Colour!

Paul Klee is an artist whose work has always captivated me.  Recently reading a book on him, "Paul Klee Painting Music"by Hajo Duchting, I noticed this quote about colour:

"Colour was for Klee the 'imponderable' and thus individual element in the picture.  .....    As Klee once commented:  'Colour has always had something secretive about it that is difficult to grasp.  This mysterious quality penetrates the mind.  The colours are the most irrational elements in painting.  They possess something suggestive, a suggestive power."

Paul Klee, 'Fire in the Evening", l929, oil on cardboard.

Online Catalogue/Essay About The Retrospective "Painting This Place"

                                           1983         "Nocturne"      30x36"            acrylic



The Evergreen Centre has produced an online catalogue for my recent exhibition, with an essay by Gregory Elgstrand.  It is viewable at this link:  PAINTING THIS PLACE .  Please click on  Exhibition Catalogue.
   

"Painting This Place" Installation Shots

Here are instillation photos of the exhibition at the Art Gallery at Evergreen, Coquitlam:

Slide Show of Thirty Years of Painting

When researching a selection of paintings for my retrospective at The Evergreen Centre in Coquitlam (opening March 6, 2014 until April 17, 2014), it was difficult to choose which paintings would represent the course of my work.  We selected 16 large canvases which was about right for the exhibition space.  To provide a wider overview,  I put together a slide show with some insight into the fact that you never escape yourself.  The first slide is from 1977 and the last one is from 2013.  Here is the link:  "Painting This Place"

Retrospective Exhibition at Evergreen Cultural Centre in Coquitlam

March 6 is the opening date for an exhibition of my paintings at the Evergreen Centre in Coquitlam, B. C.  The curator and I went through three decades of my work to select the representative canvases, 16 pieces altogether, just barely skimming the surface of the many directions I have pursued.  It has been quite interesting to look back and one of the things I noticed is that I have ended up not far from where I started.  The paintings are on my website (www.patservice.com) and here is the show announcement:

Peter Doig in Montreal

There is a wonderful exhibition of paintings by Peter Doig, just opened at the Musee de beaux-arts de Montreal.  

Peter Doig: No Foreign Lands

It is funny that if I had painted these paintings I would think, oh they are not good enough, I had better work on them to make them better.  That is how much I know; the Art World has embraced them.  What I do like is that they are paintings, an exuberant abundance of paint and colour on canvas.

In an interview in Canadian Art,  The Closer You Get: An Interview with Peter Doig   Doig says some interesting things, many of which I agree with.  For example, they ask him what he is learning from his paintings:

PD: I’m questioning where I am in the world, where I live in the world, thinking about other people, thinking about their situations. I think what I am doing is important—not because painting is important. As an activity, it’s important to actually do something. I feel guilty if I’m not painting. Once you succumb to painting, you have to carry on with it. Gerhard Richter said something very interesting to me—I’m not a huge fan of Gerhard Richter’s work, but he said, if you think about it too much, you stop doing it. That’s a great way of thinking about painting. You have to put your blinkers on, and stop thinking."

Sir Anthony Caro passes away

Tony Caro will be missed by many artists, especially the Canadian ones who met him at workshops here in Saskatchewan at Emma Lake or in upstate New York at Triangle.  He was a great role model, with his engaged approach to making sculpture and his enthusiasm for new work.  When we went to London, if we phoned him we would be sure to get an invitation to his studio to look at what was going on there.  Afterward, over an hospitable glass of wine, he would enquire after our own progress and  make us believe that everything was possible.

Here is a photo of him at Triangle Workshop:

That is Darby Bannard closely examining a sculpture, while Tony keeps his council directly behind; in 1983 he already has his white hair and beard.  Clement Greenberg is the one in the hat, but I can't remember the names of the others.  That is me on the left, thinking I was very cool I guess.  The photo is courtesy of Cora Kelley Ward, who documented much of that workshop.