islamic art to address contemporary issues. This is a must see exhibition

   

 

The Audience by Michael Snow

         Whenever I see Michael Snow’s public sculpture,  “The Audience", over the entrance to the  Rogers Center, home of the local baseball franchise,  I can’t help asking, “ How did he get away with it?” I think of Goya’s “ Portrait  of  Carlos IV and His Family”, wherein  the Spanish artist  reveals the vulgarity, venality and sheer vacuity of his regal sitters. Of course Snow doesn't depict particular individuals.

     Actually, his figures resemble cartoon stereotypes.  Eight of them represent  different  sports  fans.  They are utterly crass, with the possible exception of the Clark Kent type, itself another ludicrous stylization. Yet these grotesques are amusing, too. They simultaneously represent  and observe the fans entering the stadium, using the same gestures  the fans will shortly employ watching the game, and are already  using mentally as they regard the sculpture; a thumbs down, a v for victory, another(me?) taking a photograph, and so on. This is an artwork which evokes sound: hoots, cheers,  groans, etc.

         

  In contrast to the one-dimensional  cartoon personalities, the complex  group has been executed massively in the round. The artist amplified their monumental three-dimensionality  by compressing each form into  a crowded space that represents boxes in the stadium.  They look ready to burst out of their confines but this explosive energy is arrested within the sculpture.The contrast between the our memory of cartoon imagery and the illusion of a deep, crowded space; the difference between our memory of  bronze and coated fiberglass  generate visual interest and tension. 

      

 The figures are unified by a dull gold colour, suggestive  of money;  the vast  sums involved in the sports industry.  I can’t help comparing the staggering amount of money  and support  invested in sports with what’s invested  in  the  visual arts.

  Like Goya, Michael Snow tells it like it is.