Life of Leisure

Opening Reception: October 30, 7-10pm

Exhibition Hours: October 31, 12 noon – November 11, 6 pm

Tuesday & Thursdays 12-8

Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, 12-5

‘Life of Leisure’ is a celebration of the human spirit as portrayed by the artist through a collection of whimsical stories that share a common theme of recreation and play. Inspired by everyday experiences from his summer home in Manitoba’s Nopiming lake country and winters in southwest Florida, Van Lieshout paints colourful vignettes and tall tales that stretch the imagination and evoke a longing we all share to be outdoors, enjoying the sun and making time to have fun with family and friends.

With an appreciation for bold colours and strong compositions that feature fluid Lucky#7movement and activity, Van Lieshout’s style is evocative of the COBRA movement and also influenced heavily by contemporary European painters Clemens Briels & Manel Anoro.

For example, ‘Lucky Number 7’ came from an outing to a manatee preserve where kids were joking about a creating a new competition (the Great Humanatee Race) where they imagined the slow-moving gentle giants could be ridden by jockies. Nothing moves slower than a manatee at high speed. Like many of Van Lieshout’s paintings, telling a story that elicits a smile or chuckle is often the artist’s primary motivation.

Roger Van Lieshout is an oil painter born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba. A largely self-taught artist with additional training at the Winnipeg Art Gallery and Forum Art Institute, he began painting as a teenager and has his first gallery show in 1978. His works are held in private collections throughout North America and Europe.