Les Thomas, “Arrested Image #23-2334 Sophia Loren,” oil on board, 48" x 48" (photo courtesy of Canada House Gallery)
Celebrity Mugshots as Art
We’re a little late for the Academy Awards but — let’s face it — the world’s fascination with celebrities has no deadline. Inspired by police bookings of well-known people, Canadian painter Les Thomas began turning celebrity mugshots into art. The results are varied, unique and fascinating, as each carefully controlled self image is stripped away.
Arrested is on view now at Canada House Gallery in Banff, Alta.; although Thomas has painted many celeb mug pics, every artist in the current exhibition has been either an Academy Award winner or nominee.
Not all of those depicted, of course, were found guilty of a crime. But what Thomas finds fascinating is “the disparity between the tailoring of a personal image and the relinquishing of any such control after one has been arrested,” he writes on his website.
“Les's juxtaposition of these harsh arresting images with his vibrant colours and multi-layered technique creates a collection that is as playful as it is sombre,” says Molly Gardner, Canada House Gallery’s art consultant. “This collection explores the idea of self image in the media, and how autonomy to control this is stripped away through the taking of a mugshot.”
Born in Vancouver, Thomas lives in Bragg Creek, Alta. and has work in public and private collections across Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and Germany.
Hugh Kearney, “ Big Top,” no date
mixed media on paper on canvas, 58"x78" (courtesy of the artist)
Run Away to the Circus
Hugh Kearney’s new abstract series, Big Boy and his Adventures at the Circus, is a glorious riot of colour, shape and texture, on view now through March 28 at Pendulum Gallery in Vancouver.
Born in New Brunswick, Kearney received his bachelor of fine arts degree from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (now NSCAD University) in 1987. Now based in Vancouver, he has myriad influences: historical abstraction, West Coast Modernism, our lively urban landscapes and his Maliseet (Wabanaki Confederacy First Nation) heritage, with respectful nods to Joan Miro and Alexander Calder.
“Kearney’s references to the circus are more oblique than Calder’s; rather than a literal rendering of the circus, these paintings suggest the experience of the circus, achieved primarily through the interaction of texture, shape and colour, resulting in a sense of playful movement within the works,” the Pendulum Gallery team notes.
“Kearney builds up his mixed-media paintings by first cutting out rectangular pieces of plant-fibre paper and gluing them onto the stretched canvas underneath. He then creates a painted surface across the full canvas, bringing in other elements of abstract art such as splatter and drip— as per Pollock — and colour-field painting styles exemplified by artists such as Clyfford Still and Jules Olitski. The rectangular shapes of the collaged paper serve as a unifying structure for the work, which Kearney uses as ‘frames’ for laying down a series of connected forms of vibrant colour.”
Mark Dicey, “2631-II-21,” 2021, acrylic on canvas on board, 30" x 36" (courtesy of Michael Gibson Gallery)
Group Show Celebrates Contrasts in Colour
For the past six years, Michael Gibson Gallery has curated an exhibition that celebrates colour — a way to inject a much-needed lift into the grey days of winter, a reminder that spring is on the horizon.
The new show, Chroma VI, is on now through March 30 at the gallery, located in London, Ont. and includes work from Mark Dicey, Ron Moppett, Jonathan Forrest, Clark McDougall, Will Gorlitz, Hans Wendt, William Perehudoff and Greg Curnoe.
“I explored the concept of contrasts – variations and differences in both tone, shape and of course colour,” says the gallery's associate director, Jennie Kraehling, about this year's curation process. “The duality is sometimes apparent in a single work, like with Will Gorlitz’s glowing blood moon set against the rich and velvety dark blackness of space, while in other instances the juxtaposition requires multiple works, exemplified by Hans Wendt’s incredible soft and bold ‘index’ watercolours.” ■
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