Linda Martinello: Sotterranea
to
Gallery Jones 1-258 East 1st Avenue, Vancouver, British Columbia V5T 1A6
Linda Martinello, "Sui Sassi," 2018
oil and graphite on mylar, 33" x 44"
Opening reception: Saturday, November 24, 2 - 4 pm.
Gallery Jones is pleased to present Sotterranea, a solo exhibition of work by Toronto-based painter Linda Martinello.
Linda Martinello’s work exists at a meeting point between history, geography and architecture, translating real encounters with natural and manmade spaces through memory and imagination. Her dynamic landscapes are informed by her travels to sites of historical and personal interest, often with complex and turbulent pasts. Using oil paint and graphite on layers of flexible mylar, she opens up the physical and social histories of a place for consideration.
Martinello’s works in Sotterranea originate from time spent researching and documenting the ancient cave town of Matera in Southern Italy. The works invite the viewer into detailed, winding scenes to consider the complexities of constructed space⎯ever transforming through time and moving between archaeology, human history, folklore and myth. Each work can also be seen as a visual archive, unveiling the imperfect way environment and experience etches itself onto the memory. The artist’s use of multiple focal points pull the viewer into the landscape, towards openings that suggest definition, yet remain open to interpretation.
Linda Martinello’s work is located in prominent private, public and corporate art collections including BMO Financial Group, Cenovus, Encana, TD Bank, TELUS, Torys, among other institutions. She is the recipient of several awards and research grants including SSHRC Graduate Research Scholarship, University of Waterloo President's Graduate Scholarship, Shantz Fellowship, Toronto Arts Council Grants and Ontario Arts Council Grants.