Beth Gallup | Objects in the Landscape

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Beth Gallup "Solar Conversation" 2022

acrylic on canvas, 30" x 20". Photo by Beth Gallup.

Beth Gallup’s show builds on the philosophical view of objects as a place of discovery about our perceptions of reality. It is a play on object-oriented programming, an invitation to engage with the “program”. Each piece works as a browser window, allowing us to interact with the functional objects in our geography in perhaps new ways.

Artist Statement 

 “Objects allow us to model the real world more accurately.”

 Java Tutorial: State-Behaviour-and-Identity

This exhibit builds on the philosophical view of objects: places to discover our perceptions of reality. It is an analog play on object-oriented programming, where identities, behaviours and functions are grouped together to generate an outcome. Each work is a browser window. Shapes, shadows, colour and light are grouped together to ask: “What is real?”

Viewers/users are invited to engage with the “program”, the juxtaposition of natural and utilitarian objects in the landscape.  The natural, a reminder of the riches we have close at hand, wealth we might otherwise forget.  The  functional, well... maybe we'd rather forget. 

The show is an extension of my interest in industrial intrusions; our collective ability to shrink, look past or look over objects that might interfere with a strictly scenic view. 

Artist Bio

For a long time, Beth’s entrepreneurial career kept her firmly planted on the practical side of the creative process. Behind the scenes, she was quietly building the foundation of an artistic

practice: experimenting with images; playing with colours; exploring symbols and shapes. The

long rehearsal eventually opened the curtain to juried group shows, plus two solo shows, More POWER to You and Objects in the Landscape.

The utilitarian objects that support a Canadian way of life often appear in Beth’s landscapes. Instead of editing them out, she likes to weaves them in, explore the juxtaposition they create with the purely natural.

Another recurring theme in Beth’s sometimes-surreal work is food and a celebration of it, food and our relationship to it. As a necessity, something we touch daily, Beth finds it a rich place to play.

Beth's pieces are recognizable by the priority she gives to colour and light in each composition. She builds thin layers of acrylic on canvas, sometimes adding scraps of text, photos or found elements like feathers. Wordplay usually drives her titles, subtle humour and her subject and material choices.