|
|
Chris Charlebois
Kurbatoff Gallery
Vancouver BC – Sep 19-Oct 3, 2007
|
|
|
Chris Charlebois, Small and Broken (2007), oil on canvas [Kurbatoff Gallery, Vancouver BC, Sep 19-Oct 3]
|
In paintings reminiscent in subject matter and style of Gordon Smith’s recent landscapes, British Columbia artist Chris Charlebois creates intense webs of lacey foliage and branches, detailed passages of grass and meadow, and patchy glimpses of scumbled skies. The result is all-over compositions with networks of fine interwoven brushstrokes.
|
|
|
Chris Charlebois, Trail at MacDonald’s Beach (2007), oil on canvas [Kurbatoff Gallery, Vancouver BC, Sep 19-Oct 3]
|
The paintings define the British Columbia landscape in a way that vistas of mountains and forests cannot capture: as an undertow of branches, bushes and underbrush seen only on foot. He uses a muted palette to capture the dull greys, brown and greens of BC’s climate and vegetation during much of the year, and as a way to keep the focus on paint more than representation.Charlebois studied at Vancouver School of Art during the 1970s under the direction of artists Bruce Boyd and Don Jarvis, whose influences are keenly apparent. He is also inspired by Riopelle and Borduas. Over the years, his work has evolved into a kind of a nature-based abstraction. He achieves his effects by painting with palette knives loaded with a mix of two, three or four colours. Charlebois frequently demonstrates his distinctive impressionistic techniques and shares his valuable insights at the Steveston Village Phoenix Art Workshops.
www.kurbatoffgallery.com
|
|
|
Chris Charlebois, Groundwater (2007), oil on canvas [Kurbatoff Gallery, Vancouver BC, Sep 19-Oct 3]
|
|
|
|
Chris Charlebois, Way of the River (2007), oil on canvas [Kurbatoff Gallery, Vancouver BC, Sep 19-Oct 3]
|
|
|
|
