Angela Grossmann | All that Glitters

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Angela Grossmann, 2024

oil on mylar (courtesy of the Gallery)

Opening Reception, Saturday, May 18th from 2 to 5 pm. Artist in Attendance.

“I use this line from Shakespeare to suggest that value and meaning come in all manner and style (and colour). This new body of work are paintings of the female form and are part of my ongoing series: ‘Larger than Life’ and ‘Little Women’ ( miniatures).

Often seen from the back, these intimate images present women as strident, confident, and powerful but also private and mysterious. Their images make associations to our everyday lives and are often observed in ordinary moments of reverie, sitting, dressing, fixing their hair. They are imaginary in that they are from my imagination - I do not use models, yet each one has its own character and narrative. In my head, I hold a huge image bank made up of a lifetime of observation. When I paint I retrieve these images, I recollect them, sometimes it’s only a fleeting remembrance,  they are not people that I know but images snatched from a far-off memory, painted back to life. When I paint I follow my instincts, I think associatively and let the painting itself lead me along. Gesture is vital to the work, the way a body turns, the way clothing drapes, the way hair curls, gesture never repeats itself and it keeps moments alive.

The colours are also key for me in creating each piece - I love the way colour feels. Lately, I use only one single colour per painting and each colour exudes its own mood; a finicky lemon yellow or a defiant vermillion. It is part of the language that I use to suggest an atmosphere, a character, a circumstance, a place and a time. Texture is also a vital part of the work. The thickness or thinness of the paint, sometimes a drip or a transparent wash can seem to stop time or at least seem to freeze it. It’s been said that my images appear to be passing by or passing through.

Each aspect of the painting; the materials, the size, the scale, the colour, the texture, and the gesture make up a language that reflects women in their many guises; intimate, private, strident, glimmering, muted, or wistful. Women who don’t exist in reality but are nonetheless very present - stopping to be admired.” – Angela Grossmann, 2024

While still a student at Emily Carr College (now Institute) of Art and Design in 1985, Angela Grossmann was introduced as one of the Vancouver Art Gallery's "Young Romantic" painters most likely to influence the course of painting in that decade. After earning an MFA at Concordia University and teaching at Ottawa University, Grossmann returned to Vancouver in 1997 to paint and to teach at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design and University of British Columbia.  Her work has been exhibited widely across Canada, the United States and Europe. It is in numerous public and private collections.

Over the past 40 years, Grossmann has continued to be a significant force in the Canadian art world. She has devoted much of her career to examining themes of displacement, social margins and feminine power. In 2006, she was included in a list of 100 artists who have most influenced students at eleven leading British art schools, including the Royal Academy, Slade and Royal College of Art.