GARY SPEARIN
NAME PAINTINGS
February 7 to March 28, 2004

My intention is to develop a reading where by my process (technique) and the images constructed fluctuate between oppositions: representational/abstract, body/machine, and postmodern/modern.

The Kelowna Art Gallery is pleased to feature the exhibition Gary Spearin: NAME PAINTINGS which brings the work of London, Ontario-based artist Gary Spearin to the Okanagan Valley for the first time.

Gary Spearin produces his lush and textured paintings by a technique of combing and brushing thick layers of paint across the canvas. Through this process he creates entwined shapes that form a unique language of abstraction and illusion. Images appear to be somewhat familiar yet, at the same time, unidentifiable. Spearin’s paintings are captivating and sensual and the patterns and rhythms that move across the canvas are like complicated weaves in a rich textile. 

Gary Spearin’s approach to painting involves both methodical mark making and intuition, uniting opposing ideas in both concept and process. The result are paintings that represent a respectful play between abstraction and representation.  According to the artist: the finished paintings requires a workout for the eye, the body, and the mind.

In addition to the NAME PAINTINGS, the Kelowna Art Gallery exhibition also includes a selection of paintings from Spearin’s earlier series entitled Rred. It is in this body of work that the artist first initiated his technique of erasure and layering, combing and brushing, which he further explores in the NAME PAINTINGS. Spearin states that the Rred paintings: began with the idea of developing the monochrome painting by exposing the making of the colour itself. Twenty different tube red colours were combined not to make one red but to create an interplay between many reds revealed through the processes. Red was chosen for its visceral response for the viewer, both physically and psychologically.

Gary Spearin was born in Hamilton, Ontario. He received a BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 1981 and an MFA from the University of Guelph in 1997. For over 20 years Spearin has exhibited his work in solo and group exhibitions across Canada as well as in the United Kingdom and the United States. He has taught painting in several universities across Canada and is currently a professor at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario.

Linda Sawchyn
Curator