Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Ian McLean at Glenhyrst Art Gallery of Brant - Jan. 7 to March 4, 2012
























"The Promise of Painting"
Ian McLean, Cristina Zanella, Robert Achtemichuk

opening reception: Jan. 15, 1:00-4:00

Artists work within the promise of painting to uncover and contribute their individual passionate attachments to this form of visual expression.

Show curated by Kathryn Hogg and coordinated for Glenhyrst by Bryce Kanbara

Ian McLean uses colour to lure his viewer with his unusual environments and combination of elements. His imagery harkens back to a 1960’s feel but his colour palette is later; part pop art/ part post impressionistic. Residential environments hold an elusive chronology with his use of symbolic objects expressed through textured painted surfaces. Both McLean and Zanella use black as accents in their work and often include lime green, cadmium yellows, oranges and turquoise. McLean’s objects are infused with a landscape of these brilliant colours applied with creamy seductive brush strokes of oil paint on canvas.
McLean resides in the Sarnia area in Bright's Grove and studied at the University of Guelph.
His work has been exhibited extensively and is found in collections across Canada. Ian McLean is represented in Toronto by Loop Gallery.

Cristina Zanella is interested in the play of light and dark and its effect on the intensity of colour. She treats her subject matter, whether it is dead birds or subtle still life forms, with an eye to balancing broken space with colour, light and line. Her paintings are both vibrant and moody with a linear graceful approach to her marks.
Zanella, based in Port Dover, has exhibited throughout Southern Ontario. She received a BFA from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design.

Robert Achtemichuk works with gouache on silk or washi (Japanese paper). Achtemichuk’s studio looks out into an ordinary Ontario back yard in Kitchener. His interest is in the quiet contemplation of the small changes that occur due to time of day, weather, season and the inspirations and revelations from that kind of study. Misty, watery, sensual small paintings are titled the date they were painted. Sultry, earthy colours of raw umber and grays, and washed out blues and reds direct the viewer through a quiet passing of time. There’s innocence in his work from a delicate touch that exposes poetic vibrating atmospheric simplicity. In today’s fierce world this may be considered otherworldly.
Achtemichuk received his BFA from the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg. He apprenticed in colour etching techniques in France and studied master classes at the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas, Mexico City. He has exhibited his work and taught courses across Canada. He has been the Executive Director at Open Studio, the Waterloo Regional Art Council, and the Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery.
This work is accompanied by a catalogue written by Liz Wylie, Curator of the Kelowna Art Gallery. Robert Achtemichuk acknowledges and appreciates support from the Ontario Arts Council and the Region of Waterloo Arts Fund.

You are warmly invited to join us for the Opening Reception and to spend time with this beguiling exhibition at any time over the next eight weeks.

Glenhyrst Art Gallery of Brant

20 Ava Road, Brantford, ON N3T 5G9

Telephone: (519) 756-5932

www.glenhyrst.ca (map to gallery available)