In his new exhibition at Coastal Patterns Gallery, Gregg Simpson branches out from the landscape-based works featured in A New Arcadia and Raincoast Visions to explore the psychological landscapes of the mind.
The works in Lost Worlds reference the tradition of abstract surrealism - a movement that became known as Abstract Expressionism during the 1940s in New York. Taking his cue from Roberto Matta, Arshile Gorky and André Masson, artists who Simpson has been published and exhibited with internationally, Simpson endeavours to penetrate the 'inscapes' that emerge from the realm of the poetic imagination.
Independent curator, Nicole Donnely (Mexico City) describes Simpson's work: Referencing organic shapes, his (works) expertly utilize the single gesture to represent an entire form, delicately balancing soft effusions of colour against the frenetic energy of the mark. The resulting image possesses a surge of movement that suggests the unearthly, despite the hues which tie it inextricably to the terrestrial. Simpson's paintings flux between the solid, rooted world and the ethereal.
On display at Coastal Patterns Gallery are small canvases and works on paper that use automatist drawing and sensual colours to define the relationship of primordial forms to the human consciousness. Simpson completed some of the works in Lost Worlds on a recent trip to France, Spain and Portugal where he re-connected with many of the surrealist artists who make up the contemporary surrealist movement.
Lost Worlds runs from May 25 to June 19.
Coastal Patterns Gallery is located at Artisan Square, Bowen Island, BC. Phone: 778-997-9408
CAROL M. CRAM
