ROSS PENHALL: Living in the Complexity of an Effort*

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Ross Penhall, "School House," nd

oil on canvas, 48" x 50"

Opening reception: Saturday, May 6, 2-4pm, artist in attendance.

Living in the Complexity of an Effort presents new paintings by the acclaimed Vancouver-based painter Ross Penhall. The large-scale paintings describe the West Coast landscapes of British Columbia and California with the colours and feeling that make the artist's style so recognizable.

In the works, shadows play at the edge of light, illuminating trees, fields, and mountains in a checkerboard fashion. The paintings throw colour over the landscape like a quilt, softening its edges and smoothing out detail. Penhall calls these images a "reminiscence of what you see," seemingly perceptual memories of passing glances.

This exhibition will also feature sculptural work by Penhall as well as rarely exhibited small paintings, which act as intimate excerpts from his larger visual vocabulary.

Penhall's works, and the incredible attention they receive, enter into dialogue with Canada's long tradition of landscape painting. His view presents a curious dilemma: nature is ordered and sculpted, yet devoid of human presence. These landscapes, softened to near abstraction, exist somewhere between the once-wildly primitive West Coast and our urban reality: a nod to humanity's ever-changing relationship to the natural environment.

*The title of the exhibition is a quote by Janna Malamud Smith from her book "An Absorbing Errand".